Estimate Ink Mass for a Screen-Print Run From Your Laydown Rate — Free
A print run multiplies the image area many times over. Apply your measured ink laydown rate to each copy and total the theoretical mass before mixing a batch.
The proof surface
Embroidery thread-yield tools estimate cut length. This weigh ticket estimates wet ink mass from printed area, impressions and a rate measured on your own screen and substrate.
Why the flat version breaks
Counting the blank sheet as printed area
Only count the area covered by this ink pass.
Reusing a rate from another screen setup
Mesh, squeegee angle, substrate and ink change transfer.
Treating the estimate as an exact mix quantity
Test, weigh and follow the ink maker’s handling and disposal directions.
How to work the ink-run weigh ticket
Add the areas that receive this ink colour, not the full blank sheet if much of it stays unprinted. Use square centimetres.
Enter grams per square metre from a test or shop record for this ink, mesh, squeegee and substrate. It is not a universal consumption rate.
The conversion is area in cm² × impressions × g/m² ÷ 10,000. A 500 cm² area over 100 impressions at 80 g/m² estimates 400 g.
Actual pickup, reclaim, screen loss, opacity and cleanup change the amount. Add any shop-defined allowance separately; this result is a baseline, not a recipe.
What the ink-run weigh ticket replaces
| Question | Before | Visible working |
|---|---|---|
| Counting the blank sheet as printed area | Only count the area covered by this ink pass. | Use a process-specific laydown rate |
| Reusing a rate from another screen setup | Mesh, squeegee angle, substrate and ink change transfer. | Multiply across the run |
| Treating the estimate as an exact mix quantity | Test, weigh and follow the ink maker’s handling and disposal directions. | Mix a measured test batch |
A local arithmetic aid replaces hand calculation, not expert review. No paid AI service is needed.
Run it on the samples, right here
FIRST-LOAD
Input is processed locally and a draft is saved automatically in this browser profile when storage is available. Reset to sample clears that draft; Pro history has its own clear button. A state link encodes your inputs in its URL: share only non-sensitive rows. Browser history, clipboard and anyone receiving the link may retain it. Optional AI use below leaves this device; it is not required.
Production arithmetic only, not a chemical handling, ventilation, disposal or print-quality instruction. Follow the ink safety data sheet and shop procedures, and use a qualified print technician for exposure controls. It does not calculate screen cleanup, solvent exposure or reclaimed ink.
Data note: Everything runs in this browser tab on the ink-run weigh ticket: your job | printed area per copy cm² | impressions stays on this device, nothing is uploaded, and the reading is rebuilt only when you press run.
Go deeper: the companion app files the same reading as a stapled evidence packet
The article demo above runs without limits. The companion app keeps a local history, exports the rows as CSV, prints the ink-run weigh ticket reading, and holds your drafts on this device — one free run, then $ 4 one-time for the layer that keeps filing.
The ink-run weigh ticket reading is complete for free. The optional $4 layer adds print, row CSV and the last five local reading summaries; it does not add hidden answers. Checkout is not configured yet; the article demo remains unlimited.
Open the estimate ink mass for a screen-print run from your laydown rate companionBoundary
Production arithmetic only, not a chemical handling, ventilation, disposal or print-quality instruction. Follow the ink safety data sheet and shop procedures, and use a qualified print technician for exposure controls. It does not calculate screen cleanup, solvent exposure or reclaimed ink.
What this is built on
- Method: the equation is stated next to the result and uses only quantities entered by the reader.
- All sample records are invented examples. No standard, tariff, product rate, schedule or policy is fetched or represented as verified.
- For any threshold or rule, use the current value from the provider, handbook or qualified professional responsible for it.
Before: Only count the area covered by this ink pass. After: the ink-run weigh ticket shows the working beside each named row so the reader can change the assumption and inspect the consequence.
Optional AI formatting, not calculation
For this ink-run weigh ticket, an external AI text tool may help format non-sensitive notes if you already use one. No AI service or account is required: manual entry completes the same free core calculation. Do not paste private or sensitive data. Review every value against the source before using it.
Format my non-sensitive notes for a ink-run weigh ticket. Return plain rows only: job | printed area per copy cm² | impressions. Preserve supplied quantities exactly. Do not guess missing values; list questions separately. Do not calculate or add advice. I will check every row before pasting into the local tool.
Accepted schema: job | printed area per copy cm² | impressions. No AI response is executed as code.
Walk three labelled examples
First reading. The invented sample Two-colour test area | 500 | 100 uses ink laydown in grams per square metre = 80. The displayed total theoretical ink mass is 400.00000 grams of ink. Follow the row note back to the measurements and conversion rather than treating the headline number as a recommendation. The sample is deliberately concrete so the reader can reproduce the arithmetic by hand.
Changed assumption. The alternate input Badge run | 300 | 50 produces 120.00000 grams of ink for the displayed summary. Compare it with the first reading to see which entered quantity moves the result. In a real plan, change only the assumption that has a traceable source; do not tune a value just to make a row pass.
Boundary case. With Single print area | 250 | 1 and the same setting, the worked result is 2.00000 grams of ink. This case shows how the arithmetic behaves at a useful edge, not that the underlying process has been measured or verified. Check the boundary statement beside the result and confirm any consequential input with the responsible person before acting.