The old HP 12C helps out<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In my piece on framing Really Big Prints<\/a> I guessed at the cost of ink used by that frugal beast, the Hewlett Packard DesignJet 90<\/a> printer.<\/p>\n Well, in the HP engineering spirit, I whipped out the old 12C and set to work.<\/p>\n Checking the ink levels on the printer showed the following:<\/p>\n Yellow 3\/4 full Now as the level in each cartridge is reported in one quarter steps, I averaged 3\/4 full to mean 5\/8 full (i.e. half way between 3\/4 and 1\/2) and so on, making for ink use aggregating 2.5 cartridges.<\/p>\n Production?<\/p>\n 13 18″ x 24″ prints and 27 13″ x 19″ prints, or 12,285 sq. in.<\/p>\n With cartridges averaging $35 (the prices differ, strangely, according to color), that works out to $87.50 in ink, or $1.75 for a 13″ x 19″ and $3.07 for an 18″ x 24″.<\/p>\n So my $4 ink cost-per-print estimate in that earlier journal entry was a tad high. You can make an 18″ x 24″ print with the HP DesignJet, paper included, for the price of a hamburger-and-fries at the local fast food joint.<\/p>\n The HP DesignJet dye-based series of printers (30, 90, 130) are frugal, indeed, when it comes to ink use. I cannot express how pleased I am with this large printer and, in truth, rather regret not having bought the 24″ carriage model, though how I would handle mounting and framing 24″ x 36″ monsters in 32″ x 42″ frames boggles the mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The old HP 12C helps out. In my piece on framing Really Big Prints I guessed at the cost of ink used by that frugal beast, the Hewlett Packard DesignJet 90 printer. Well, in the HP engineering spirit, I whipped out the old 12C and set to work. Checking the ink levels on the printer … Continue reading HP ink costs<\/span>
\nBlack Full
\nMagenta 3\/4
\nCyan 3\/4
\nLight Magenta 1\/2
\nLight Cyan 1\/2<\/p>\n