Finally - true cost of printing A4 photos!

[Neo]

The true cost of printing A4 photos

My friends and I started an ambitious project to compile copies of our trips into coffeetable photo books. After purchasing all the required materials, we started printing on his Canon PIXMA iP5200 photo printer. At the end of the whole project, we printed a total of 1350 pcs of A4 borderless photos using Canon's PP-101 Photo Paper Glossy Plus.

The total amount of ink cartridges used were:
Magenta - 24 pcs
Yellow - 24 pcs
Cyan - 16 pcs
Black - 10 pcs
Matt black - 2

And the total cost of the original inks worked out to $1440.40

As for the paper, each pack of Photo Paper Glossy Plus (PP-101) retails at $19.90 for a pack of 20 pcs of A4, so per piece works out to $1. Which means 1350 pcs costs $1350.

Total cost of nk and paper to print 1350 pcs A4 photos = $1440.40 + $1350 = $2790.40
So per piece of A4 photo = $2790.40 divide by 1350 pc = $2.07 per A4 borderless photo

So there you have the answer -

It costs $2 per A4 borderless photo on Canon inkjet printer, which is cheaper than virtually any photo lab!

Here're the cartridges used... :bsmilie:

 

[student]

Total cost of nk and paper to print 1350 pcs A4 photos = $1440.40 + $1350 = $2790.40
So per piece of A4 photo = $2790.40 divide by 1350 pc = $2.07 per A4 borderless photo

So there you have the answer -

It costs $2 per A4 borderless photo on Canon inkjet printer, which is cheaper than virtually any photo lab!

I see. Your printer comes free? Your time comes free?

 

[adamadam]

Wow so many!!!!
Thanks for that information! It was nice to know!

aside: Are depreciation costs usually added in the cost of goods?

 

[di0nysus]

This is amazing man, have 1350pieces. and the printer is still working perfectly? no banding/smudging/any loss of quality at all? I'm using R800...beginning to print more from it, else white elephant!

 

[AReality]

Hmmm..
Now i wanna go buy a canon printer liao.

 

[G-man]

Interesting project, Neo.

Other than time and printer, i think the physical cost of the printing is round about $2 per pc of A4 but when u factor in all the time taken to do colour management, PP and layout, assuming there's almost no typography involved, it would come up to about $5 or more per piece. Of cos with larger quantities there's economics of scale.

Still, it's good to know the actual cost of printing ALONE.:bsmilie:

 

[AReality]

Now i seriously considering buying a new printer.
The Canon PIXMA iP5200 photo printer good?
Or u recommend other brand/model.

.

 

[kex]

Can consider the HP designjet 130,comes with a built in Pantone callibrator!

 

[kcuf2]

Still, it's good to know the actual cost of printing ALONE.:bsmilie:

that is not the actual cost of printing A4 borderless.. it is only at most an approximation..

When u buy the ink, u buy it at normal market price, BUT those that print the photos at the lab get to buy the ink & paper at special discounted rates, which is definitely much lower than the price u paid for the inks.

The price that is stated here is at best the cost for the printing of paper alone, and is definitely not the actual cost of printing by the labs..

maybe just quote one example posted by someone in this thread earlier: he can print A4 borderless at $2 at a lab. If u remove the overhead cost of fixed asset, labour charge, electricity and rental, the Actual cost to the lab for printing is definitely much lesser than $2

in summary: ur cost for the printing A4 photo is the cost for printing by a "Consumer". The true cost is much lower.

 

[AReality]

Can consider the HP designjet 130,comes with a built in Pantone callibrator!

Wah...
I not so rich leh.

 

[kex]

It's really Value for $$ for a 24" printer with built in callibrator!

US selling ard Sin2K for the basic unit.

There is one at pic and pixel Funan,the prints are really nice!

 

[ExplorerZ]

one thing not to forget, by printing alone you can get experience the process and fun. :thumbsup:. this is what even the cheapest print lab cant give you.

 

[Cheesecake]

one thing not to forget, by printing alone you can get experience the process and fun. :thumbsup:. this is what even the cheapest print lab cant give you.

the labs can gimme very good pricing and reprint for free if they screwed up. much lower then if i were to get a good printer, ink and all. i will forgo the fun and process part in favour of saving pennies.


hassle-free at my fave lab.

 

[Neo]

I see. Your printer comes free? Your time comes free?

Dear Student,

You have been derided by many others for your numerous posts in the other sub-forums for your curt attitude, but I shall be ignore the less-than-courteous undertones of your post.

Anyway, as people calculates the fuel consumption of a car, it is based on the km per litre. It is the cost of operating the machine. My post here is the same - to calculate the running costs of the printer. Now if you factor in the time and cost of the printer, how helpful are you being? Let's just say the cost of each A4 print is priceless, since our time is priceless.

Unless you have something positive, please do not go around heckling every other thread.

 

[Neo]

This is amazing man, have 1350pieces. and the printer is still working perfectly? no banding/smudging/any loss of quality at all? I'm using R800...beginning to print more from it, else white elephant!

Hi di0nysus,

We just finished printing all the 1350 pcs last week, and the printer still works fine today.

After printing about 1000 pcs, there was a slight banding in some of the prints, but a simple nozzle alignment brought everything back to perfect condition. I do suspect the waste ink pad will require changing earlier than usual, but there is no problem with the print head even after printing 1350 pcs continuously.

 

[Neo]

one thing not to forget, by printing alone you can get experience the process and fun. :thumbsup:. this is what even the cheapest print lab cant give you.

Hi ExplorerZ,

You're right about the experience and fun. Once you set up a digital darkroom and start printing photos from your desktop, it really opens up a whole new dimension in digital photography! :thumbsup:

 

[evershine]

Neo, thanks for the info.. yeah now am seriously looking at ip5200 too.

I guess its reasonable to factor in the estimated cost of the printer. I guess it cost about SGD$350.

The most is I would say is to add another dollar to the cost of printing ( if it works for 1 year only) and it works out to about $3.

As for time?!? Too time consuming to calculate... for me i dont stay near a shop that offers me $3. If i have to travel eveytime i want to print..it will be very troublesome. Also i prefer to do my own color adjustment,exposure and etc..

 

[doremonx]

Hi Neo,

Interesting coffee table books project!! I have a few questions.

1. Do you print on double sided paper?
2. If single sided, do you bind them back to back into the coffee table book?
3. Where and how do you bind them into the coffee table book?

 

[hazmee]

Thanks for info Neo. I think you should call it running cost for photographers/designers who prints regularly to keep their businesses running instead of calling it 'true costs'. This is more like a benchmark for them to ensure accurate printing cost only. Other things like bills/time/effort..etc can be factored to their own hearts' content. For average or occasional users, I bet the cost is much higher since they have to include a lot of other things to their costs of printing. I too use the iP5200 to print my mini coffeetable books but then for larger prints, I feel outsourcing is the best choice for me. Nevertheless, I really appreciate the time and effort taken by you to come up with a such great info.

I forgot to mention this: Canon printers tend to use up more Magenta and Yellow inks from what I've noticed.

PS: Canon would need all your empty catridges right now! hehe... help save the world by recycling.

 

[Neo]

Hi Neo,

Interesting coffee table books project!! I have a few questions.

1. Do you print on double sided paper?
2. If single sided, do you bind them back to back into the coffee table book?
3. Where and how do you bind them into the coffee table book?

Hi doremonx,

1) I print on double-sided paper for my coffee table books. The duplex printing feature in the PIXMA makes it automatic, so I don't go crazy figuring out the correct orientation to flip the paper for the other side... ;p

2) The problem is that you can't do it for single-side paper. You can try to glue them together, but the joints will not be clean and they may separate after a while. If you use single-sided sheets, you just have to go with having one-side blank. I find it a bit distracting though for one-sided printing, because of the watermark of the logos on the reverse side of the single-side paper.

3) Just go to any of the bigger photo copying shops and ask for perfect bind. It's the same kind students use for binding their thesis. It's basically a "leather" hard cover bound by glue and threads, and take a week or two to do. The cost is about $8... I do mine at Queensway Shopping Centre... the famous Ultra-Supplies shop at level 3...

Hope this info is useful...