Page detail costs

Page details are variable costs calculated per page. When Equitrac receives a print request, it compares each job in the request to the page detail rules you set. If a page matches attributes within a rule, the price for that rule is added to the cost calculation. If no rules match, the default page price is used instead.

After the port monitor has determined the attributes for each page, Equitrac evaluates the given attributes and applies page details rules in the following manner and order:

  1. CAS compares the print request attributes with all page detail rules. If an exact match is found, CAS applies the specified charge.
    If multiple charging rules have the same number of matched page attributes, the accounting server selects the rule with the higher assigned charge.
  2. If the page attributes do not match any of the specified page detail rules, CAS applies the default page price for each unmatched page.

Page details include transaction type, color, duplexing, tray source, media, and paper size. Optionally, set one or more page detail rules to cover all potential printing variables at the page level. For example, a separate page detail rule is needed for color letter size printing versus color legal size printing.

Equitrac applies page charging for each impression. For single-sided (simplex) printing there is one impression per sheet. For double-sided (duplex) printing there is one or two impressions per sheet. Unfortunately, some drivers only generate even number of impressions when duplex printing, resulting in a blank impression on the back side of the last page.

When you define price lists to use with Equitrac tracked printers, be aware of the effect the following page detail rules settings:

  • Equitrac examines all rules, regardless of order.
  • If two rules match, Equitrac uses the one producing a higher cost to determine printing cost.
  • Yes and No settings count as matches.
  • Specified type, size, tray, or media values count as matches.
  • Any does not count as a match. Use Any when you do not want an attribute (such as color) to affect pricing.
  • Once you use a non-Any value in a rule, you should create rules using the other values associated with the attribute (for example, one rule for a Yes value, another rule for a No value).

If you experience printing problems related to charging schedules and print costs, ensure you have applied the correct price list, and that you have defined it properly according to the criteria listed above.

Inconsistencies between printer drivers may require you to establish multiple price lists to handle these differences.