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Author Topic: Calculating the costs of printing, large format  (Read 35442 times)

designpartners

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #20 on: February 21, 2012, 09:19:52 am »

great Don,

I've been thinking it could maybe be something to do with our firewall, but we haven't been instructed to do anything specific with it.
did you have to do anything did it just work?

Thanks,

James
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Luca Ragogna

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #21 on: February 21, 2012, 09:30:42 am »

done! :)

https://rapidshare.com/files/1294056885/Epson_9900_print_cost_tracker.zip

you can download an Access runtime (free) from here.


http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=d9ae78d9-9dc6-4b38-9fa6-2c745a175aed&displaylang=en


I'm pretty sure it's easily tweakable, I've never done it, as I said my brother put it toghther, but let me know how you get on and if you need anything done!

hope it helps! :)

James

Thanks James!
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designpartners

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #22 on: February 21, 2012, 04:26:41 pm »

no probs! let me know how you get on

James
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tim wolcott

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #23 on: February 24, 2012, 12:08:33 am »

in the days of not that long ago Epson had always said it was 76-78 cents a foot and Canon is about 22 cents foot for ink only.  By the way I'm still trying to validate the exact cost of Canon inks but so far it seems right if you are buying the 700 ml cartridges.  Media is very easy and should not be calculated in a discussion like this because it really depends on paper or canvas and what kind, and also where you buy it.

Paper and canvas medias are very very easy.  Keep printing pigments
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sbay

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #24 on: February 24, 2012, 01:28:54 am »

On my HP Z3200, the print driver keeps track of total paper and ink used. This makes it pretty easy to compute printing costs which worked out to about $1.76 / sq ft for me. This is made up of $0.83 for ink, $0.05 for replacement print heads (estimated), and $0.88 for paper. In contrast, Hp advertising brochure reported numbers varying from $1.40 to $1.60.

However, this doesn't account for amortization of the printer, proof prints, calibration prints, etc.

Mark D Segal

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #25 on: February 24, 2012, 07:44:07 am »

Using (slightly modified) the fairly straightforward Excel-based methodology I have documented in my previous articles on this website, I estimate that my Epson 4900 is costing me about 80 cents (Canadian) per square foot for ink. This is based on paying about 107 CAD per 200 ml cartridge including sales taxes, and approximate consumption of 1.5 ml/sq.ft.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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mmurph

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #26 on: February 29, 2012, 10:49:37 pm »

I don't know if you are interested.  But for proof prints, I am running OCP Claria Match Dye inks on an older Epson 7600.  

I have been quite happy with the quality of the output, and how well they matched my final Epson K3 output.  I was shooting mostly 4"x5", and smaller prints just didn't represent what was in the image.

The 7600 was the last printer that allowed you to reset all of the values manually, and to access all of the maintenance panels.  I run one as a proof printer with the dyes, and one as a B&W printer with custom mixed B&W inks, along the lines of Paul Roarks inks.

I just ordered new dye inks today.  The cost averages to about $20 for 1 quart - 32 oz.  The total cost for a 220 ml cart comes to $4.65 per 220 ml, or about $.02 per ml.

I bought the printer itself years ago for $500.  The older 7600 is not as efficient as the newer printers.  I will have to recalculate the actual amount based on the ink used, as I have the ink counter turned off.  You could pick up a cheap 7800 or 7880 to do the same thing - I have had the 7600's for many years.

My standard proof print for 4x5 is 24"x30". For my 1DsII it is 18"x27".  I like to proof a lot of images large, as the final destination is a large print.  Hard to get the same feel at a smaller size. I have a Nikon 800E on order and will also proof those large.

For proofs I use Epson Premium Semi-Gloss 170 because of the light weight and relatively low cost.  I stocked up when Epson had a buy 2, get 1 free sale. I think my price was about $.20 per sq ft for media.

Best,
Michael
« Last Edit: February 29, 2012, 10:56:39 pm by mmurph »
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mmurph

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #27 on: February 29, 2012, 11:11:18 pm »

ColorHQ has a nice spreadsheet with the cost per print on the 44" Canon 8300. 

All calculated at MSRP, but some pretty good detail on actual usage with 3 standard images:

https://www.colorhq.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/1imageprograf%20ipf8300%20cost%20analysis.pdf
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hirte_7

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #28 on: March 16, 2012, 02:43:27 pm »

Hello James,

it has been a while but I just installed the Access run time 2010 and tried to open your Access DB for the printing costs. I receive a run time error and Access just quits. The link you provided pointed to Access 2007 for XP or Vista. I guess you are running your DB on XP or Vista? I am not familiar with Access and if there are differences with the 2010 Windows 7 Version and earlier versions. Di you happen to know?

Thanks.
KM
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designpartners

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #29 on: March 17, 2012, 12:57:43 pm »

Hi KM,

I'm running Win 7 64bit with Access 2010 and it runs fine for me.. not sure what's happening for you to be honest.  I'll check again on a different PC and let you know tomorrow.

did anybody else install it?  any issues?

Thanks,

James
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Les Sparks

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #30 on: March 19, 2012, 11:42:45 am »

No problems using Win7-64. Thanks for the program. It's useful.
Les
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designpartners

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Re: Calculating the costs of printing, large format
« Reply #31 on: March 19, 2012, 03:19:23 pm »

No problems using Win7-64. Thanks for the program. It's useful.
Les

thanks for the info and feedback - it's definitely useful! let me know if you would like any tweaks or functionality added - if it's easy I'll see if I can get it implemented.

@KM - I tried it again on a different PC and works fine..

James
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