Investigation of the Printability of SC Papers in Publication Rotogravure

摘要

This study deals with the influence of various properties of supercalendered (SC) papers on the print quality in publication gravure, the possibility of predicting production print results on a laboratory press and the relationship between measured print quality criteria and visual judgement. The results confirm that the surface structure of the 16 investigated SC(A) papers has a predominating influence on the quality of ink transfer. The 'local roughness' and 'percentage missing area' parameters were found to be more meaningful and accurate than conventional measurements of paper smoothness and the count of 'missing dots'. Nevertheless, the statistical evaluation indicates a need to improve further the accuracy of investigation by using larger measurement fields or more repeat measurements. A good correlation was found in most cases between the results of laboratory and production printing, but the relationship is affected by press settings and other parameters. In spite of the narrow spectrum of properties covered by the investigated print samples, the measurement of seven main print-quality criteria shows a good multiple correlation with visual judgement by print-quality experts.