Printer problems

How come the printer always runs out of ink when you are in a hurry? The quality of the prints from this monster is fine but because we don't use it very often it insists on carrying out a full clean every time it gets switched on. This initial clean was closely followed tonight by 2 further "preparation" cycles when it complained that one ink cartridge was empty, let me change that and then complain another one was empty. I'm only doing this because I need non standard size prints for a weekend craft project or I'd be standing in the photo processing queue at supermarket with all the other sensible people.