Many printer and multifunction products (MFP) brands, including Lexmark, use the international industry standards for page yields (ISO/IEC 19752, 19798, and 24711). These standards specify certain page coverage, printer settings and test conditions for declaring print cartridge yields. Although declared yields are useful when comparing devices, you are unlikely to use your printer exactly as it was tested. As a result, your actual page yields may vary considerably from the stated ISO page yields.

Toner cartridge declared yield vs. actual yield

Key factors that can impact your actual page yield performance:

• Page design, image type and toner coverage
• Colour usage and spot colour treatment
• Print quality and toner darkness settings
• Job frequency and job size
• Power on time without printing
• Paper type selection
• Duplex mode
• Paper tray and exit bin settings
• Environmental conditions
• Cartridge management at end of life
• Copy and fax mode settings (MFP)

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It’s also important to understand that toner is used in several functions beyond its use on the printed page, including:

• Start up and calibration processes that prepare the printer to print
• Maintenance requirements when not printing

The ISO/IEC yield testing process is also likely to include fewer non-print toner applications than you typically find in actual business printing applications. For example, some customers use colour toner to create a richer black. You can avoid this feature by changing your printer setting to print or copy only in black.