Print and Materials Analysis Lab Services

  • Comprehensive Evaluations

    • Evaluations of paper, ink, toner, fountain solution, plate, and blanket
    • Comparative print performance analysis
    • Product audits
    • Defect analysis
    • Competitive benchmarking
    • Product/grade development
    • Customized corporate-sponsored studies and development activities
    • Press simulation
  • Printing Process Measurement and Control

    • Quality Map Product Analysis
    • Custom test/control target development
  • Paper and Ink Characterization

    • Newspaper Association of America
    • Standard test methods (TAPPI, ISO, ASTM, NAPIM)
    • Paper Characterization

      • Abrasion
      • Caliper
      • CIE whiteness; CIE color/shade
      • Contact angle
      • Formation, K&N oil absorbsion
      • Grammage
      • ISO brightness
      • Moisture
      • Opacity, scattering coefficient
      • Roughness
      • Sheet dimensional stability: fan-in, fan-out
      • Sheet formation
      • Sheet mottle: uniformity
      • Sheffield or Parker print surface roughness
      • Water absorption
    • Ink Characterization

      • Color
      • Grind
      • Hue
      • % Solids
      • Set time
      • Strength
      • Tack
      • Viscosity
      • Water pick-up
    • Print Performance and Evaluation Criteria

      • Printability

        • Dot analysis: gain, shape, roundness, spacing, placement
        • Contrast resolution index
        • Color gamut
        • Grey scale densities
        • Print gloss, delta gloss
        • Print non-uniformity
        • Print mottle
        • Back trap mottle
        • Banding (inkjet)
        • Banded multiscreen anilox or single screen anilox (flexographic)
        • Cell skip (gravure)
        • Color-to-color bleed: black line over yellow background (inkjet)
        • Feathering (inkjet)
        • Folder crack test (web)
        • Hexachrome, Hi-Fi (sheetfed)
        • Ink trapping
        • Modulation transfer function
      • Runnability

        • Containment test: slitter dust, milking, linting, picking (web, sheetfed)
        • Wet pick vs. dry pick
        • Back trap dry pick (sheetfed, web)
        • Blister resistance, fiber rise (web)
        • Chill marking (web)
        • Ink and water balance window (web, sheetfed)
        • Ink mileage (web)
    • Other Materials Analysis Options

      • Absorption curves
      • Debris analysis
      • Electrophotographic print analysis
      • Liquid absorption function
      • Microsurface roughness
      • Spectrophotometric curves