PrintCalz is a small independent project with a narrow brief: get the arithmetic between a digital file and a physical printed object right, and explain it well enough that you stop needing us.
Why it exists
Print preparation is full of small conversions that are trivial once you understand them and expensive when you get them wrong. A cover file built with the spine 1.5 mm too narrow. An image sent at 3000 pixels for an A2 poster. A quote accepted for "80 lb paper" that arrives as flimsy brochure stock when the client expected card.
Every one of those mistakes is a two-line calculation away from being avoided. Yet most print calculators online give you a number in a large font, wrap it in three advertisements, and tell you nothing about where it came from or when it stops being reliable. That leaves you dependent on the tool and no wiser than before.
We took the opposite approach. Every page here shows the formula, works through an example with real numbers, and states plainly where the answer breaks down. If you read a page and never need to come back, the page did its job.
How we build
- Client-side only. Calculations run in your browser using plain JavaScript. Nothing you enter is transmitted, logged or stored. There is no server-side processing on this site at all.
- Formula always visible. Not hidden behind a "how it works" link, not summarised vaguely. The actual arithmetic, on the page.
- Honest about limits. Print is full of estimates. Where a figure depends on a specific paper, a specific press or a specific printer's tolerance, we say so rather than presenting a false precision.
- Genuinely fast. Every page is a single self-contained file. No external fonts, no frameworks, no analytics libraries loading before the content. It works on a bad connection in a print shop.
- Slowly. Three thorough calculators beat thirty thin ones. We would rather add a tool properly next month than badly this week.
Where our figures come from
The reference data on this site comes from published industry standards and manufacturer specifications:
- US basis weight conversions derive from the standard basic sizes for bond (17×22), text (25×38), cover (20×26), index (25.5×30.5), tag (24×36) and bristol (22.5×28.5), using the conventional 1406.5 constant.
- Pages-per-inch figures for common book stocks come from print-on-demand service specifications and offset paper merchant data sheets.
- Resolution guidance follows established large-format practice on viewing distance, plus the conventional 300 DPI target for close-viewed work.
- ISO 216 governs the A, B and C paper series dimensions used throughout.
Specifications change and printers vary. If you find a figure that no longer matches your supplier's data sheet, please tell us — corrections go to the front of the queue.
What we are not
PrintCalz is not a printer, a print broker or a consultancy. We do not see your files, quote on jobs, or have a relationship with any supplier. The calculators produce estimates for planning and understanding. For a production run, the numbers that matter are the ones on your printer’s own template and specification sheet — they know their stock and their equipment tolerances, and we do not. Please read the disclaimer.
How the site is funded
Display advertising, placed so it never sits between you and a result. We do not run sponsored content, affiliate links dressed up as recommendations, or paid placements in the article text. Nothing you enter into a calculator is used for ad targeting, because none of it is ever transmitted. The privacy policy sets out exactly what advertising partners can and cannot see.
What is next
The queue, roughly in order: a paper size converter covering the full ISO and US ranges, an image resolution checker that reads a file locally in your browser, a 3D printing filament cost calculator, and print cost per page. If there is something you keep needing and cannot find a decent version of, send it through — requests genuinely reorder the list.
Get in touch
Corrections, questions, feedback or requests: the contact form, or hello@printcalz.online. We read everything and reply to most within two to three working days.