> > It is fairly common for printer manufacturers, when stating the number > of copies one can expect to obtain from a toner cartridge, to specify a > standard density of printing, e.g., "the cartdridge will print xx,xxx > copies at five percent density". Does anyone have any information on > the density of music--what a typical density for a hymnal page, compared > to a choral octavo, compared to a piano score, compared to string > quartet, compared to a single instrumental part. > > In the event no one has any information on such comparisons, is anyone > aware of an inexpensive shareware program which would open a printer > file, and process it, calculating the density of coverage? > > I hypothesize that music is perhaps only 20 to 40 percent as dense as > text, that is, where a standard page of a text document might be five > percent density, that a page of music might be only one or two, and > therefore, the number of pages one could print from a single cartridge > might be significantly higher than the manufacturer's number. > > ns
You might be right, though based on my own experience I have been holding the opposite hypothesis, i.e., that the average page of (my) music is closer to 7% density. I use my HP LJ5000 mostly (though not exclusively) for printing music, and the toner cartridge is rated for 10,000 pages at an average density of 5% (supposedly the average business letter). I've been getting an average of just over 7000 pages per cartridge, and believe me, I wring every last bit of usable toner out of the thing. Now obviously this will depend on the type of music you're printing; mine are orchestral scores and parts and use mostly standard fonts, and it's probably reasonable that these have less white space than the average business letter. I also don't use the economy mode, which saves toner (the page rating is based on the default setting, which is off). I don't know of any software that can calculate print density, which would be an interesting thing to learn. I suppose that with a constant light source, a photocell, and a voltmeter, you could measure the density of toner on a given page (after calibrating both a blank sheet of paper and an all-black sheet). But the most accurate measure of the per sheet cost of toner is to use one up, which for me comes to about $0.02/sheet. Lee Actor Composer-in-Residence and Assistant Conductor, Palo Alto Philharmonic http://www.leeactor.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
