Costing Of Sublimation Ink Used

[christine71]

Can anyone tell me how to correctly work out how much ink I am using cost wise on say a A4 or A3 image.
I have search the internet and can't seem to find a correct answer. I am using a Ricoh 7100 printer if this is any help

Thanks for any help

[pisquee]

you know the cost of the full cart
you can weigh a cart when it is new and full
you can weigh a cart when empty
From this you can work out the weight of ink compared to the capacity of the cart in ml
from this you can weigh the carts before a big print job, and work out how much ink in ml you have used and the cost, and use that to make an average/estimate of your cost per A3 page

[pw66]

Buy an Epson with Inktec ink and you won't care about the ink cost. Literally fractions of a penny per A3 sheet.

[pisquee]

Well, yes and no
We use a large format Epson with InkTec inks and their transfer paper, and when you're printing metres of fabric then the cost of the ink and sublimation paper does matter, even though it's way cheaper than Sawgrass, - hence I came up with the weighing the carts thing to have an estimate of ink costs per square metre.

[pw66]

Well, yes and no
We use a large format Epson with InkTec inks and their transfer paper, and when you're printing metres of fabric then the cost of the ink and sublimation paper does matter, even though it's way cheaper than Sawgrass, - hence I came up with the weighing the carts thing to have an estimate of ink costs per square metre.

I agree to a certain extent, when printing large images as you are. However it is still of limited relevance - the cost of the paper far outweighs cost of ink. As there is a close correlation between paper size and ink use as long as you are costing your paper correctly then you will always be on the correct side of the ink cost.

To answer christine71's question less flipantly than I originally did - even if you print A3 size full colour prints with high ink coverage you are looking at ink cost of less than 10% of the paper cost (Inktec Sublinova and Epson). As long as you charge enough for the paper you will be on the right side.

The numbers change very drastically if you use Ricoh printers. Inktec for the Epson cost about £36 + vat per litre. Ricoh cartridges with Sawgrass ink work out at about £840 +vat per litre ( black) and £925 + vat for colours.

Hence my comments about using Epson printers. Or check out Ink Experts own Ricoh ink.

https://www.inkexperts.co.uk/product-ca ... for-ricoh/

[pisquee]

I agree to a certain extent, when printing large images as you are. However it is still of limited relevance - the cost of the paper far outweighs cost of ink. As there is a close correlation between paper size and ink use as long as you are costing your paper correctly then you will always be on the correct side of the ink cost.

We have the costs per linear metre for the paper, along with the costs for filling that area, as most of our work is printed textiles which do fill the page with lots of ink - they are separate lines on the costings spreadsheet, along with everything else. You could extrapolate your argument to say no of the material costs need factoring, as it's the labour which is the main cost, and then all of it is irrelevant as they bare no relation to the RRP on some of the products, but knowing your costings is important when you have to buy some more rolls of paper, or more sets of litres - the cash flow side of things is important too for restocking, aside from knowing how much the paper and ink cost is for a cocktail chair.

[pw66]

We have the costs per linear metre for the paper, along with the costs for filling that area, as most of our work is printed textiles which do fill the page with lots of ink - they are separate lines on the costings spreadsheet, along with everything else. You could extrapolate your argument to say no of the material costs need factoring, as it's the labour which is the main cost, and then all of it is irrelevant as they bare no relation to the RRP on some of the products, but knowing your costings is important when you have to buy some more rolls of paper, or more sets of litres - the cash flow side of things is important too for restocking, aside from knowing how much the paper and ink cost is for a cocktail chair.

We will have to agree to differ on that.
I still maintain that - as long you know the cost of the paper - the ink costs are such that they can be adequately approximated according to the area/quantity of paper used and accounted for within the mark-up on the paper.

Unless the company is mass producing on very tight margins then it is unlikely that the ink cost is critical to the nearest penny. In the vast majority of cases it is not necessary to know the precise costs on a job by job basis. Knowing that one linear metre/A3/A4 of printed product costs x ( or more importantly charged at x ) is likely to be close enough. Ink costs are so relatively low in relation to the paper that they can prudently be costed at a 'worst case' price, to keep you on the right side.

[christine71]

Thank you for your answers. I have a Ricoh 7100 and a Ricoh 3300. Can I convert these over to a cheaper ink than the sawgrass ink. Or will I need to purchase a new A3 Epson Printer.
Would the following work in my A3 printer


https://www.inkexperts.co.uk/product/co ... set-empty/

[pw66]

Here is the link for the full kit, including ink and profile. Less than the cost of one sawgrass cartridge.
https://www.inkexperts.co.uk/product/su ... -printers/

If you contact the guys at Ink Experts I am sure they will talk you through the options.