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Questions like the above come to us more often than not lately.

Despite the fact that we consider the cost of ink to be of minimum importance when compared to the other factors (time/labour costs/substrate costs/other consumables/power) that constitute the formula which gives us an average cost concerning our craft and passion, we feel it is our responsibility towards our customers/followers, to provide them with a level of certainty concerning the subject.

In that direction we have consulted with our trusted affiliate, Kodak, in order to come up with an average, approximate ink consumption for a given print size.

Since the majority of those questions are related to our new wide format DTF PRO Panthera V2 model (https://dtgpro.com/cicproduct/dtf-pro-panthera-v2-dtf.php), we considered it fair to use it in order to come up with our results.

Here is what we have found out:

For a typical front-chest 12’’ X 12’’ image, the quantity of DTG ink that would be consumed is 2ml colour and 5ml white ink.

This makes for a 12’’X 12’’ = 144 square inches printable area, for a total of 7ml (2+5) ink usage.

Hence, the ink consumption per printed inch would be 7ml / 144 = 0.0486ml

Now, if we would like to apply the above to a much smaller, logo sized 2.5’’ X 2.5’’ = 6.25 square inches image, the respective ink consumption would be 0.0868ml for colour ink and 0.217ml for white ink, summing in 0.3038ml.

With the above being made clear, we should keep in mind that DTF uses approximately 20%-30% less ink than DTG does. This means that the ink required for each printed square inch in DTF would be somewhere between 0.034ml and 0.0388ml respectively.

For the purpose of this informative article, we will take for granted that DTF uses on average 25% less ink than DTG. Calculated ink consumption for DTF is then 0.0364ml per square inch.

Continuing, we will consider the retail prices for DTG and DTF inks, as these are shown at dtgpro.com

DTG PRO ink (Liter size)

1lt of DTGPRO colour ink costs $79.99

1lt of DTGPRO white ink costs $119.99

DTF PRO ink (Liter size)

1lt of DTFPRO colour ink costs $79.99

1lt of DTFPRO white ink costs $94.99

The table below shows the respective cost for DTG printing according to our discussion.

DTG PRINTING
SIZE(INCH) AREA IN SQ. INCHES CONSUMPTION -COLOR $COST-COLOR CONSUMPTION-WHITE $COST-WHITE $TOTAL INK COST
2.5 X 2.5 6.25 0.0868ml $0.0069 0.2170ml $0.026 $0.0329
12 X12 144 2ml $0.1599 5ml 0.3999 $0.5598

This table shows the cost for the same prints, using DTF.

DTF PRINTING
SIZE(INCH) AREA IN SQ. INCHES CONSUMPTION -COLOR $COST-COLOR CONSUMPTION-WHITE $COST-WHITE $TOTAL INK COST
2.5 X 2.5 6.25 0.0651ml $0.0052 0.1627ml $0.0154 $0.0206
12 X12 144 1.5ml $0.1199 3.75ml $0.3562 $0.4761

Those being fairly low numbers, we hope it is made apparent that experimenting with very low-cost inks which may carry limited credibility/quality, most probably does not worth our time, effort and risk included.

Focusing on making the best out of our printers’ and software’s capabilities/qualities, and putting our effort towards constantly delivering better quality products to our customers, that would provide more value to everyone involved, especially to our craft’s ongoing development.

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