It’s 9pm on 30 October. The party invites are designed. The costume mask template is downloaded. The kids have a list of 14 houses they need on their trick-or-treat map. You hit print, and your printer makes that noise. You know the one: a slow, grinding whir, followed by a page of faint, streaky grey where orange pumpkins should be.
Low ink. Again.
Halloween falls on Saturday 31 October this year, and the scariest thing in most homes and offices won’t be a costume. It’ll be the printer. Here’s how to get in early, sort your colour ink this week and print the spooky stuff without the last-minute fright.
Why Halloween is tough on printers
Most of the year, home printers handle a bit of black text: boarding passes, school notes, the odd form. Then Halloween arrives and suddenly everyone wants full-colour printing.
Think about what a typical Halloween involves:
- Party invitations for school friends, neighbours or the office
- Costume masks and props, often printed on heavier card
- Decorations, from bunting and banners to window silhouettes and table signs
- Colouring-in pages to keep little monsters busy in the lead-up
- Trick-or-treat maps and street lists for the big night
- Office party signs and spooky team photos
All of it uses colour, and a lot of it is ink-heavy. A single page of bright orange bunting can use more colour ink than a week of everyday printing. If your cartridges were already low, Halloween is when they give up.
Signs your printer is haunted
Not sure if your ink will make it to Saturday? Your printer may already be trying to tell you something. Watch for these warning signs:
- It prints a ghostly grey when you asked for black. Faded or patchy text is one of the first signs a cartridge is running out.
- The “low ink” warning only appears after dark. It always seems to pop up at the worst possible moment, usually when you need something printed right now.
- Paper goes in and is never seen again. Jams and feed problems love a deadline.
- Colours look wrong. If your orange looks brown or your purple looks blue, one of your colour cartridges is likely empty or close to it.
If two or more of these sound familiar, don’t wait for the night before. Get in early.
Step 1: Check your levels now
Before you start designing invitations, print a test page. Most printers have a nozzle check or print quality report in the settings menu, and it takes less than a minute. It will show you straight away whether any colour is fading.
Doing this a few days ahead turns a late-night panic into a simple errand. If a colour is low, you have time to pick up a replacement before the rush.
Step 2: Get in early with our own brand ink
When it’s time to restock, you don’t have to pay the scary price. Cartridge World brand ink costs up to 30% less than equivalent OEM cartridges,^ and it’s made to work in the printer you already have. Nothing about your setup changes, except how much you pay.
Here are three popular colour options to start with:
Cartridge World HP 804XL Colour Ink Cartridge, $66.95
A high-yield tri-colour cartridge for compatible HP home printers. It’s a great fit for invites, posters and all the orange and purple Halloween asks for.
Cartridge World Brother LC-3317 C/M/Y Ink Value Pack, $71.95
Cyan, magenta and yellow together in one pack for compatible Brother printers. It’s ideal if you’re printing decorations in bulk and don’t want to run out of one colour halfway through.
Cartridge World Epson 812XL Ink Cartridge Value Pack, $154.95
A full set of high-yield cartridges for compatible Epson printers. It’s the best value when every colour is getting low at once.
Not sure which cartridge fits your printer? Bring in your printer’s model number, or just your old cartridge, and your local store will match it for you. No guesswork, and no wrong purchases.
Step 3: Print without fear
Once your ink is sorted, the fun part begins. A few tips to get the best results from your Halloween printing:
- Use the right paper. Heavier card works better for masks and props, while standard paper is fine for colouring-in pages and maps.
- Print a test copy first. Check that colours look right before you print 30 invitations.
- Choose the right quality setting. Draft mode saves ink on practice runs, while standard or high quality makes final invitations and decorations pop.
- Let pages dry. Colour-heavy pages can smudge if they’re stacked too quickly.
Don’t forget the empties
Spring cleaning and Halloween prep go hand in hand. Once your new cartridges are in, don’t let the old ones haunt the bottom of a drawer. Bring your empty cartridges into any of our 120+ stores, and we recycle most major brands.
And a quick note: we don’t do refills. We sell fresh Cartridge World brand stock that costs less, as well as genuine cartridges from all the major brands.
Still prefer the originals? That’s OK, we offer them too. Shop genuine ink and toner here.
Get in early. Print without fright.
Halloween is Saturday 31 October, and the best way to avoid a last-minute printer meltdown is to get in this week. Check your levels, stock up on colour ink and enjoy printing the spooky stuff without the scary price.
Find your local Cartridge World store or call us on 1300 666 122.
Cartridge World is Australian owned and operated since 1992, with more than 120 stores across the country. Whatever your printer throws at you this Halloween, we’ve got you covered.
^Savings compared to RRP of equivalent OEM cartridges. Prices correct at time of publishing and may vary by location.
