Inkjet Insight

In the metric system, series of standard paper sizes based on portions of a square meter. (A square meter is the area used to determine paper grammage, the metric equivalent of basis

A standard metric paper size used in Europe that corresponds most closely to the United States standard letter size of 8H x 11 inches. A4-size paper is equal to 21

The frictional rubbing of one substance or material against another, frequently causing wear or other damage.

A property of paper referring to the degree to which a paper can maintain its surface and structural integrity under prolonged rubbing, scratching, and scuffing. Abrasion resistance is important not

A property of a substance or material that describes the extent to which it will scratch another surface. To guard against abrasive substances, many papers, substrates, and ink films need to

In color, a term descriptive of the relation between the light that is absorbed by a surface and the total light striking the surface. The perception of color is possible because

A property of any porous material, such as paper, to absorb a fluid, be it ink, water, oil, or other substance. A paper’s degree of ink absorbency varies according to the type

Alternate term for absorbance. See Absorbance.

The penetration of a fluid into the surface of a solid, as in a paper’s ability to absorb ink, water, etc., which may be more or less desirable depending on

A process used to estimate the permanence of paper or other substrate. Depending on a paper’s chemical composition, it can have varying levels of longevity. Since normal aging is not practical, procedures have

The evaluation and comparison of a quantity or set of materials or products to quality standards as a means of gauging their acceptability. Also known as inspection.

In an inkjet environment, the series of documented processes, print proofs and capabilities that the software and hardware vendors participating in the inkjet solution must demonstrate at the buyer’s site before

In photography, a camera lens which has been modified to reduce or eliminate chromatic aberration by focusing two different colors (such as blue-violet and yellow) simultaneously. Chromatic aberration, which manifests itself as a

Possessing no color or hue, or, in other words absorbing or reflecting all wavelengths of light in equal amounts. The term also describes a printed material that contains only black, white, and/or gray,

An obsolete term for gray component replacement. See Gray Component Replacement.

A substance that yields hydrogen (H+) ions when added to a solution. Acids typically have a corrosive effect on many substances. The acidity of a solution is described in terms of pH, a

A variety of colorant comprising salts of organic acids, used in the screen printing of textiles.

A unit used to measure the amount of potassium hydroxide (chemical formula KOH) needed to neutralize the freeacids found in oils, waxes, or resins. A high degree of acidity is undesirable

A type of paper that is slightly acidic. Most paper is acid paper, since it is produced using bleaching agents, sizingmaterials (in particular, acid-rosin sizing, which is the chemical that, although

See Resist.

See Alkaline Paper.

The extent to which a solution is an acid. See Acid and pH.

Abbreviation of achromatic color removal, an obsolete term for gray component replacement. See Gray Component Replacement.

The basis weight of a quantity of paper as measured under prevailing environmental conditions. Actual basis weight can differ from the specified basis weight due to variations in the papermaking process and

A measure of the sharpness of the edge of a printed image against a background or the substrate on which it is printed.

In graphics and digital image manipulation, a function of many image-editing programs that allows the user to distort an image so as to make it look like a coarse grained photograph.

In color, wavelengths of light corresponding to the colors red, green, and blue, which can be combined to produce other colors, such as yellow, orange, violet, etc. Colors produced using these primaries

In color, intermediate colors created by mixing the additive color primaries, or light having wavelengths that correspond to red, green, and blue. Each of these colors occupies about one-third of the visible spectrum

A term referring to the smallest discrete unit (such as a pixel) that a computer display can address.

On a computer display, the smallest point (such as the pixel) that can be described in terms of device coordinate”]s.

A measure of the number of pixels, or spots, that a film recorder’s light source can place on a line of film. The higher the addressable resolution, the clearer and sharper the image.

A property of a substance that describes its ability to stick to another material, either mechanically or chemically, as in the ability of a printing ink to adhere to the

An increase in the peel adhesion (the force required to remove a pressure-sensitive label) of an adhesive material over time.

Any of a wide range of tests performed to gauge the efficiency of a printed ink film or adhesive coating. The cross-hatch test is one commonly used ink adhesion test.

A type of coated one side paper in which the coating is an adhesive or glue, which can either be permanently sticky, or only become sticky with the application of moisture, heat,

In optical character recognition, a condition in which two characters are spaced too close together for the scanner to read them as individual characters.

Alternate term for analogous colors. See Analogous Colors.

The specification developed by Adobe Systems, Inc., for PostScript fonts which stores (as a text file) typographic information information such as character widths, kern pairs, and character bounding boxes. See Font Metrics.

Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing (DTP) application developed by Adobe Systems, it’s mostly used to create professional page layouts and it’s a direct competitor to Quark Xpress.

A concentrated layer of molecules or particles of a solid, liquid, gas, or dissolved substance, in particular that of particles of a pigment in an ink vehicle which can hamper the effective dispersion of

The direction perpendicular to the orientation of the paper fibers (or grain), also called across-the-grain, as opposed to with-the-grain. See Grain.

The original name for 5H-point type. Originally, type size was expressed using names, not numbers. Although this tradition is no longer in use, the term agate is still used to refer to 5H-point type,

The ability of a substance—such as an ink film, a substrate, or printed piece—to resist deteriorating upon exposure to oxygen, heat, light, or internal chemical action. Also known as permanence.

A property of a printing ink that determines its ability to retain its optical and structural properties at a particular temperature for a specified period of time.

Any chemical, physical or mechanical substance or material used to enhance or facilitate a desired effect, such as anemulsifying agent, or a wetting agent. In multimedia, an agent is any animated

Any sum or mass of particular objects, used to refer to a string or chain of clusters of undispersed particles of printing ink pigment. Such clusters can have deleterious effects on

A substance that yields hydroxyl (OH-) ions when added to a solution. Alkalis typically have a caustic effect on many substances. The alkalinity of a solution is described in terms of pH, a

A series of organic color pigments used in printing inks. Alkali Blues”] and Reflex Blues (‘CI Pigment Blue 56 No. 42800′, CI Pigment Blue 18 No. 42770, and CI Pigment Blue 61 No. 42765:1’) are the

A property of paper describing its ability to resist fading, discoloring, or deteriorating when exposed to alkaline (low-pH) substances such as soaps and adhesives. Alkali resistance is an important property

A type of paper having a pH higher than 7. Most paper is acid paper, since it is produced using bleaching agents,sizing materials, and coatings that impart to the paper a degree of acidity. The primary