Shocked by Ink Consumption! (Epson R3000)

[irishdaisy]

I am totally new to printing in my home studio. Previously, I had always had my prints printed professionally, but became discouraged with some of the color issues I saw. So, very recently, I purchased the Epson Stylus Photo R3000. I have been working through some calibration issues, however I generally like the quality of the prints and the ease of printing at home.

Since installation, including my calibration prints, I have printed 81 4x6 prints: 10 glossy, 24 satin, 47 matte. The ink levels were trickling down at a relatively predictable pace until I printed the matte photos tonight. Boy did they suck down the ink! Some were printed using the Ultra Premium Presentation Matte profile and some with Watercolor Paper - Radiant White profile. Most of the prints (except the glossy) were on canvas. After doing some estimations and calculations with the remaining ink levels, it looks like I may be able to reach a total of 100 4x6 prints before the tanks will no longer print.

I am totally shocked! Red River estimates each 4x6 will cost $0.24 in ink, and I'm using almost 9 times that. I'll go bankrupt printing at this rate!

Is this normal? Any ideas as to what I've done wrong? Do the inks that come with a new printer contain less ink (like a starter pack)? Did I choose the wrong profile? Will printing on satin canvas use less ink than printing on matte?

Thanks in advance!

[Rhossydd]

Welcome to LuLa and welcome to the pain of small ink jet printer running costs.

Is this normal? Any ideas as to what I've done wrong? Do the inks that come with a new printer contain less ink (like a starter pack)? Did I choose the wrong profile? Will printing on satin canvas use less ink than printing on matte?

The first set of ink carts won't last as long as subsequent ones, not due to being 'starter packs' like lasers, but because the printer heads need to be filled with ink for the first time.
You'll need to use the correct profile for the media you're using and some media does use more ink than others. There's not much you can do about that. I think matte finishes tend to soak up more ink than gloss or satin.

Unfortunately small domestic inkjets like the R3000 aren't really designed for high volumes of printing, so running costs can be high. If you're planning on making lots of prints regularly, swapping to a pro standard printer like the 3880 will soon make financial sense as ink per print costs are substantially lower. The initial purchase price of printers in this class may seem high, but you're buying a lot of ink with them to start with.

At least you should now be in control and making good prints.

[JeanMichel]

Hi,
From all the information I can find, it appears that on average you will use up about 1.5 ml of ink per square foot (that is total ink usage, not for for each cartridge). I don't think that different media use substantially more or less than the average. Of course a deeply coloured photo will use more ink than a high key one.
Jean-Michel

[hanzo]

Welcome to LuLa and welcome to the pain of small ink jet printer running costs.The first set of ink carts won't last as long as subsequent ones, not due to being 'starter packs' like lasers, but because the printer heads need to be filled with ink for the first time.

LoL.. I like your comment.. I learned about the starter packs the hard way too.. after that, it should be moderate in consumption.. but not exactly cheap though. I only print once every fortnight or so.