Thinking about your printing habits before you buy a printer can help you make a choice that’s the most economical for your long-term needs. Look at some key considerations for purchasing a printer, and find out ways to save on ink—no matter which printer you choose.
Get the best value for the way you print
When choosing a printer, consider whether you plan to be a frequent photo printer or whether your focus is documents with occasional color printing.
Click on the Cartridges tab on the information page of an individual printer at the
HP Home and Home Office Store to find out which ink cartridge options are available for that model.
Considering how you plan to print before choosing an HP printer will give you the most value, not only to purchase, but to own as well.
Prioritize
For some people, convenience is the main priority when choosing a printer—the fewer ink cartridges to interact with, the better. For others, cost savings are always the primary concern. For others still, a wide gamut of colors and deep blacks to produce lab-quality photos will top the list. HP offers printers with ink cartridges that accommodate all of these needs—often simultaneously.
Keep reading to learn more about different ink choices and the corresponding printers that will best suit your needs.
Discover
When you’re shopping for an HP printer, it’s simple to discover which ink options will be compatible for each model:
When you visit the HP Home and Home Office Store online, select an individual printer you wish to learn more about. On the page dedicated to that printer, below the image of the printer, you’ll find a row of tabs. Click on the tab that says
Cartridges to see which ink options work with your chosen printer.
Occasional color printing
If you’re someone who prints in color only occasionally but expects vibrant, reliable results when you do, consider an HP printer that uses tri-color ink cartridges for the ultimate in color convenience.
Balanced color printing
If, in your experience, you’ve found that you print all colors more or less equally (often running out of colors simultaneously), the convenience of tri-color printing can also be a great value for you.
Take supplies on the go
HP also offers tri-color ink cartridges for printers that are meant to be portable, such as
HP Photosmart Compact Photo Printers and HP Officejet H470 Series Mobile Printers. A tri-color cartridge, featuring all the ink you’ll need, is just as convenient to take on the road as these portable printers.
The
HP Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One uses individual ink cartridges and offers a wealth of features for printing perfect photos the first time.
Most HP Officejet printers, including the
HP Officejet 6000 Wireless Printer pictured here, accommodate individual HP 920 Officejet Ink cartridges of pigment- based inks to create water-resistant documents even on plain paper.
Save money; eliminate waste
Tri-color ink cartridges offer incredible convenience, but for those who print a lot of color—especially one individual color (think of a logo, letterhead design, or even photos of a daughter partial to pink)—individual color ink cartridges can save money by letting you replace just the color you need.
Five-color printing HP Photosmart printers and All-in-Ones, compatible with HP 564 inks, offer 5-color printing, including Photo Black, to give you deep, glossy blacks in the shadows of your photos.
Eight individual inks
For high-end, professional photography, consider the HP Photosmart Pro B8850, compatible with HP 38 ink cartridges, offering even a wider gamut of 8-individual colors, and able to print borderless on paper up to 13" x 44".
For anyone who enjoys printing photos at home, using their printer creatively, or printing copy-shop quality color documents, consider a printer like the
HP Photosmart Premium Web All-in-One, which accepts high-capacity (XL) individual HP 564 ink cartridges.
Save money; add convenience
Many HP printer models offer an additional way to save money on ink—XL, high-capacity ink cartridges.
XL cartridges need to be replaced less often for greater convenience
XL cartridges offer a lower per-page cost
HP Officejet Pro printers and All-in-Ones are meant to accommodate high volume color printing and offer up to 50% lower cost per color page than laser printers when using individual HP 940 XL Officejet Ink cartridges1.
Combo packs
Delivering even greater convenience, combo packs bundle all the inks that a single printer needs.
For example, an HP 60 combo pack for the HP Photosmart C4780 All-in-One Printer delivers both the HP 60 Black and HP 60 Tri-color ink cartridges in a single package, while offering a cost savings over ordering each cartridge separately.
Photo value packs
Photo value packs offer the ultimate in convenience, packaging the right measure of photo paper and photo printing ink in a single package.
The HP 564 Series Photo Value Pack, for example, includes 150 sheets of 4" x 6" Advanced Photo Paper along with the ink to affordably print 150 lab-quality photos at home using the
HP Photosmart Plus All-in-One Printer—or any other HP Photosmart printer that accepts HP 564 series ink cartridges.
Find ink for your printer at the
HP ink and toner site by entering its model number.
By the time you’ve chosen an HP printer and had it long enough to need to replace an Original HP ink cartridge, all these permutations may be forgotten, but there is a simple way to purchase HP ink:
Visit the HP ink and toner site online, locate the Ink and toner finder at the top of the page, and enter either the number of the cartridge you’re replacing or your printer model number. All of your options will be displayed, and all offer free, fast, convenient next-day shipping when you
order directly from HP.
Choose paper for HP printers: Now that you are set with the best printer for your needs—and the ink to match—find out how to select the appropriate HP papers, scientifically designed to work with HP inks for the most vibrant and long-lasting results.
Printing tips and how-tos: Get ideas to help you manage your paper usage, keep your printer working well, and find more useful printer features and how to use them.
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