Digging through the archives at CNET, we found this story from last year about basically using it or losing it when it comes to your ink cartridges. Some people don’t know, but as soon as you peel the tape off an ink cartridge it can quickly begin to dry out. This is why it is important to not open the cartridge and take the tape off until you are actually ready to put it in your printer. If you follow the normal instructions and install the cartridge right after you open it, and then you use that cartridge somewhat regularly, then you won’t have a problem. But if you are someone who uses an inkjet printer and only prints once every few months, then your cartridges might get dried out. It sounds silly to just use your printer when you don’t even need to print, but it might save you some trouble in the long run if you just print something once a month or so. You can also run the cleaning cycles on your printer, but remember that those cleanings use a fair amount of ink, so it is better to run them only when necessary.

If your cartridge does get dried out, you can try soaking it.

Use your inkjet printer or else [CNET]