Characterization of inks and ink application for ink-jet printing: model and simulation

Ink-jet printing quality is determined primarily by, among other factors, the printing engine and its inks. The printing engine controls the process of ink application and the scheme of ink mixing for the generation of secondary and tertiary colors. The inks selectively absorb different wavelengths from the illumination and result in the visible color output. Therefore characterizations of the output print in terms of ink distribution and volume, the scheme of ink mixing, light absorption, and light scattering are of essential importance in controlling and understanding the quality of the color reproduction. I present a method to characterize the ink volume and the properties of the ink by means of spectral reflectance measurements and simulations. The simulations are based on the Kubelka-Munk theory, whose applicability to ink-jet printing is also discussed. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.