Paper physics: Paper and board surface roughness characterization using laser profilometry and gray level cooccurrence matrix

Image texture analysis tool gray level cooccurrence matrix was implemented to assess surface topography of eight commercial paper and board samples varying considerably in roughness. Height data for individual specimens were acquired by confocal laser profilometer. Strong linear relationship was found between the texture measures "Correlation" and "Energy" derived from gray level cooccurrence matrix on one hand and ISO topography descriptors Rq and Ra on the other. Correlation of these data to those obtained with a conventional roughness method – Bendtsen – was only a rough one. The applied technique can also be used for determination of paper formation and quantification of print mottling.