Waveform optimization is a key to success for piezo drop on demand printing systems. The industry established method for waveform analysis and optimization is a drop watching analysis. With a drop watching system, usually a large number of droplets has to be jetted for each configuration of the printing system. As inkjet is increasingly being used in functional printing, an increasing number of fluids with a certain toxicity, limited stability or very high material cost are jetted. For such applications, there is a need to reduce the amount of wasted fluid. The aim of this publication is to explore the potential of estimating jetting properties and optimizing waveforms by meniscus motion analysis with a standard drop watching setup. By analyzing the meniscus motion at different pulse amplitudes below the drop emission threshold, the voltage necessary to reach a certain drop speed could be estimated. An estimation of the frequency - velocity variation can be obtained by analysis of the meniscus motion in the range of actual jetting frequencies.