Friday, February 5, 2010

Cost to print (ink only)

Unfortunately, I haven't been keeping track of how much ink I'm using vs how many sheets of paper I've printed; but, there have been several studies of ink costs

In a study of the cost of printing, Red River Paper determined that ink costs for the Epson R2400 - the predecessor of the R2880 - to be about $0.0113 (that's 1.13¢) per square inch if using photo black and $0.0095 (that's 0.95¢) per square inch if using matte black at $12.75 per ink cartridge

A review of the R2880 on Nikonians tracked how much paper and ink was used during the review.  Converting the results from metric to US works out to about $.0.0114 (that's 1.14¢) per square inch - which was a combination of both photo and matte black at $12.75 per ink cartridge

Finding ink for the R2880 can be a challange because it is not typically carried at stores like Office Depot.  I have found it locally at Fry's Electronics - but they tend to be more expensive.  I can also get it at the Red River Paper outlet store.  But, I typically order directly from the Epson online store because they work out to be the cheapest.

Online Epson Store - $13.29, no sales tax and free overnight shipping on 3 cartridges or more
Red River Paper - $12.90, plus Texas sales tax
Amazon - $14.25, eligible for free super saver shipping on orders greater than $25

Bottom line, I figure it costs about 1.5¢ per square inch for just ink, not including paper - a conservative estimate that allows room for inflation and waste.

To put it into perspective - I can print 4x6 at CostCo for 13¢ - it would cost me 36¢ to print that same picture at home.  And that's just ink cost, doesn't include the cost of the paper.  So, for snap shots I print at CostCo - for fine art printing on specialty paper I print at home.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post. I have an r2880 and I love the quality out of it. It is not economic for small prints, but the cost be hanged when stuff to frame is involved! This is a fabulous printer! I am producing some of my best stuff in my life with this thing.

    Do a little research into ConeColor Inks. These inks are completely compatible, and the cartridges they provide accept refill from their ink with are the same gamut as the Epson inks. On top of that, Cone will provide one free ICC for your favorite paper, your printer, and their ink. Check them out. A full set of ink and cartridges are $150, but this is a TON of ink!

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