Ink Consumption Calculator

A specialized calculator for security printing and specialty ink industries.

Formula

Consumption (g) = Area (m²) × Coverage (%) × Ink Density (g/m²) × Substrate Factor

Supported Printing Methods

Offset Printing

Method	Density (g/m²)	Viscosity
Sheet-fed	0.7 - 1.5	40-100 Pa·s
Heat-set	0.8 - 1.4	40-100 Pa·s
Cold-set	0.6 - 1.2	40-100 Pa·s

UV Printing

Method	Density (g/m²)	Viscosity
UV Offset	0.9 - 1.6	5-20 Pa·s
UV Flexo	0.9 - 2.5	0.4-1.0 Pa·s
Process	0.9 - 1.4	-
Screen Fine	0.9 - 1.0	-
Screen Coarse	1.2 - 1.5	-
Lines Coarse	1.5 - 2.0	-
Solid Areas	1.5 - 2.5	-

Other Methods

Method	Density (g/m²)	Viscosity
Solvent Flexo	1.0 - 2.0	0.1-0.5 Pa·s
Gravure	1.5 - 4.0	0.01-0.1 Pa·s
Screen	5.0 - 20.0	1-10 Pa·s
Digital UV	1.0 - 2.0	0.01-0.05 Pa·s
Digital Aqueous	0.8 - 1.5	0.001-0.01 Pa·s
Digital Solvent	1.2 - 2.0	0.01-0.05 Pa·s

Security Inks

Method	Density (g/m²)	Application
OVI	2.0 - 4.0	Screen/Offset
IR Ink	1.5 - 3.0	Security features
UV Fluorescent	1.0 - 2.5	Authentication
Magnetic	2.0 - 4.0	MICR encoding

Features

• 15+ Printing Methods: Offset, UV, Flexo, Gravure, Screen, Digital, Security inks
• UV Flexo Variants: Process, Screen (Fine/Coarse), Lines (Fine/Coarse), Solid Areas
• Substrate Factors: Coated/Uncoated paper, Cardboard, Plastic, Metallized, Security paper
• Pantone Mixing: CMYK + Orange/Green/Violet/Special with cost calculation
• Technical Reference: Industry standard data (ISO/TS 19857, ATEC standards)
• Export: CSV and JSON formats

Installation

# Run setup
setup.bat

# Or manually
python -m venv ink_calculator_env
ink_calculator_env\Scripts\pip install streamlit pandas

Usage

# Start application
start.bat

Open http://localhost:8501 in your browser.

Data Sources

• ISO/TS 19857 - Colour and transparency of printing ink sets
• ATEC UV Flexo technical specifications
• Industry research papers on ink consumption
• Manufacturer datasheets (Daihei, ATECE, TOKA, etc.)

File Structure

.
├── ink_calculator.py      # Main application (~32KB)
├── start.bat              # Windows launcher
├── setup.bat              # Installation script
└── README.md

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Streamlit
• Pandas

References

1. ISO/TS 19857:2021 - Graphic technology — Colour and transparency of printing ink sets for four-colour printing
2. ATECE UV Flexo Technical Data Sheets
3. Color-Logic FAQ on ink coverage calculations
4. Research: "Effects of ink consumption on print quality" (Cellulose Chem. Technol.)