Here is the Incartek Cost of Ownership (Cost of Printing Model)

Having been in the inkjet cartridge business for many years.  (In fact I used to run Europe's largest master distributor), I know a thing about the costs of printing.  Also, all printer manufacturers' models base their calculations only on their own supplies - of course!  So our model takes the inkjet cartridge and paper supplies (original and compatible) from your supplier and makes a comparison.

Here is what the worksheet looks like:

We don't recommend your buying the cheapest - but normally the best value for money is from the good compatible suppliers and remanufacturers.  Some are sub-standard - and the OEM's will shout about that:  but some are very good.  I use them even for my PhotoArt albums (but there is only one manufacturer whose cartridges I would use there!).

The example shown is for an Epson R300. The model has to be primed with typical printer duty cycle (no of sheets printed during lifetime) and cartridge usage. This can be obtained from the OEM's website - but are sometimes difficult to find. It also took the prices for cartridges and paper from Viking direct - which was relatively expensive on compatibles.

The results show how much the cost can vary - and what is the most important cost.

You will see that the type of printing (and the paper used) has the biggest bearing on cost of printing.

Reducing the cost of ink reduces the cost of printing - of course - but not by as much as one might have thought - why because as you use more ink you are using more expensive paper. (Assuming that you use good photo-glossy paper to print photos).


An £130 printer typically ended up costing its user £2000 over its life - printing about 25% of its output on photos and specialities - i.e. about 250 out of 1000 sheets a month.

Here are summary figures - and a print-out from the model (slightly modified)