New 'Ecofonts' for Computers Helping to Save Ink

Copyright Nis Co.

Nis Co., a Japanese firm which develops character fonts for PCs, started selling its "Ecofont" series in August 2008. The Ecofont, named for ecology and economy, has been a major hit as its outline characters require less ink, leading to a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

The series has seven different fonts for Windows and Macintosh systems: three square gothic fonts and three round gothic fonts for Japanese and a European font. Each font is 3,990 yen (US$43) to downloading. Customers can get a printer-ready font simply by installing it on their computer.

The reduction rate of toner or ink differs according to the printer models and the size of characters customers use. The company's in-house research shows that "Eco 3 square gothic font" can reduce toner or ink by 25 percent in terms of printing area, compared with Windows' MS gothic font, or by 36 percent compared with the company's JTC WIN S4font.

Posted: 2010/02/19 06:00:15 AM

TAG Eco-product/Business , Non-manufacturing industry