a system and method relates to an ink volume determination for determining the amount of ink to be applied by the printer . the ink volume determination involves generating a composite cylinder layout of at least one image for the engraved cylinder , generating a set of data corresponding to the composite cylinder layout and then using the set of data to determine the volume of ink . the printer is then filled with a volume of ink related to this calculated ink volume during a printing process . the method of determining ink volume may be used independently of the printing process , for example , in order to control or manage the amount of ink used in the printing press .