Introduction
The inkjet cost calculator is an online tool which calculates ink and printhead usage per job and delivers a cost estimate to the user in PDF and CSV formats.
Each user can configure the tool for their own inkjet heads and ink costs.
If you use a Xitron RIP to drive your inkjet device then this tool will certainly work for you. If you do not use a Xitron RIP, the tool may still work for you, depending on what your inkjet heads are.
Contact your Xitron representative to find out if this tool will work for you.
Video
How to get the cost calculator
There is no installation. Just open a browser. We suggest Chrome. If you are on a Mac it seems to work in Safari just fine as well.
We have confirmed it works with Chrome and MS Edge for Windows and with Safari and Chrome for Mac.
The cost calculator is incompatible with MS Explorer v11.
You'll need login credentials to use the tool. If you need login credentials, contact your printer manufacturer or Xitron.
Login at http://costcalculator.ink/ or http://multibit.costcalculator.ink/.. The first one is for printheads with a single drop size, such as Memjet heads. The second is for printheads with multiple drop sizes, such as Kyocera.
Configurating the tool for your device.
You will need to enter data so that a proper calculation can be made.
The data you need to enter are:
1. your price for ink (per liter)
2. the average droplet size of your inkjet heads (in picoliters)
3. any per job waste that you wish to account for (e.g. printhead servicing between jobs)
4. printhead cost
5. printhead life (in terms of liters of ink run through the printheads)
The numbers we have in our example are made up. They don't represent any pricing that we know of. If these prices are better than yours, we apologize.
Using the Cost Calculator
You will be confronted with a simple user interface for choosing a job, a paper profile, and a quantity.
For the example, I will drag and drop a PDF file onto the box labeled <Drop PDF here>. You can also click "Browse" and pick your file with your computer's operating system.
I will change the paper profile to the profile that most closely matches that which I intend to use for this job and pick a quantity.
Make sure to pick a paper profile which matches your output resolution and your paper type. The quantity is simply a multiplier for the purposes of the quote. If you upload a one page job and pick a quantity of 5000, we will calculate the cost of the one page job and multiply that by 5000.
Pick a report style.
Click "Estimate Job Cost".
This window appears:
We will process the file and produce a report.
You can enjoy the report and its many data points three ways. As an on-screen representation (shown above), as a PDF or as a CSV file.
If you choose to export the data as PDF or CSV, you will be given the opportunity to name the file before saving. This would be a good place to put the job name or job number.
That is all!
Appendix. A break down of the data provided by the tool:
Total drops counted in the job:
Total ink coverage (percent)
Total ink used; in picoliters, microliters, and cubic centimeters (or milliliters):
Cost of the ink for the job, as submitted. (further explanation: If you submit a job with 50 or fewer pages this will be the ink cost for one copy of the job. If you submit a job with more than 50 pages, this will be the ink cost for the first 50 pages of the job. If you want to get an estimate for a 5000 page job, you can use the quantity field to create a multiplier. e.g. put a quantity of 100 in the quantity field to get the system to multiply 50x100 and give you a cost estimate for a 5000 page run.
Printhead usage cost:
Quantity (as entered by the user)
Total cost (job cost and printhead cost x quantity)
A page by page breakdown:
Putting it all together then . . .
