2880 vs. 1440 ink useage.

[Paul29407]

Does the higher rez. mean 2x the ink useage? I'm still experimenting with my new C80 and was wondering.

B.T.W. this is a great little printer. At 2880 depending on paper and settings, there is an improvement (slight) but much slower.
Speed is not really a huge factor for me though.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[Travis]

I'm not sure if there has ever been a definitive answer on this, but I think most have speculated that there is definitely an increase in ink usage, but nowhere near 2x as much. However, I don't personally think the increase in photo quality (which is slight IMO) is worth ANY extra ink usage except in very special circumstances. Otherwise 1440 dpi seems to be quite sufficient for almost all of my photo printing and it's much faster as well. Some people even use 720 dpi for most of their printing and I haven't even tried this mode on my new Epson 2200 yet. On my previous printers (1270, 1280) I found too many visible dots when using 720dpi for my taste.

Perhaps someone else can give you a more specific indication of how much more ink is actually used when printing 2880 vs 1440 but I definitely tell you it is NOT twice as much or anything near it.

Travis

 

[Leon Wittwer]

Travis, This is an interesting question. Since 1440 and 2880 images look the same except for the very finest detail, I would have assumed that 2880 spreads the inks more smoothy and uniformly as suggested by my resolution measurements. If the ink usage was a lot different, it is hard to understand why the images look alike. Leon

I'm not sure if there has ever been a definitive answer on this,
but I think most have speculated that there is definitely an
increase in ink usage, but nowhere near 2x as much. However, I
don't personally think the increase in photo quality (which is
slight IMO) is worth ANY extra ink usage except in very special
circumstances. Otherwise 1440 dpi seems to be quite sufficient for
almost all of my photo printing and it's much faster as well. Some
people even use 720 dpi for most of their printing and I haven't
even tried this mode on my new Epson 2200 yet. On my previous
printers (1270, 1280) I found too many visible dots when using
720dpi for my taste.

Perhaps someone else can give you a more specific indication of how
much more ink is actually used when printing 2880 vs 1440 but I
definitely tell you it is NOT twice as much or anything near it.

Travis

 

[Travis]

Travis, This is an interesting question. Since 1440 and 2880
images look the same except for the very finest detail, I would
have assumed that 2880 spreads the inks more smoothy and uniformly
as suggested by my resolution measurements. If the ink usage was a
lot different, it is hard to understand why the images look alike.
Leon

I remember having a discussion over a year ago when this question was raised with the 1280. I remember doing a non-scientific experiment to see if the 2880 mode actually used more ink, and I remember it did. But I do not remember how much. I do remember that it was not twice as much, but I can't remember how significant the difference was.

I wouldn't think it would be so significant to make up for the difference between our cost calculations ($.77 vs $1.27 [adjusted for $10/cart]). Based on those figures, it would represent a 60% increase in ink usage and that's with my numbers which included I think 3 pages that were printed at 2880 vs 1440 for the rest.

Like I said, I think as I go along, my figures are going to settle to around $1 per page (8x10 coverage). And if yours is already settled at about $1.27 (with the cart cost adjustment), then that might be a closer difference between 1440 and 2880?

What do you think?

Travis

 

[Loren Sanders Sr]

Travis, is that $1.27 for the ink only? How do you break down the cost for paper and ink? Are you using matte or glossy and do you know if there is a price differencial? Sorry for the dumb questions, but I am getting ready to buy a printer to print 200 to 300 real estate brochures per month for my son. Thanks much.

LSandersSr

Travis, This is an interesting question. Since 1440 and 2880
images look the same except for the very finest detail, I would
have assumed that 2880 spreads the inks more smoothy and uniformly
as suggested by my resolution measurements. If the ink usage was a
lot different, it is hard to understand why the images look alike.
Leon

I remember having a discussion over a year ago when this question
was raised with the 1280. I remember doing a non-scientific
experiment to see if the 2880 mode actually used more ink, and I
remember it did. But I do not remember how much. I do remember
that it was not twice as much, but I can't remember how
significant the difference was.

I wouldn't think it would be so significant to make up for the
difference between our cost calculations ($.77 vs $1.27 [adjusted
for $10/cart]). Based on those figures, it would represent a 60%
increase in ink usage and that's with my numbers which included I
think 3 pages that were printed at 2880 vs 1440 for the rest.

 

[Travis]

Travis, is that $1.27 for the ink only? How do you break down the
cost for paper and ink? Are you using matte or glossy and do you
know if there is a price differencial? Sorry for the dumb
questions, but I am getting ready to buy a printer to print 200 to
300 real estate brochures per month for my son. Thanks much.
LSandersSr

Hi there, the $1.27 would be Leon's figure adjusted for cartrdiges that are $10 per cart instead of $10.67 (which he used when posting his figures). The $.77 is my figure so far on ink usage but I'm pretty such it will end up around $1. And yes, this is just for the ink. Note that Leon was using 2880 dpi for all his photos while mine were mostly 1440 (about 3 pages of 2880). Both of us were using glossy paper.

You mentioned real estate brochures. If you can determine the approximate amount of coverage you'll need per letter-sized sheet, then you should be able to get a ballpark figure for ink costs. For example, let's say you determine that you'll only be covering the page 50%. My figures are stated with an 8x10 sized coverage area which would be 80%. So let's assume the cost of ink for an 8x10 is $1. Your cost per page would be about 63 cents if you used the same settings and paper.

Obviously, I don't know what size your brochure will be nor the amount of coverage you'll need. Will you be using glossy or matte paper? Single or double sized? 720/1440/2880 dpi? All these will affect the cost.

Take care,
Travis

 

[Leon Wittwer]

Travis, Interesting stuff. Perhaps the use of individual ink color could biase the costs. I notice that I used proportionately more cyan than you. Maybe the particular prints I'm doing use more of different inks than your sample. This likely can be answered by keeping track of usage over time which I intend to do. Leon

Travis, This is an interesting question. Since 1440 and 2880
images look the same except for the very finest detail, I would
have assumed that 2880 spreads the inks more smoothy and uniformly
as suggested by my resolution measurements. If the ink usage was a
lot different, it is hard to understand why the images look alike.
Leon

I remember having a discussion over a year ago when this question
was raised with the 1280. I remember doing a non-scientific
experiment to see if the 2880 mode actually used more ink, and I
remember it did. But I do not remember how much. I do remember
that it was not twice as much, but I can't remember how
significant the difference was.

I wouldn't think it would be so significant to make up for the
difference between our cost calculations ($.77 vs $1.27 [adjusted
for $10/cart]). Based on those figures, it would represent a 60%
increase in ink usage and that's with my numbers which included I
think 3 pages that were printed at 2880 vs 1440 for the rest.

Like I said, I think as I go along, my figures are going to settle
to around $1 per page (8x10 coverage). And if yours is already
settled at about $1.27 (with the cart cost adjustment), then that
might be a closer difference between 1440 and 2880?

What do you think?

Travis

 

[Leon Wittwer]

Most of mine was in the premium luster paper. There could be different ink usages as a function of papers. Travis, what glossy paper were you using/what media setting were you using? Leon

Travis, is that $1.27 for the ink only? How do you break down the
cost for paper and ink? Are you using matte or glossy and do you
know if there is a price differencial? Sorry for the dumb
questions, but I am getting ready to buy a printer to print 200 to
300 real estate brochures per month for my son. Thanks much.
LSandersSr

Hi there, the $1.27 would be Leon's figure adjusted for cartrdiges
that are $10 per cart instead of $10.67 (which he used when posting
his figures). The $.77 is my figure so far on ink usage but I'm
pretty such it will end up around $1. And yes, this is just for
the ink. Note that Leon was using 2880 dpi for all his photos
while mine were mostly 1440 (about 3 pages of 2880). Both of us
were using glossy paper.

You mentioned real estate brochures. If you can determine the
approximate amount of coverage you'll need per letter-sized sheet,
then you should be able to get a ballpark figure for ink costs.
For example, let's say you determine that you'll only be covering
the page 50%. My figures are stated with an 8x10 sized coverage
area which would be 80%. So let's assume the cost of ink for an
8x10 is $1. Your cost per page would be about 63 cents if you used
the same settings and paper.

Obviously, I don't know what size your brochure will be nor the
amount of coverage you'll need. Will you be using glossy or matte
paper? Single or double sized? 720/1440/2880 dpi? All these will
affect the cost.

Take care,
Travis

 

[fotografer]

Leon,

Most of mine was in the premium luster paper. There could be
different ink usages as a function of papers. Travis, what glossy
paper were you using/what media setting were you using? Leon

I am speaking from the experience of cost of ink per square feet with the designjet 10ps. Generally the more glossy the paper, the less inks required to achieve the desired gamut.

So we have the 'luster' (non-glossy) Premium Paper from HP needing $0.918 per square feet, and for the paper specially designed for designjet, LF High-Gloss Photo Paper only requires $0.764 per square feet. That's more than 15 cents difference between them from the same image source.

So I would presume your calculation of ink cost for Epson 2200 (based on luster papers) would be (around 15 cents?) higher than a really glossy media folks will be using for their printjobs. So on average, your $1.37 is just about accurate for your paper type you use (maybe it will approach $1.35). As for the glossy ones, I think it will be around $1.20 eventually.

So averaging the media type, the ink cost for Epson 2200 for a 8x10 print would be a little more than $1.25 eventually.

What do you think?

--
Fotografer

 

[Travis]

Most of mine was in the premium luster paper. There could be
different ink usages as a function of papers. Travis, what glossy
paper were you using/what media setting were you using? Leon
Travis wrote:

Yes, I wonder how ink usage varies from paper to paper. I was always under the impression that less ink was used for matte than glossy but didn't think that maybe ink usage varies between the glossy papers as well.

Let's see, the majority of the prints I made were on Epson's Semigloss paper. A sizable number were on Epson's Premium Glossy. I have only printed 1 page with the matte paper (because I don't have any and just used the sample that came with the printer). The majority of these prints were at 1440, Hi Speed On, PhotoRealistic and I like to increase the Contrast +3 and Saturation +2. I think 3 of the pages I did were at 2880.

I have basically stopped printing until my ink carts arrive this week. I only have about 13% Light Magenta left and I want to save that in case I really need to make a print before getting my carts!

Travis

 

[Travis]

This likely can be answered by
keeping track of usage over time which I intend to do. Leon

Me too, I'll definitely keep in touch and continue to report my actual costs. I need to wait for more ink carts to arrive this week before resuming my photo printing...

Travis