Coverage and printing costs

[hornpipe]

Most (all?) printer manufacturers quote cartridge life as XX pages of A4 (Letter) at 5% coverage. I find that over time I tend to use equal amounts of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow and only a small quantity of black.


Is it reasonable to assume that real coverage, when printing A4 photos, is 31% of each CMY and 7% of K (black) and then base the cost of printing on that.

The above is made more complicated by the effect of print resolution, if any. Thus is it reasonable to assume that printing at 1200 dpi uses more ink than at 600 dpi and if so by how much.

How does the cost of printing to a colour laser compare to that of an inkjet? (ignore the difference in absolute quality).

hornpipe

[Rhys]

Most (all?) printer manufacturers quote cartridge life as XX pages of A4 (Letter) at 5% coverage. I find that over time I tend to use equal amounts of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow and only a small quantity of black.


Is it reasonable to assume that real coverage, when printing A4 photos, is 31% of each CMY and 7% of K (black) and then base the cost of printing on that.

The above is made more complicated by the effect of print resolution, if any. Thus is it reasonable to assume that printing at 1200 dpi uses more ink than at 600 dpi and if so by how much.

How does the cost of printing to a colour laser compare to that of an inkjet? (ignore the difference in absolute quality).

hornpipe


I think we're making generalisations and conclusions here that bear little relation to the real world.

I use an Epson Stylus 400 Colour. I know it's an old and low-resolution printer but it still works and I don't see the point in purchasing another printer just because of the higher quality images or because of the speed. The ink's cheap and the printer works.

I find, with my printing that I use more black than anything else - purely because I tend to write lots of documents and letters. Having said that, when I print, I find that invariably yellow is used least. Red is the colour that runs out first. Blue runs out next. This depends though on the subject you use. When I do flowers, reds go. When I do seascapes, blue goes.

So basically, if you want all the colours to run out simulteneously, take a photo of a colour chart and print that chart many times over. The question dosn't apply to the real world.

In terms of 600v1200 dpi, of course 600 dpi uses less ink. Most printers have an economy mode. Mine has three modes - Fine, Normal and Basic. Fine is 720 dpi. Normal is 360 dpi. Basic is 180 dpi. I wouldn't use Basic for anything much - the blacks tend to look grey. As far as quantity - unless the print head changes the nozzle sizes then the ink drops are going to be the same size whichever resolution is used. the answer to this question is 600 dpi probably uses half the ink that 1200 dpi uses.

As far as the difference between laser and inkjet goes... which model and which manufacturer. I buy generic ink for my inkjet, which is cheaper than Epson's and since my printer is now 8 years old and has never used Epson ink (other than the starter set) I think it works pretty well. With laserjets, the toner can cost anything - literally. Some lasers have a complete unit - replace the toner and the drum in one package. Others replace just the toner cartridge. Some need the toner poured in. I did see one OKI that was so priced that throwing the printe rout and buying another was cheaper than changing the toner. Another printer I saw, the toner cost more than another manufacturer's printer (which came supplied with toner).

[hornpipe]

Hi Rhys

Many thanks for the response, I do realise that there appears to be a great deal of generalisation in my original posting. However I did indicate that I was referring to photo printing only on A4 or Letter size and that my experience (over several years of such printing) indicated that my colour mix was pretty evenly spaced out between the three colours CMY with minimal use of black. (I do agree that yellow was marginally less used, but I relaced the yellow cartridge irrespective not wishing to run out half way through an A4 page). Different story for straightforward letters, technical reports or drawings.

My general intent of the posting was to establish some sort of guideline (probably very rough) of probable cost of printing a photo based on printer manufacturer's specification. The plethora of variables may make this difficult, if not impossible. I feel that photo printing costs should be the easiest to assess as there is generally only minimal white (non printed) space in a photo.