Do You Have Good Printing Etiquette?

Printing is an integral part of any office. According to Office Printing Statistics, on average a worker prints about 34 pages per day. Imagine all of the ink & toner as well as A4 paper that gets used up for a day’s worth of printing.

Since printing is a part and parcel of any office, it’s important to practice certain printing etiquette for a  smoother and a #workhappy day at the office.

So which printing sin are you guilty of doing and how can you overcome it to develop good printing etiquette at work? Find out below!

Printing sin #1: The printer hogger

Have you ever pressed ‘Print’, heard the printer whir, walk over to the printer only to find out it’s not the document you printed but someone else’s document?

When this happens, that person could be a printing “hogger” where he or she has been printing endlessly for awhile.

This could hinder other colleagues who need to urgently print their documents.

Good printing etiquette tip: If you have a ton of pages to print, it’s best to give way to those who have smaller printing jobs with a few pages. Those don’t take a long time to print and can be done fast compared to documents that have plenty of pages.

Printing sin #2: The leaver

When someone leaves their printables in the paper tray they’re known as ‘The Leaver’.

Sure, it can be quite troublesome to walk back and forth to your office printer to retrieve what you just printed. 

But it can also  be troublesome when someone accidentally takes your printables and you have ask around who has taken them.

stress young asian businesswoman looking at paper stuck in printer at office

Good printing etiquette tip: Don’t leave your printables in the tray for too long. If you don’t feel like walking to and fro to the printer to get your prints, print everything that needs to be printed in one go or ask a favor from a colleague who’s walking towards the printer to help retrieve yours for you.

Printing sin #3: The disposer

Going green at the workplace is not only environmentally friendly but it also can be a great CSR initiative.

Developing an environmentally conscious office can be achieved easily with implementing small, feasible steps.

Such steps include utilizing both sides of an A4 paper. Many dispose printables that are printed only on one-side, hence they are the disposers.

Good printing etiquette tip: If you only print on one side of a paper, salvage the other side by using it as scrap paper for your scribbles or re-use it and print on the blank side.

Printing sin #4: The non-replacer

When it comes to printing these three things can infuriate any employee:

  • Paper jams
  • Running out of paper
  • Running out of ink and toner

It’s even more frustrating when the last person who used the printer does not do anything about the paper jam, the empty paper load tray and the low ink and toner.

Cropped image of businessman removing paper stuck in printer at office

An important step to practicing good printing etiquette is by identifying bad printing manners in order to start practicing more acceptable printing mannerism.

Good printing etiquette tip: Don’t leave your printer in a condition that is unfavorable to your own printing experience. If there’s a paper jam, retrieve the paper that is stuck. As for A4 paper, load a new pile into the paper tray. Similarly, you should replace ink cartridges that have ran out of ink.


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