10 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Your Printer

What do you do with that printer of yours day in and day out? Print out Word documents? Print out a funny photo from the Internet? If that’s all you do, then you’re not even getting close to using your printer to its full potential! Here are 10 great ways you can use your printer starting now.

1. Print Photos

This idea may seem like a no brainer, but I’m not just talking about printing out images from the web. What I am talking about is using your printer to print photos that look like you just had them developed professionally. With some high quality glossy photo paper, photo quality ink cartridges and a bit of editing skills, you can print all of your favorite photos with ease without needing any professional help. And the beauty of it is, most people use digital cameras these days rather than traditional 35 mm film, so the transfer is easy. You can even plug your camera directly into some printer models and print photos right off of the camera.

2. Make Labels

You can make customized CD labels that look like the real thing. You can make shipping labels and address labels for your letters and important packages. You can even create custom labels for your filing cabinet. All you need is the right type of label sheets and some high quality printer ink and you’ll be ready to label anything!

3. Share It

If you have more than one computer in your home or office that doesn’t mean you need more than one printer. In fact, you can set up all of these computers so that they operate off of a network. Then, you can add your printer to this network making it so all of the computers utilize it. And even better, this whole process is easy. All it takes is plugging in a few cords or installing a wireless network, making sure all of the computers have the right driver and you’re done!

4. Make Your Own Stationary

If you run a business or if you merely like to write letters a lot, you can create your own stationary and letterheads with your printer. Come up with a design and then print out some copies of it! Or, just save it on your hard drive to use as a template when you write those letters

5. Print A Calendar

They don’t have to be those cheesy pre-programmed into the software calendars, either. I mean, you can literally print your own calendar, here. Customize it with pictures, fill in important dates and leave room for last minute additions. You can print it out on thicker paper and use it at your desk for reference.

6. Make A Company Newsletter

If you feel like there’s news to be spread about your company, why not make a newsletter to inform your employees? You can use a template from many different programs like Word or Publisher. Add pictures and your own text. Next up, print it out on decent paper, fold it up or staple it and get ready to distribute it! If you don’t run your own company, you can make a family newsletter as well to send to the relatives.

7. Start a Scrapbook

If you’re feeling crafty, you can use your printer to start a scrapbook. Digital scrapbooks are becoming all the rage these days, but even more so are printed out pages that look like scrapbook pages. Include images of items and photos of the event. Be sure to include catchy text as well. Next, organize all of that so that it looks like a scrapbook page. You can find some nifty templates online for these sorts of projects. Next, print it out and add it to your book.

8. Create Your Own Promotional Materials

Presuming you have a business, you will always be in the need of promotional materials. That’s why using your printer to its fullest potential can be so great! You can print out business cards, letterheads, press releases, and even portfolios. You can develop marketing campaigns and do some of your own PR legwork.

9. Create Projects For Your Kids

If you have kids, a printer can be a handy tool. Just think of all of the fun things you can create, find and print out for them? You can create a coloring book out of line drawings. You can make a puzzle out of a blown up image.

10. Give Your Eyes A Break

When you read a lot of text online for any great period of time it causes eyestrain. The backlit screen and the fact that you don’t blink very much can contribute to health problems like eye dryness, contact irritation and headaches. Instead of reading everything on the screen all of the time, try printing out some of the documents you need to read. Then, settle into a comfortable chair and read away. It’s a lot less of a chore on your overworked eyes.