The amount of ink used by a inkjet printer depends on the type of document printed. A vendor's estimate of cartridge yield is typically based on a business document with 3 to 5% coverage. If you print full pages, the estimates are not going to be accurate.


Page Coverage Examples:



FAQs on 5% coverage:

Q: Should I expect same number of pages as reported yield with my printer?
A: User applications running at approximately 5% page coverage under normal office operating conditions can expect on average to experience yields that are fairly close to the ISO declared yields. Home users though may not get same yield, since home printing tends to be much more high coverage graphics, which reduces yields.

Q: What are the factors that will impact the user's yields the most?
A: The most important factor affecting yield is page coverage. It is not unusual for office or home usage to run above or below that 5% average. In general, pages with significant dark, shaded, or colored areas (logos or pictures) or a large amount of fine print will generate area coverage much higher than 5%.

Other factors that can reduce cartridge yield include:

• higher temperature or higher humidity levels where the printer operates (can cause evaporation or clogging of the print jets)
  
• higher print resolution setting (which causes more dots to be printed per inch resulting in higher density).

Color coverage varies by product class, but is generally much higher than black-and-white products. Letter/A4-size color printers and MFPs (Multi-function printers) can have average page coverage in the 7 to 15% range. Tabloid/A3-size color printers and MFPs tend to drive higher color page coverage in the range of 10 to 30% in office environments. In the home, coverage can be anywhere between 5% to 65% since home users tend to be less aware of options and use best quality regardless of need.