On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 20:51:39 +1100, David Isaacs wrote:
=>Ink usage is usually described by the printer manufactures as so many pages
=>of A4 @ 360dpi using 5% coverage.
=>If printing in draft mode, would it be reasonable to assume about half the
=>ink, or twice the number of pages.
=>Any thoughts on this?
=>I have been asked to print out a 196 page software manual for a friend using
=>my new Epson C83. And am looking for a rough idea of what the cost in ink
=>will be.
=>Dave Isaacs.
360dpi _is_ draft mode for pretty well all modern printers,
which print at 720dpi or better in "normal" mode", and even
higher for "photo quality" or "presentation" mode. NB that
if you print ordinary b/w correspondence in photo-quality
mode you will use rafts of ink. Also, the lines/per inch
vertically is a factor - most printers these days also
increase those when printing higher quality, so that the
capacity at 720dpi will be about 1/4 of 360dpi. There are
variations between brands and models, but this is a good
rough guide. Also, keep in mind that 5% coverage
corresponds to double-spaced 12pt lines with 1inch margins
all round. I doubt that your friend's manual will be
singlespaced.
. IOW, since most people print
singlespaced, actual capacities are at best half of what
the mfr's say. But at least they all use the same standard,
so comparisons between brands are easy.
I would _not_ print a large job on an inkjet. Draft-mode
looks horrible. Normal mode produces nice-looking text, but
not-so-nice graphics. 196 pages in presentation mode will
use up the ink in the cartridges, quite likely more (I
don't know the exact capacity of the EP-C83, but the Epsons
I've known and hated have low capacities.) I would tell
your friend to copy his book to diskette and take it to a
business shop such as Staples that will print from his disk
file to a laser printer. If that is compatible with
copyright rules, that is.
HTH&GL
