How Many Pages am I Going to Get Out of this Ink Cartridge?
Whenever a customer purchases a cartridge, the question that always arises is ‘how much printing will I get from this’? The answer can vary based on a variety of factors, but a good first point of reference is ‘Declared Yield’.
What is ‘Declared Yield’?
You’ve probably noticed that many cartridges boast ‘3x MORE PRINTS’ or something similar on the front of the box – XL cartridges especially will have this. This relates to what is called ‘Declared Yield’ i.e. the average amount of pages that the amount of ink or toner in a cartridge will produce.
HP 63 Black cartridge will yield roughly 190 pages, whereas the same cartridge in the XL variety will yield about 480 pages – more than twice as many prints as the former. The simple reason for this is that XL, or ‘High Yield’, cartridges contain more ink/toner, therefore can print more pages. In general, high yield versions are better value for money, though this can vary if you only print very rarely. Many cartridges will advertise the declared yield on the back or side of the box, though this can also be easily found online.
My Cartridge Prints Too Much/Too Little Compared to the Declared Yield
Printing companies have a universal system for testing how many ‘standard pages’ their cartridges yield. These standard test pages are only representative of how much ink/toner is used, and your personal mileage may differ greatly from the Declared Yield. The documents you print at home or at work may be far above or below the average page coverage, and therefore you’ll find your cartridge giving more/less than expected.
Other factors to consider include the type of print job, the media you’re working with and the environmental conditions of your workspace. The important thing to note is that the Declared Yield is simply an average, not a minimum or exact value, and should be used as a guide to what suits your printing needs.
It’s important to note that the methods used for testing standard pages differ between monochrome and colour printers. This shouldn’t be an issue if you only use one or the other, but is good to know to avoid any future headaches.
I Just Bought a Printer and It’s Already Out of Ink!
The majority of printers are packed with the “Starter” cartridges in the machine. This seems convenient, however many customers find themselves short on ink/toner much sooner than expected. This is because the cartridges packed in the printer are ‘introductory’ or ‘starter capacity cartridges’ intended as a mere sample to get you started.
They may appear to be the same size as a regular cartridge, but don’t be fooled! More often than not these cartridges contain only half or a quarter of a standard capacity. They may get you through your first handful of prints however we recommended to grab some normal or extra large cartridges at the same time, this helps prevent any unwelcome surprises when you are printing and suddenly the printer stops in its tracks with no ink.