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Color Printing by Number

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Large inkjet printer working multicolor CMYK on a vinyl banner.

Five years ago, color printing may have seemed out of reach for many small and medium-sized businesses. Color printers were seen as expensive and inefficient. As with all technology, color printers have evolved.

Businesses in every industry have found that in-house color printing is not only cost-effective, documents printed in color attract more attention and carry your brand further. If your organization has an eye for numbers, here are some statistics to keep in mind as you make up your mind about in-house color printing.

Attention

If your business is still printing all documents in black and white, you could be passing up the chance to grab and retain your reader’s attention. Studies show that color increases a reader’s attention span and recall by 82 percent. Consider all the documents your company is printing internally and externally. Do you want your boss or employees to read a long report? Are you hoping to gain or retain customers by sending marketing materials via mail or distributing them after a meeting? Not only is your audience more than 50 percent more likely to pick up a full-color piece of mail, they’re more likely to understand and remember what it says. Comprehension could increase by 73 percent when a message is portrayed in color.

Savings

Color printers used to be considered too expensive and inefficient for a typical office space. However, today’s color printers are optimized for high-quality, efficient use. Color ink is not as expensive as it used to be, and printers use less ink per print job than they used to. Newer systems can also print documents with high-quality color images within a fraction of the time it took in the past. Additionally, businesses save money by having an in-house color printer and sourcing materials themselves, instead of outsourcing printed materials and footing the bill for extra costs associated with using a print shop’s services. You’re also able to print the exact number of copies you need.

Efficiency

Did you know that documents printed in color can actually make your employees better at their jobs and customers happier? Color reduces errors by 80 percent, and readers can find information in a document up to 70 percent faster if it’s in color. This means that documents that are highlighted and color coded could help employees properly enter information and spot errors in forms, and do so faster. Similarly, your business can influence the information that stands out to customers by using color to send a message and emphasize portions of a document. From a workplace performance perspective, having a color printer in your office saves you time and energy on print jobs.

Sales

Since color documents capture and retain audience attention, your business’ bottom line could receive a boost. Colors convey meaning and emotion, all of which are layered into your organization’s logo and marketing materials. These portrayed values impact viewers immediately, and most consumers form opinions within 90 seconds of their initial interaction with a brand. Between 60 and 90 percent of that first assessment is based on colors alone. Not only are color documents portraying your organization’s values and capturing attention, documents containing color can increase brand recognition by up to 80 percent.

Infomax can help your business find a multifunction color printer that fits your organization’s needs and budget. Start a conversation with us today at InfomaxOffice.com.

Going Green Starts with Your Office Equipment

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There are plenty of ways to “go green” in your office. Many of these eco-friendly practices are intuitive, such as turning off your computer at the end of the day, and using the appropriate waste bins to separate trash from recyclables.

That said, more and more eco-conscious companies are making smarter hardware decisions to meet their green initiatives. Investing in efficient office equipment—such as printers, copiers, scanners, and MFPs—saves energy without sacrificing quality.

Here are some tips for choosing greener hardware for your office:

  • Invest in efficiency. Typically, office equipment usage accounts for up to 40 percent of a company’s energy bill. Highly efficient machines are simply better for your business in the long run—and also provide immediate cost savings. Be sure to select high-efficiency equipment, usually indicated by the ENERGY STAR symbol. This tells you that you’re purchasing an eco-friendly product, and can potentially reduce the energy used by your business’s hardware by up to 60 percent.
  • Consider the features. Does the MFP you are considering offer duplex printing, advanced sleep mode, and other eco-features? If not, you may want to keep looking. These features are essential for reducing energy consumption and chopping that electricity bill.
  • Buy local. In addition to supporting your local economy, buying or leasing your equipment from a local vendor ensures less gas is used for transportation. Big box office retailers use huge amounts of energy in the shipping of equipment from centralized warehouses to your office. Local inventory also means our machines are available for expedited delivery and installation, with on-site training for your staff.
  • Remember to consolidate. Do you really need separate devices for your printer, scanner, and fax machine? Instead of multiple devices that take up too much energy and office space, consider an MFP, or multi-function printer. Multi-functions systems ensure all of your document imaging needs are met, and consume about 40 percent less energy than offices with standalone devices.

These are just a few of the ways smart hardware decisions can help save the planet and your pocketbook. To learn more, contact Infomax today.

Go Green with Simple Solutions

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Going green is a great way to save money and the environment. The problem is that many businesses simply do not know where to begin. The options are seemingly endless, and sometimes cost efficiency gets lost in the mix. Fortunately, there is an easy way to keep “going green” in the forefront of your mind and your bottom line.

When making the transition to a greener office environment, keep the three R’s in your mind at all times:

  • Reduce: First and foremost, it is vital that your company deciphers between the necessary and the unnecessary when it comes to printed documents. A good Managed Print Services (MPS) strategy will take this into account and help guide your business toward reducing the unnecessary elements. User controls and printer release codes are also great ways to reduce superfluous printing, while saving your company money. Also consider reducing your actual printing devices. Perhaps you don’t need a desktop printer in every office. We can help you evaluate your print environment to reduce office waste.
  • Reuse: A great way to go green is to use your equipment in as many ways as possible, or switch to multifunction products that maximize efficiency but minimize your carbon footprint. Also, consider duplex printing when it is appropriate. If the information on one side of the paper is not sensitive, throw it back into the printing tray. Reusing as much as possible will help save money and trees.
  • Recycle: Everyone knows you can recycle paper. Put secure recycling bins near your MFPs and let recycling paper become second nature. Then, move on to recycling various consumable parts and cartridges associated with your printing needs. Once these actions become second nature, you are well on your way to going green.

The three R’s help simplify the “going green” process. Share these tips with your workers and take the intimidation factor out of it. After all, helping the environment should not be a stressful task. In fact, it should be universally helpful.

Contact Infomax today to learn more ways to go green!

The Tools You Need to Print Smarter

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Although many businesses have gone virtually paperless, there still remains the inevitable need to print physical documents. When these needs arise, it’s important to remain smart about your printing decisions. Whether you are trying to going paperless or are still printing consistently, it’s vital that you have tools in place to keep your costs low and your efficiency high.

Here are some ways to ensure that your printing is happening efficiently:

  • Print caps and quotas. Ideally, efficiency and cost are at the forefront of every worker’s mind. However, in the day-to-day happenings of any workplace, these factors sometimes take a backseat. In the fast-moving world of business, sometimes limits must be put in place. Limiting the variables is a fundamental method of saving money in the workplace, and implementing print quotas is a great way to do just that. Try implementing caps on printing for individual employees. Make them aware of these caps and enforce them, then watch as your printing costs plummet.
  • Analytic reports. It’s hard to optimize any area of your business if you are in the dark about it. Utilizing print reports can show you trouble spots in your business, so that you can take the necessary steps to iron out those wrinkles.
  • Digitized documents. The phrase “going paperless” can be foreboding. Do not let intimidation keep your company from lower costs and higher efficiency. Even small steps in digitizing documents will show drastic improvements in your company’s workflow. The benefits of digital document management are virtually endless. If what you are looking for is speed, security, and affordability, taking the time to invest in digital document management is a surefire win. And the more you start to digitize documents, the less you’ll need to print!

Partnering with Infomax can take the guesswork out of smart printing, and our team of experts can help you transition to the world of digital document management.

Contact us today to learn how we can meet your business’s specific needs.