Is Color Printing More Expensive Than Black and White?

Yes — and Here’s Why That Matters for Your Office Budget

Color makes everything pop, your brochures, flyers, presentations. But many businesses are shocked when their printing costs spike after adding more color to their documents. What’s going on?

Let’s break it down in plain terms: color printing costs more because it uses more stuff. More toner, more parts, and more maintenance. That doesn’t mean you should avoid color, just that it’s smart to know what you’re paying for and why.

What You’ll Learn

• Why color toner costs more than black toner
• How colors are mixed using CMYK
• Why a page with lots of color can use more than 100% toner coverage
• The hidden costs behind color printing (drums, fusers, service calls)
• How to plan your printing budget with confidence

Why Color Printing Costs More Than Black and White

It Starts With Toner

Black-and-white printing only uses black toner (K). But when you print in color, your machine pulls from four toner cartridges: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

These colors combine to make everything else, blue, green, red, purple, orange, and more. Every time you print a color image, your copier pulls toner from multiple cartridges, not just one.

For example, to make green, your copier mixes cyan and yellow and sometimes a little black to add depth. That means you’re not just using one toner, you’re using multiple toners at once.

Toner Coverage Adds Up Fast

Let’s say your company prints a full-color brochure with a big green background. It’s not using 100% toner, it could actually use 150% or more when you count all the different colors involved. Black text doesn’t layer the same way. That’s why a colorful page might cost up to 8 times more to print than a simple black-and-white one.

More Parts = More Cost

Color copiers don’t just use more toner, they have more parts to maintain, too. While a black-and-white copier has one drum, a color copier has four drums, one for each color.

That means:

• Drums wear out faster
• Fusers heat up more often
• Service calls are more frequent

Over time, those extra parts and repairs add to your total cost.

Should You Stop Using Color?

Absolutely not. Color has its place, especially for marketing materials, client presentations, and anything that needs visual impact. But knowing the true cost helps you budget smarter, choose when to use color, and get the right service plan for your volume.

We help businesses find the balance between quality and cost so you’re not surprised by your printing bill.

Ready to Print Smarter?

At Pahoda Copiers & Printers, we help you understand your real printing costs and set you up with the right copier and service plan for your needs, no surprises.

Call us today or request a free quote to learn how much you could save, even on color prints.