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The Epson 2200
is a remarkable archival printer. It is used by professional photographers to print and market their own work and by untold numbers of semi-pros and serious amateurs. It's high print quality and archival print life have made it one of the best printers in the under $1,000 class.
Over two years ago, I did some
preliminary estimates as to the amount of ink used by the Epson 2200. It is time to revise and update that article.I keep a running tally of how many
prints I make and when I replace the ink cartridges. I have other Epson printers that I use for office work and fast proofs, so my Epson 2200 is used exclusively for making photographic prints. Most of my
prints are in three standard sizes, plus two panorama sizes. I print 5x7.5 inch prints on half a sheet of 8.5x11 inch paper. I print 7x10s on 8.5x11 inch paper. I print 12x18 inch prints on 13x19 paper. I do
4x20.5 inch panoramic prints on Epson 8.3x23.4 inch paper. I do larger 8x41 inch panoramic prints on Epson's 8.3" x 32.8' roll paper. Total prints: |
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PRINT SIZE IN INCHES |
NUMBER OF PRINTS |
5 x 7.5 |
206 |
7 x 10 |
228 |
12 x 18 |
39 |
4 x 20.5 |
6 |
8 x 41 |
6 |
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Using the status monitor (see the graphic above), I estimated the amount of ink that has been used in the cartridges currently in the printer: Black - 80%, Light
Black - 10%, Cyan - 90%, Light Cyan - 45%, Magenta - 5%, Light Magenta - 15%, and Yellow - 35%. I added these fractional amounts to the number of cartridges replaced and came up with the following total cartridge usage:
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COLOR |
NUMBER OF CARTRIDGES |
Black |
6.8 |
Light Black |
5.1 |
Cyan |
2.9 |
Light Cyan |
7.45 |
Magenta |
4.05 |
Light Magenta |
11.15 |
Yellow |
5.35 |
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A little quick math shows that 42.8 cartridges of ink were used to produce 27,616 square inches of prints. Ignoring color differences, one ink cartridge
produces 646 square inches of photographic prints. Looked at another way, ink for a photographic print costs a little less than 1.4 cents per square inch. (I am sure there were a few times that I did a quick print for someone and forgot to mark it down on my tally sheet, so a cartridge may produce more square inches than the numbers
above would indicate. Still, these numbers should be close enough to give you a pretty good idea how much ink is used for a given print size.) The table above not
only shows how many cartridges were used, but the relative amount of each color that was used. Light Magenta is used the most and Cyan the least.
A little more math reveals the number of prints per cartridge: |
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PRINT SIZE (inches) |
PRINTS PER CARTRIDGE |
5 x 7.5 |
17.2 |
7 x 10 |
9.2 |
12 x 18 |
3.0 |
4 x 20.5 (pano) |
7.9 |
8 x 41 (pano) |
2.0 |
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I buy my Epson ink and Epson paper at Midwest Photo Exchange. If you order over $50 of Epson products from them at one time, the shipping is free. Epson 2200 ink cartridges are $9.00. Fifty pages of 8.5x11 inch Epson Premium Luster paper
(one of my favorites) is $29.50. Premium Luster in the 13x19 inch size is $96.00 for 50 sheets. Premium Luster in a roll 8.3 inches by 32.8 feet is $56.00.
(I can get 9 panoramas out of one roll.) Epson Enhanced Matte Paper (another favorite of mine) costs less than Premium Luster and will reduce your cost per print.
Using Epson Premium Luster paper, you get the following approximate cost per print (in USD, not counting tax):
COST PER PRINT |
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SIZE
(inches) |
INK |
PAPER |
TOTAL |
5 x 7.5 |
$0.52 |
$0.30 |
$0.82 |
7 x 10 |
$0.98 |
$0.59 |
$1.57 |
12 x 18 |
$3.00 |
$1.92 |
$4.92 |
4 x 20.5 |
$1.14 |
$1.50 |
$2.64 |
8 x 41 |
$4.50 |
$4.11 |
$8.61 |
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Using the numbers above should give you a good idea how much it will cost you to make a print in the sizes you prefer, using Epson inks and papers on the Epson
2200. |
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March 24, 2005 |
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