Average Ink Cost

[exsigns]

Hello,
I was wondering what is your overall general self-cost on ink per foot printed

- on new Roland printers w/eco-sol max
- on new Mimaki JV3 & JV5 w/eco-sol
(54" & up models)

Also is it true that Mimaki is so much much much faster printer than Roland?
someone told me that in FINE mode (720x720) Mimaki prints as much as 4-5 times that Roland can print at the same time?

Reason for asking is I'm going to buy another brand new printer soon mainly for banners (no countur cutting) & want to choose fastest\lowest $ to print & operate machine

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!!!

[BDodson827]

I've also wondered that if there was some sort equation for figuring out ink usage.

[slangsc]

I think a light to medium coverage print comes out to be around 1cc/sf. You have to do the math from there. Figure more or less ink depending on your production. I can print 720x720 at 75 sf/hr and can bump it up to 4-pass mode to get around 150 sf/hr. But if I'm going to print in 4-pass mode then I usually use the 360x720 resolution. It still looks great. I build my own profiles and use an online dryer to get this kind of speed. I'm not sure OEM inks are getting there.

If what they say about the new JV5 is true, I would definately check it out.

And the bulk ink, for me, is about 1/2 the cost of the MAX ink in 220 carts.

[GraphiXtreme]

This is from the NuSign site:

Roland VersaCAMM Bulk Ink System 4-color (4L ink) $1,595.00

NuSign Supply is proud to offer to the wide format printing community a revolutionary bulk ink delivery system, the EasyFill Pro™, that will substantially increase and enhance your productivity. This ink supply system for ink-jet printers has built-in level control and includes in-line filters and connecting tubes to the printer.

By using the EasyFill Pro™ system, you can avoid continued use of OEM cartridges, therefore reducing your company’s dependency on the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). In addition, you avoid needing to swap cartridges in the middle of a print job, which will increase your productivity and save time and money. By using Triangle's bulk inks, which come in 1-liter bottles instead of 220cc cartridges, you will enjoy dramatic cost savings over OEM ink.

FEATURES
• Easy to install and operate
• No modification to the printer required
• No bulky stand, attaches directly to printer
• Allows individual ink height adjustments to improve ink pressure control
• Increase productivity - can be refilled during printing
• Color and Density Consistency
• Profiles for Color Rip, Flexi and VersaWorks
• Constant ink level (even during refilling) for long production time
• Comes equipped with in-line ink filters
• Configurations available for 4,6,8 colors
• Competitively priced

ESTIMATED PRINTING COSTS
• $0.15 per SQFT at 720x720 dpi
• $0.12 per SQFT at 360x720 dpi
• $0.07 per SQFT at 360x360 dpi

[israel@compugraphimaging.]

There is a very usefull option in Onyx Poster Shop to calculate the ink cost per job, all you have to do is to enter once the cost per ml. (calculate cost per cartridge divided into ml contents).

It's a good idea to add a few cents extra to the cost to cover all that waste prints & maitenence supplies.

Than, when you have your job open in Preflight, at the print tab look for the optio "Calculate ink usage" - Now you will know exactly the cost of ink used at ea. job.

Israel Gluck