Resin Price Calculator
Calculate the "true" cost of SLA/DLP printing including fluids and wear.
Slicers report volume in ml; most resins weigh about 1.1 g per ml (check the bottle or data sheet).
Estimate how much IPA evaporates or is thrown away per print.
Paper towels and misc are a flat amount per print.
Markup is added on top of the break-even cost: 100% doubles it, which is a 50% profit margin.
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What this calculator does
The Resin Price Calculator works out the full cost of an SLA, MSLA or DLP print: resin, cleaning alcohol, gloves, wear on the FEP film and screen, machine time and failed prints. It then suggests a selling price with your markup.
How to use it
- Enter the bottle's price and size, and whether it's sold by weight (most are, for example 1 kg) or by volume.
- Enter the model volume your slicer reports, supports included.
- Adjust cleaning, safety and hardware costs to your own setup, then set a failure buffer and markup.
Grams vs milliliters
Slicers report resin in milliliters, but bottles are usually sold by weight, and resin is heavier than water: about 1.1 g per ml (Elegoo lists 1.10 g/cm³ for its Standard resin, Anycubic 1.13 g/cm³). So a 1,000 g bottle holds only about 909 ml. Treating it as 1,000 ml would undercount your resin cost by about 10%. The density for your resin is on its technical data sheet.
Example: a $35, 1,000 g bottle at 1.1 g/ml costs about $0.0385 per ml, so a 45 ml print uses $1.73 of resin.
What goes into the cost
- Cleaning: the IPA (isopropyl alcohol) that evaporates or gets thrown away per print.
- Safety and disposables: the gloves you use per print, plus a flat amount for paper towels and the like.
- Hardware wear: the FEP film divided by the prints it lasts, and the screen divided by its rated hours. Elegoo rates its mono LCD screens at about 2,000 hours.
- Machine time: an hourly rate for the printer itself and its maintenance.
- Failure buffer: a percentage of all the above, so successful prints pay for the failed ones.
- Markup: added to the break-even cost. 100% doubles it, which is a 50% profit margin.
Handle resin safely
- Wear nitrile gloves (not latex) when touching liquid resin, the vat, the build plate or uncured prints, and protect your eyes.
- Work in a ventilated room and keep the printer's lid closed while it prints.
- Keep IPA away from flames and heat sources.
- Read your resin's safety data sheet for its specific warnings.
Dispose of resin and IPA properly
- Never pour liquid resin, or IPA with resin dissolved in it, down the drain or into household trash.
- Small amounts of leftover resin can be cured in sunlight or under a UV lamp until solid; fully cured resin can then go out with household waste.
- Used IPA is usually treated as hazardous waste. Check your local rules for where to take it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to use IPA?
Most standard resins are cleaned with IPA of 90% or more. Water-washable resins clean up with water, but the rinse water still contains resin and shouldn't go down the drain.
Should I include supports in the volume?
Yes. Use the total volume your slicer shows after adding supports, since they're made of the same resin.
Sources: Elegoo, Standard Resin technical data sheet and mono LCD screen product page; Anycubic, Standard Resin technical data; Formlabs, Disposing of resin and Resin care. Last reviewed on SuiteWebTools: October 2026.