How many pages per print cartridge?
There is no single page count for a cartridge. Manufacturers publish an estimated yield per cartridge model, tested to a standard, but your actual total depends on what you print, your settings, paper and printer condition. Compare yields alongside price before buying.
Every cartridge box or product listing carries a page figure, and it is tempting to treat that number as a promise. It is better understood as an estimate produced under a standard test, not a guarantee of what your printer will produce at home or in the office. Once you see the figure that way, it becomes genuinely useful: it lets you compare one cartridge against another on roughly equal terms.
[1][2]What the printed yield figure actually means
HP, for example, has published cartridge yields based on ISO/IEC 24711 testing with continuous printing of mixed text and graphics pages. For the HP Photosmart B8500 series, HP listed the 364XL black cartridge at 800 standard pages and the 364XL colour cartridges at 750 standard pages, while the standard-capacity HP 364 black was listed at 250 pages and the colours at 300 pages. HP notes that actual yield varies considerably depending on the content of printed pages and other factors, and that some ink from an included cartridge is used when starting up the printer. Those particular figures come from an older HP page-yield listing, so check the current product page for your own cartridge, but the principle stands: the published figure is a like-for-like comparison tool, not a forecast of your personal total.
[2]Why two cartridges with the same code can behave differently
- Content: pages dense with graphics or photos use more ink than plain text. HP's guidance on large format printing notes that printing in colour can use around four times as much ink as black and white.
- Resolution and quality settings: higher-resolution prints require more ink, so HP suggests using the lowest resolution that still gives acceptable image quality.
- Paper: thicker or glossier papers require more ink than lighter or matt paper, and HP notes paper type has an effect on page yield.
- Printer condition: HP recommends following maintenance instructions and regularly cleaning the printhead to get the most from a cartridge.
- Environment: temperature and humidity can affect cartridge life, according to HP's large format printing guidance.
A worked comparison: standard versus XL
Take the HP 364 range as an illustration. The standard black cartridge was rated at 250 pages and the 364XL black at 800 pages. As a purely hypothetical example, if both were available at the same price per cartridge, the XL would clearly carry the lower cost per rated page: at £10 each, the standard works out at 4 pence per rated page and the XL at 1.25 pence. But the comparison only holds if you actually print enough to use the larger cartridge before it ages, and if the codes match your printer exactly. The same logic applies when shopping across retailers: the Ink Compared catalogue shows yield information on listings such as a Canon PG-585XL black rated at 300 pages and a Canon CLI-526 cyan rated at 462 pages under ISO/IEC 24711, alongside toner listings such as a Canon 055H black rated at 7,600 pages under ISO/IEC 19752. Toner and ink yields are not directly comparable, but within one cartridge type the rated figure is your starting point for cost-per-page arithmetic.
[2][3]How to use yield when comparing prices
- Find the full cartridge code, including the XL or H suffix, because a similar-looking code can be a different capacity variant.
- Note the rated page yield and the ISO test standard named on the listing, where one is given.
- Divide the item price by the rated yield to get a rough cost per rated page, remembering delivery may be extra and prices can change at the retailer.
- Check your exact printer model on the retailer page; a brand name alone does not establish compatibility.
- Compare offers for the same code across retailers rather than comparing different codes on price alone.
One caution: HP notes that each major printer manufacturer has its own internal methods for calculating page yield, and that the estimated number of prints listed against a product is only a reference. A 300-page rating from one brand and a 300-page rating from another are both standardised estimates, but they come from different product families. Treat the number as a planning aid, then track how long a cartridge actually lasts in your own printer if you want a reliable personal figure.
[1][2]A practical next step: look up your cartridge code, note its rated yield and the cheapest current offer for that exact code, and work out the cost per rated page before you buy. That single calculation usually tells you more than any headline price.
[3]Sources and dates
- https://largeformat.hp.com/gb-en/blog/how-many-pages-will-large-format-ink-cartridges-print · accessed 2026-10-18
- http://www.hp.com/pageyield/uk/en/PSB8500/index.html · accessed 2026-10-18
- https://inkcompared.com/ · accessed 2026-10-18