System and method for informing a user of a marking material status in a printing environment

摘要

A method and system for informing a user about characteristics of a marking material cartridge in a printing system. The system calculates a number of pixels being rendered in a present job and calculates an amount of marking material used to render the present job. The system also calculates a total area coverage to date for the marking material cartridge. Form this information an expected number of pages that the marking material cartridge can render is determined and displayed. The system determines a date when marking material in the marking material cartridge will be depleted and displays the date. The system also calculates an average coverage amount for a page being presently rendered. It can also calculate per page costs of the page currently being printed, and the pages printed to date. Additionally, the cost benefits of draft or other reduced print quality modes can be calculated and displayed. The method and system is equally applicable to black and white or color printing.