Abstract

The graphic communications industry has seen rapid growth of applications of digital printing presses due to higher demands of short-run or print-on-demand and variable data printing jobs. One of the major digital printing technologies used for production printing is dry-toner electrophotography (EP). Compared to traditional printing presses, it is also easier and quicker for digital presses to make changes in color management, especially with inline measurement systems.

In this study, a Konica Minolta AccurioPress C2070 at Ball State University was used to study the effects of paper properties on color gamut. An inline IQ-501 Intelligent Quality Optimizer installed on the press along with EFI Fiery™ Color Profiler Suite was used to create color profiles for seven paper substrates, four coated and three uncoated. The G7 method was used for calibration, and then 1,617 patches (CGATS IT8.7/4) were printed and measured inline to create ICC profiles, which were evaluated and compared in CHROMiX ColorThink™ Pro. Paper structural and optical properties such as roughness, permeability, color, gloss, whiteness, yellowness, brightness, etc. were measured, and their effects on color gamut were studied.

It was found that paper optical properties affected the color gamut of EP more than structural properties. Achieving a higher gamut volume of EP requires a paper with lower yellowness index and whiteness index, a* and b* (or chroma) closer to 0, less OBA content, and lower permeability.