Ever noticed that your original or compatible cartridges are not yielding the quoted number of pages? Ever wondered why the printing companies offer multiple cartridge types for the same printer?

Standard ISO page yields are quoted both by the printing companies for their cartridges and by us for our compatible cartridges and toner kits. They are based on a number of ISO/IEC standards. These standards vary slightly depending on printer type (inkjet, monochrome laser, color laser) but are based primarily around a 5% page coverage. This means that if you primarily print heavy text or pictures, it is entirely normal that you get a lot less pages than the advertised yield! For example, if you print pages that are 25% covered, with a cartridge or toner kit that will yield 2000 pages, you should get around 500 pages before the cartridge runs dry.

If you print pages like this, you will use much more ink and toner than the standard, especially black.

The ISO standards are also based on a continuous print job. Cartridges are tested by printing a standard page set over and over until dry. This means that cleanings (for inkjet printers) are not accounted for in the page yield. Frequent cleanings arising from infrequent use of your printer can greatly affect the number of pages you can print and your cost per page. This is one of the key advantages of a laser printer!

The printing companies often offer high-yield or "XL" cartridges which are bigger and contain more ink or toner than the regular-sized versions. It is, therefore, important to know which cartridges your particular printer model accepts and to look for the solution that offers you the lowest cost per page. Furthermore, it is much more convenient to refill a high-yield cartridge less often with more ink each time than it is to refill a regular-yield cartridge more often with less ink.

Our compatible cartridges are always filled with the same amount of ink or toner as the originals. It is only natural that they should provide the same number of pages. Our toner kits are usually designed around the page yield of the original cartridges they are compatible for. This is primarily because the cartridges themselves can only hold that much toner.