Estimating your printing cost per page: the true print costs calculator (2024)

Paper may (literally) grow on trees – but that doesn’t mean that printing will be free. Print costs don’t just include the paper itself but the ink that’s printed on them, not to mention what you need to spend on equipment and labor.

So what is the true cost of printing a single page? Let’s break it down.

Understanding the factors that make up your printing cost per page

No matter what line of business you’re in, there’s a good chance that printing is chewing up a good part of your budget each year. In fact, a study by Gartner showed that total print costs make up between 1% and 3% of a company’s overall revenue.

Your print costs will be affected by a number of factors, including:

  • Printers. In addition to the purchase or lease price, maintenance and energy costs accumulate over a printer’s lifetime, making each piece of paper costlier than the previous one.
  • Paper. The cost of a single page of paper could be anywhere from half a cent to two cents, which might not seem too bad…until you multiply it by an average of 10,000 sheets printed by a single office worker each year.
  • Printer consumables. Printers require ink cartridges and toner which might cost somewhere between $5 and $100 to replace.
  • Productivity. There are also unseen costs associated with printing, such as labor involved with maintaining the print environment and wasted worker time waiting for issues to be fixed.

Calculating your printing cost per page

Find out the page yield per cartridge

Page yield is the approximate number of pages you can print with a single cartridge. It should be easy to find out, as most manufacturers print it on their website or the side of the cartridge box. Different figures are usually provided for black-and-white and color printing.

Keep in mind that page yield is based on 5% coverage, or about one-third of a page of double-spaced text. If you print pages with a lot of text or images, your actual printing costs are going to be higher.

Work out the cost of each cartridge

The prices of different brands of cartridge can vary significantly – even when they have the exact same page yield. You may need to speak to the accounting team to get this information; otherwise, you can use average retail prices from the manufacturer’s website.

Add in the cost of printer paper

As mentioned, the standard cost of printing can be up to two cents per sheet – but premium or specialty paper is a lot more expensive, perhaps as much as 10 cents a sheet. Because you buy paper in reams, you need to divide the total cost by the number of pieces of paper. This will give you an amount per individual page.

So, what does a piece of paper cost to print, really?

Once you have the page yield, and the costs of cartridges and paper, it’s fairly simple to calculate the cost of printing using this formula:

Cartridge price / page yield + paper cost = cost per page

For example, if you have a cartridge that cost $100 with a page yield of 2,000 pages, and your sheet of paper is 1 cent, then your calculation will look like this:

$100 / 2000 + 0.01 = $0.051 per page (a little over 5 cents)

Pssst… don’t forget the additional printing costs

Now that you know you have the base price of a page, remember all the other expenses that make up the true cost of printing. Your accounting department can provide you with the purchase or lease price of your printers, and details of what you’re spending on things like staples, hole punchers, and office supplies.

Remember, the cost of your equipment should also include the cost of maintenance and your printer’s lifespan. By working out how many pages you print a month, you can get an estimate of how long your printer will last.

Unfortunately, there is no straightforward formula when it comes to the additional costs, but it can be helpful to look at your total spending over a defined period like a year and combine this with your print costs.

Reducing your printing costs

While the costs of printing can quickly add up, a few simple measures will go a long way in making print savings:

  • Conduct a print assessment to understand how much you are printing and why – and identify where wastage is happening.
  • Develop a printer inventory so you know exactly what devices you have and the supplies you need for different devices.
  • Streamline printing with a multifunction device in a centralized location to save the costs of running separate print, scan, and copy machines.
  • Put one person in charge of purchasing ink, toner, and paper to avoid wasted supplies and incorrect orders.
  • Set your printer defaults to black-and-white, double-sided printing.
  • Don’t try to scrimp on cheap ink and toner cartridges – while it might be cheaper upfront, your print quality will suffer, with pages requiring reprinting.
  • Engage a managed print service provider to analyze your current print process and determine costs.
  • Add print management software like Papercut to take care of many of these decisions for you!

Remember, reducing your printing also helps lessen your environmental impact – which is good news for the trees and GREAT news for your business (and your sustainability goals!)

Discover more about print management, read our helpful print charging article by clicking on the link below.

Click Here

Estimating your printing cost per page: the true print costs calculator (2024)

FAQs

How do I calculate the cost per page of my printer? ›

Cost per page (CPP) is determined by dividing the cost of that printer cartridge by the printer cartridge's page yield. In order to get a clear picture of your overall cartridge costs, we'll help you evaluate how all three of these factors play into each other.

How is the cost per print calculated? ›

To roughly calculate the cost per page, divide the price of an ink or toner cartridge by the number of pages the manufacturer says it should cover.

How much should printing cost per page? ›

The average cost to print a page on a laser printer is around 5- to 8-cents for black and white, and between 12- and 15-cents for color laser prints. However, the cost of color print can rise as high as 60-cents per page for photos and heavy graphics.

How to calculate cost per sheet? ›

Because you buy paper in reams, you need to divide the total cost by the number of pieces of paper. This will give you an amount per individual page.

What is the formula for cost per page? ›

The cost per page (CPP) is calculated by dividing the price of the printer cartridge by its page yield. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of your overall cartridge expenses, we will assist you in determining how these three aspects interact. into page yield and cartridge cost.

What is the cost of printing one page? ›

Shopping cart
Printing OptionsPrice Per Document Page
Black & White Both Side Printing on A4 Size Standard Premium Paper₹1.10
Black & White Both Side Printing on A4 Size Bond Paper₹1.40
Black & White Both Side and 2 Pages Each Side Printing on A4 Size Standard Premium Paper₹0.55
3 more rows

What should I charge for my prints? ›

Generally, it's a good idea to price your products at 2x-4x, if not more, the material costs. So if you're able to sell your print at $10, great! But you're seeing other people sell a similar print for $15, you can decide how you want to price yours.

How do you calculate cost per page view? ›

Key takeaways
  1. Cost per view (CPV) is an advertising model that charges the advertiser whenever a user watches an ad for a set duration.
  2. You can calculate the CPV by dividing the total cost of your video ad by the total number of views.

What is a good markup for printing? ›

Mid Margin is going to be classified as print margins between 50% and 100%. This is average and where you will find most print companies landing. The reason is that within this range you can stay competitive but not risk losing out on the business side of things.

How much profit should you make on a print? ›

The amount of profit you will make per sale depends on your product's retail price. You have the freedom to choose the retail price you set; however, we recommend a minimum profit margin of 40% for your business to grow with Printify.

What is an example of a printing expense? ›

The costs of using a printing service for items such as letterheads, brochures, business cards and proposals can be accounted for as an expense.

What is the most cost effective way to print? ›

Below are a few different ways to reduce printing costs by making simple changes:
  • Use smaller text: Smaller text does two things. ...
  • Lower margins: Similar to using smaller text, changing the size of margins can lower the amount of paper that is used.
  • Test print: ...
  • Double sided printing:

What is the formula to calculate cost? ›

The formula to calculate total cost is the following: TC (total cost) = TFC (total fixed cost) + TVC (total variable cost).

What is the formula for calculating cost price? ›

There are many formulae for finding cost price, but it all depends on the type of question you get. For example, Cost price = Selling price − profit ( when selling price and profit is given ) Cost price = Selling price + loss ( when selling price and loss is given )

What is the formula of cost sheet? ›

Method of Preparation of Cost Sheet
Step IPrime Cost = Direct Material Consumed + Direct Labour + Direct Expenses Direct Material= Material Purchased + Opening stock of raw material-Closing stock of raw material.
Step IVTotal Cost = Cost of Production + Selling and Distribution Overheads
ProfitSales – Total Cost
2 more rows

What is the cost per page for HP printer? ›

HP Color LaserJet and LaserJet Series Printers - Cost Per Page
PrinterEstimated Cost/Page
HP LaserJet 4L, 4mL, 4p, 4mp printerUS$.0267 (2.67 cents)
HP LaserJet 4si, 4siMX printerUS$.0116 (1.16 cents)
HP LaserJet 4v, 4mv printerUS$.0167 (1.67 cents)
HP LaserJet 5L, 5L FS printerUS$.0237 (2.37 cents)
22 more rows

What does cost per page mean on printer? ›

Cost per page is the amount of money that it takes to print a single page through a printer. The printing cost is dependent on various factors such as - ink type, cartridge size, ink usage and others. Several brands offer their printers at lower prices because of the higher printing costs.

How is printer page yield calculated? ›

  1. Take your page coverage and divide it by 5 – e.g if your page coverage is 30% then you do 30 divided by 5 = 6.
  2. Take the manufacturer-stated page yield and divide it by the number you calculated above – e.g the HP Q6000A Black Toner prints 2500 pages so 2500 divided by 6 = 416.6 pages.

References

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