Ink Coverage Calculator
Estimate ink and toner usage from percentage coverage for printing cost calculations.
Enter your cartridge specs and coverage to estimate real yield and cost.
Enter values above to see estimated yield and cost.
Ink/toner cartridge yields are rated at 5% page coverage (industry standard). Actual usage varies with how much of the page is covered.
Formula:
- Adjusted yield = rated yield × (5% / actual coverage %)
Example (metric and imperial): A cartridge rated for 2,000 pages at 5% coverage:
- At 10% coverage: 2,000 × (5/10) = 1,000 pages
- At 20% coverage: 2,000 × (5/20) = 500 pages
- At 2% coverage: 2,000 × (5/2) = 5,000 pages
Typical coverage levels:
| Content Type | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Light text only | 2–3% |
| Standard text | 5% |
| Text with some graphics | 10–15% |
| Graphics-heavy documents | 20–30% |
| Photos / full-page images | 50–100% |
Cost per page:
- Cost per page = cartridge price / adjusted yield
These are estimates. Actual yields depend on printer model, print quality settings, and content type.