A Unique Image Analysis Technique for the Determination of the Wicking Properties in Paper Produced for Inkjet Application

A new method for the determination of inkjet wicking and intercolor bleed is introduced. The method is based on the thresholding concept of image analysis. The spread of a printed dot is determined through the standard deviation of the mean pixel luminance. The larger the standard deviation the more wicking is taking place. A well-defined printed dot with not much variance in the pixel luminance will have a low standard deviation of the mean pixel luminance. The thresholding concept can also be used to determine intercolor bleed.

�Known quality measures of paper topography and dot circularity were also used in conjunction with the newly introduced method to determine the quality of the printed dot and how the substrate surface influences these quality parameters.