What is 5% average page coverage?

5% is the estimated amount of coverage on the printed page and is a standard percentage for comparing prices and print yields. It is used to see approximate prices on ink cartridges

The figure is used to estimate the number of pages an ink cartridge or toner cartridge can print.



What does an average 5% coverage look like?

Most websites use comparable printing statistics to compare printer toner and ink cartridges to an "average 5% coverage".



The measurement was based on the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) for calculating the yield on an average letter of documents.



Standards allow producers and manufacturers to predict approximate page yields before the ink or toner dries.



Tested on specific printers under comparable conditions, we can give some examples of average page yields using the black and white ink cartridges.



The average 5% coverage is supposed to be used as a guideline and as some comparison of data and page yields, however all of this can be changed by various factors such as:

Font type

Font weight (bold, normal, light)

Font size

Page width

Color usage



For example, if you buy a black ink cartridge that prints 220 pages at an average 5% coverage and you only get 150 pages out of the cartridge,

The reasons why this happens are as follows:

You only print occasionally – The ink residue may have dried up in your cartridge due to lack of use. There may still be ink in the cartridge, clean the cartridge and place it in lukewarm water to try to get the ink flowing.

You print a lot of documents with bold text, nice borders and add graphics and stripes – all of these will add to the print coverage and cost you more ink per page.

You regularly print at an average coverage of over 5%.

If you print at an average coverage of over 5%, say 10%, your page yield will be halved to about 75 pages. 20% would be halved again to about 37 pages.



How to get the best page coverage?

When printing, look at some of your formatting when printing your pages. If you want to get the best value, follow these simple tips.



Use simple formatting and limit the amount of underlined, bold text

Experiment with different fonts and font sizes, depending on your document and what you need from it.

Do you need larger text, or can it be smaller but still readable?

Do you need a border, image, or graphic that can be used without it?

Check other printers to see if changing your printer can save you money.