How to Calculate Your Cost Per Print

Step by step

1. 1 min

   Locate the official page yield

   Find the manufacturer-rated page yield for your specific ink cartridge. This is typically printed on the retail packaging or available on the manufacturer's website under printer specifications.

   Note: Look for ISO/IEC 24711 standards on the packaging for the most accurate baseline yield.
2. 1 min

   Identify your total ink expenditure

   Note the current market price for each individual cartridge you are using. If you purchase multi-packs, divide the total pack price by the number of cartridges to determine the unit cost.

3. 1 min

   Compute the cost per single color

   Divide the price of the cartridge by its rated page yield. For example, if a black cartridge costs $25 and is rated for 500 pages, your cost per page is $0.05.

4. 1 min

   Sum the cost of all cartridges

   Repeat the division for every ink cartridge used by your printer. Add the resulting cost-per-page for the black cartridge and every individual color cartridge to find your total cost per full-color document.

   Note: Most printers use a mix of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK) for every color page.
5. 1 min

   Apply the coverage percentage adjustment

   Note that manufacturer yields are based on 5% page coverage. If you print high-density graphics or full-page photos, multiply your calculated cost per page by 3 to 5 to reach a more realistic estimate.

   Note: Standard document text typically averages 5% coverage.