ISO Page Yields
Use of International Industry Standards
Many original equipment manufacturers of printers and multifunction products (MFPs), including Lexmark, utilize the international industry standards for page yields (ISO/IEC 19752, 19798, and 24711).These standards prescribe certain page coverage, printer settings, and test conditions for declaring print cartridge yields. Although declared yields are useful to compare different brands of printers, customers are not likely to use printers in exactly the manner prescribed for these tests. As a result, the actual page yields that customers experience may vary considerably from the manufacturers’ declared yields.
Inkjet Cartridge Declared Yield vs. Actual Page Yield
Here are some of the leading factors that can affect actual page yield performance in inkjet printers and MFPs:
- Page design, image type, ink coverage and color usage
- Job frequency, job size and time without printing
- Print quality selection
- Paper type selection
- Duplex mode
- Ink usage selection
- Environmental conditions
To learn more about these factors, please see "Understanding Print Cartridge Page Yields"
Not all of the ink that is in an inkjet print cartridge is applied to the printed page. Here are some of the other ways in which ink is used:
- Start up and calibration processes that prepare the printer to print
- Routine maintenance to prevent nozzles from clogging
- Evaporation
- In tri-color cartridges, less-used colors will remain when the most-used color is depleted
- Some ink will remain in the cartridge when it can no longer be used.
The yield testing process defined by ISO/IEC is likely to experience a lower amount of non-print ink usage than actual day-to-day customer printing.
In many settings, color ink is used to create a richer black. Customers can avoid this feature by changing the printer setting to print only in black. In addition, only color inks can be used to print blacks and grays on photo paper.
Toner Cartridge Declared Yield vs. Actual Page Yield
Here are some of the leading factors that can impact affect actual page yield performance in laser printers and MFPs:
- Page design, image type, toner coverage and color usage
- Job frequency, job size and power on time without printing
- Print quality and toner darkness selections
- Paper type selection
- Duplex mode
- Paper tray and exit bin selection
- Environmental conditions
- Spot color
- Copy and fax mode in an MFP
- Cartridge management at end of life
To learn more about these factors, please see "Understanding Print Cartridge Page Yields"
Not all of the toner that is in a laser printer print cartridge is applied to the printed page. Here are some of the other ways in which toner is used:
- Start up and calibration processes that prepare the printer to print
- Maintenance requirements when not printing
- Some toner will remain in the cartridge when it can no longer be used.
The yield testing process defined by ISO/IEC is likely to experience a lower amount of non-print toner usage than actual day-to-day customer printing.
In many settings, color toner is used to create a richer black. Customers can avoid this feature by changing the printer setting to print or copy only in black.
Download these documents to learn more:
To learn more about your printer's toner usage, download the Color Toner Usage Document.
To learn more about your printer's ink usage, download the Color Ink Usage Document.