A font of wisdom: Changing your printer’s typeface can add up to savings over time

Here’s a legal way to print money: Change the font

MILWAUKEE — Here’s a way you might save $20 this year: Change the font in the documents you print.

Different fonts require different volumes of ink to print. By using a less ink-intensive font a home user might save about one printer cartridge per year. Schools and businesses could save thousands of dollars.

The Dutch company Printer.com found that Century Gothic uses 30 percent less ink than Arial does. That convinced officials at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, who expect to save about $10,000 per year by changing their school’s e-mail default to Century Gothic.

But there’s a downside. Century Gothic’s letters are wider, meaning a document that’s one page in Arial could extend to a second page in Century Gothic. That could negate the ink-saving benefits.