johnst1001a Loc: West Chester, Ohio

My Canon pro 100 shuts itself off completely. Maybe there is a setting to have it go to a power save mode, but I haven't been bothered my pushing the on button. I don't know how long it stays on before it auto shuts off, but if I am print a dozen or so over a period of a few hours it stays on.

marine73 Loc: Modesto California

I have a HP8600 Pro all in one which I am here leave on all the time. I occasionally run the on board print head cleaner and the alignment tools. Never had a problem with it. It is about seven years old.

marine73 Loc: Modesto California

I have a HP8600 Pro all in one which I leave on all the time. I occasionally run the on board print head cleaner and the alignment tools. Never had a problem with it. It is about seven years old.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

My Canon Pro-100 turns itself on when a job is sent to it and turns itself off a few minutes afterward. I wouldn't be surprised if the printer driver software that came with yours can do the same.

If not, I'd turn it off when not used... or if using it a lot every day, at least turn it off each evening and back on in the morning.

The reason is that turning a printer on usually runs a maintenance cycle. It might waste a little ink, but appears to work. In two years use I have never had any ink clogs using the Canon (infrequently in my case... maybe 2X a week on average, sometimes not at all for a week or two).

Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.

I have a Canon MX922 printer, which now is probably considered an older model. I turn it off after using it. It has a tray for photo paper but I have never printed any photos on it. When I want printed photos I take a stick drive or disk up to Walgreens and use their machines. I get good prints while using their ink. I have noticed that this Canon runs out of ink pretty quickly and I take the cartridges down to Costco and have them re-filled. New cartridges are pretty expensive. I am not all that happy with this printer. I am also not happy with the program it installed on my computer where a ton of photos are stored. About the only thing it wants to know when I pull one of them up is if I want to print it. I have found a way to move the photo to my Photographs file on the computer where I can transfer it to a disk. I was much happier with the HP printer I had before. I don't think I will buy Canon again. I had an epson printer I bought so I could scan slides. When printing it used ink like it was going out of style so I only used it for scanning. It was made to work with XP. I tried to make it work with Win 7 but unsuccessfully. I have always turned all of my printers off when not in use with no problems.

Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.

I have a Canon MX922 printer, which now is probably considered an older model. I turn it off after using it. It has a tray for photo paper but I have never printed any photos on it. When I want printed photos I take a stick drive or disk up to Walgreens and use their machines. I get good prints while using their ink. I have noticed that this Canon runs out of ink pretty quickly and I take the cartridges down to Costco and have them re-filled. New cartridges are pretty expensive. I am not all that happy with this printer. I am also not happy with the program it installed on my computer where a ton of photos are stored. About the only thing it wants to know when I pull one of them up is if I want to print it. I have found a way to move the photo to my Photographs file on the computer where I can transfer it to a disk. I was much happier with the HP printer I had before. I don't think I will buy Canon again. I had an epson printer I bought so I could scan slides. When printing it used ink like it was going out of style so I only used it for scanning. It was made to work with XP. I tried to make it work with Win 7 but unsuccessfully. I have always turned all of my printers off when not in use with no problems.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

All of my systems run 24/7, laptops excluded.
--Bob

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

I never turn off my printer.

2mdman

I have an Epson Workforce that I used to leave on all the time. After the printer got older, every time I went to print a color (and sometimes B&W) page, the printing came out terrible. Had to clean the heads, adjust, etc. On about the 3rd try, it would come it fine. Like you, I researched and Epson said to turn it off which I do now. Color prints, B&W come out fine.

Which bring up another point about printers and replacing printer cartridges. I've seen it cheaper to buy a new printer rather than replace ink cartridges. Isn't that sick? From now on, when I print, I go to Costco/Shutterfly/Somewhere else that's running a deal. Lot cheaper that way.

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

Ditto.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Interestingly, Costco charges the same for the ink I use in my Epson as Epson charges on their website. Epson does not allow dealers to discount their OEM ink.

Here's a tip: If you want to save money on photo ink, use a LAB. Or, buy a photo printer that uses the largest cartridges you can afford. But be prepared to print often — you need to, to keep the heads clean.

An observation from a long-time printer (silver halide, inkjet, dye-sub, electrostatic, offset...):

One does not do inkjet printing to save money.

Inkjet printing is for:

Control
Privacy
Immediacy
Limited quantities
Wider color gamut than any other process (if you do it right, with the right equipment and materials)
Better print longevity (with the right paper, inks, and printer choices)

To get those things, one MUST be disciplined about proper ICC color management, hardware monitor calibration, image adjustment environment, white balance, and other workflow considerations.

Even a cheap, sub-$100 inkjet printer can make excellent color prints. But even the most expensive inkjet printer can make bird cage liners, too! Knowledge, care, and experience make the difference between success and failure with any inkjet printer.

2mdman

I might also add to your comment about being disciplined on using the hardware:
insert the Ultra Glossy Photo paper with the glossy side up

Shocking what happens when you print on the wrong side. :-)

markwilliam1

My old and trusty Epson R2200 and my Epson R3000 are Only turned when printing! Epson does not recommend keeping your printer on when not in use. Why would you want to anyway? I’m talking a home printer not a network printer. Are the same hogs that keep their printer on all the time also keep their computers on all the time maybe?

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

I leave my household printer (Epson 7610) on all the tiime so that others can print from anywhere at anytime. I turn off my photo printer (Epson P-800) when not in use because, why not?
...Cam

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

I have an HP printer and it is left on all the time. Its not a photo printer, its a copier/scanner/printer only used for documents.