Q and A: Printing and Ink

Home / Parties / Q and A: Printing and Ink

WOW! You have all been asking some great questions – we had no idea there would be so many! We will try to get to them all, but, I think for today we will try to answer your number one question – and that has to do with…

printing and ink

Well, let me give it to you straight… we have put 2 brands of ink jet printer, Epson and HP, through the Paper & Cake wringer. HP wins for us hands down on quality and ink price. We did some research for everyone and here are the numbers, ready?

Printer:
The HP Photo Smart is a fairly middle of the road ink jet printer, you can pick one up for anywhere between $90 and $130 (we also use an HP DeskJet, that came free with our new computer).

HP PhotoSmart Ink:
black cartridge = $19.99 (according to manufacturer, prints an average of 660 pages)
color combo cartridge = $48.00 (according to manufacturer, prints an average of 350 pages)

Break down on a Printable Party for 8 guests:
Fabulous Flowers Birthday = 65 pages
Pirate Birthday = 62 pages
Gothic Halloween (with 20 lanterns) = 112 pages
Peace on Earth Christmas (with oodles of ornaments, centerpiece items, etc…) 99 pages

Total print at home party cost: (all approximate of course)
$0.18 per page for ink (based on manufacturers estimate – also, ink usage will vary from page to page)
$8.00 for expensive package of card stock
$14.95 for average P&C printable party collection

Want a comparison? Here is what we could find:
Custom invitation from Tiny Prints: $21.40 + shipping for 10 invites
Paper pennant banner from Etsy: $28.00 + shipping (includes ribbon)
Paper Birthday crown from BabySakes.com: $13.50 + shipping
Cupcake decor from Meri Meri: $11.95 + shipping

Let me know if you need a translator for all of that! Also, be sure to check out our Facebook page for more answers to your questions.