Assessment of paper metrics as predictors of quality for inkjet printing DOI 10.14622/JPMTR-2014

Abstract

Recent developments in inkjet technology have enabled the development of high-speed inkjet presses with similar quality and performance to conventional printing presses. These inkjet presses can print on a wide range of papers. Prints made on some papers are of high quality whereas on others are unacceptable. These print results vary from one digital press to another. The focus of this publication is the development of techniques to predict print quality from measurements of papers. Two studies were conducted. In the first, a set of around 250 papers were measured, prints were made on a single digital press and the print quality assessed. In the second, a set of 20 papers were measured, prints were made on three digital presses from different manufacturers and the print quality assessed for each. The studies were unable to identify or develop a single metric that can be used to predict print quality, however, a set of techniques is presented that have been found to be effective predictors of print quality where multiple metrics are used in combination and these methods and results are presented. Both studies adopted a ‘black box’ approach where only the paper measurements and the result of assessment were used to make predictions.