Why is there so much paper left over in my Photo Printer?

Oh no! The ribbon in my media kit ran out before the paper, is something wrong?

The purpose of this blog post is to explain why there is paper left over after you run out of the ribbon in your media kit. The comforting thing is “there is nothing wrong.” The manufacturer of dye-sub photo printers build in extra paper in your kit so do not be alarmed.

We get calls from people new to dye sub printers asking why there is paper left over after the ribbon runs out. The caller usually thinks there may be something wrong with their printer. Let me put your mind as ease. When you turn your printer off and on, the printer has to go through a calibration process which requires the paper roll to sync with the ribbon. To do this, the printer will eject some blank sheets of paper. The extra paper needs to be on the roll, so there is no cost to the calibration process.

Regardless of which professional dye sub printer you have, there will be paper left over after the ribbon runs out. (Check out our Printer Comparison Chart to see print counts for all dye-sub printers.) Another common comment we hear is, “I don’t think I got the proper amount of prints out of my roll, because there is so much paper left over.” There is a way to check this. You can unroll the ribbon and hold it up to a light, as you will see a faint image left behind on each of the colored patches on the ribbon. If the ribbon is completely used (which would mean you have your proper print count), all the color patches will have a faint image on them.

Another frequently asked question is “Is it possible to buy the ribbon by itself so I can use up the rest of this paper?” The answer is no. Unfortunately, the manufactures do not sell the ribbon by itself. (In fact, most of the cost per print is in the ribbon and dye, not the paper.)

If you have any questions about your dye sub printer’s performance, feel free to give us a call.