B&W printing - Cost per page?

[JohnS]

I am wondering if anyone has calculated the costs of inkjet printing in black and white?  This could be with manufacturer's supplies or aftermarket.  I have received some previous feedback in that turning certain printers to highest quality may almost double the ink usage.    

[sandeha]

Using my (dying) Epson 830 Photo printer, Epson matt heavyweight paper and Epson inks runs me at GBP1.00 per A4 sheet (that's with a fair white border).  I can cut that by 25% using Tesco inks, which are almost as good, or double it by using real fancy Galerie paper.

Trouble is (IMHO), anything less than the printer's best settings means unacceptable quality.

[ImageMaker]

Ouch!  I can get 8x10 on RA-4 paper from digital files locally (Costco) for just over US$0.50, and they are perfectly acceptable B&W prints (or color, same price).  If I'm getting only one print, the gas for the trip to and from will make it more expensive, but if I'm getting several, the travel cost dilutes.  And they get it right the first time (if it looks good on my screen at home, eyeball calibrated, it looks good in the print I get back), with turnaround under an hour unless they're swamped (don't go in on Saturday and it's fine).

Makes one have to reexamine home digital printing, IMO; I haven't seen a B&W inkjet print that matches what I get on RA-4 (though I haven't seen prints from the current generation printers), and if the better print is also cheaper, it's hard to justify spending all the money, time, and effort to set up for best quality home digital printing...

Matter of fact, I can get an 8x10 from Costco for less than what it costs me to print it on RC silver gelatine paper, not even counting any waste from reprints etc. getting it just right.  The Costco prints don't look quite as good, and aren't as personally satisfying as a good silver gelatine print from my own hand -- but if the original is digital, they're a better choice, IMO, than inkjet.

[P C Headland]

Trouble is (IMHO), anything less than the printer's best settings means unacceptable quality.

With the HP I find it very hard to pick the difference between the very best setting and the next best setting.

[Tom Hildreth]

I haven't bothered to do a detailed cost per page  because like others here, I have shifted my photo printing jobs, which are infrequent lately,  to the machine at the big box store. Transportation costs enter the picture when doing this, as the nearest BB store is 25 mi. away for me.  

I went around 6 mos between print jobs on my Canon i850 photo printer at home. It's a good unit, but the last time I used it I had to free up a couple of clogged nozzles and that pretty well dumped by ink supply. I have lots of black ink left, but Canon uses all colors to print B&W, so now I'm delaying the purchase of more ink because it's getting to be a bad investment, even if the BB store is 25 mi. away. I spent more in ink freeing the nozzles than I would have spent on gas driving over there, I think.

[ImageMaker]

Tom, sounds like you need to refill some ink tanks with a head cleaning solvent.  When you need to use the printer, swap the cleaning tanks in, run the cleaning cycle, and then put the ink back and run a test page to get the ink through the lines into the (newly cleaned) head and ensure the nozzles are all working.  Might save you some gas -- and having the refill kit will save you a bunch on ink, too, assuming there's one available that will give the quality you want from your prints.

[Tom Hildreth]

Great idea, Donald, thanks. Is there a particular product for head cleaning solution that's out there?

[ImageMaker]

Great idea, Donald, thanks. Is there a particular product for head cleaning solution that's out there?

Beats me -- my experience with Canon printers ended when a BJ-330 (tractor feed, B&W only) was current technology.  I do recall they use separate heads and tanks, unlike HP, and Lexmark (and Epson?) that include a replacement head with each new ink tank.

Are Canon printers still thermal (i.e. they form a bubble by local boiling to create the ink droplet)?  If so, whatever you use needs to match the boiling point of the original ink pretty closely (I recall Parker fountain pen ink didn't work at all well in my BJ-330).  I'd suggest contacting Canon or the various companies that sell ink refill kits to see if there's a special head cleaning cartridge or refill available.

Failing everything else, it'd be tempting to try 409, straight from the bottle...