Objective Print Quality Analysis and The Portable Personal IAS® Image Analysis System

While color and density have been synonymous with print quality for a long time,the importance of other print quality attributes such as sharpness and details,and printing artifacts such as bleed, edge acuity, banding, and gloss non-uniformity can hardly be overemphasized. The growing recognition of the importance of such“non-color and density”attributes has been partly driven by the introduction of many digital printing processes that exacerbate such print quality (PQ) problems. To advance digital printing technology and to solve PQ problems,a necessary first step is to objectively quantify the critical print quality attributes beyond density and color, hence creating a demand for new tools other than the familiar densitometer or spectrophotometer. Responding to this need,image analyzers have been developed in parallel with the development of the digital printing industry over the last two decades. The early image analyzers were typically large tabletop units that were often installed in a central laboratory and required the support of a specialist. Bringing the technology of PQ analysis to a much broader community of users, a handheld image analyzer called the Personal IAS was introduced by QEA in 2001. This batterypowered,portable instrument makes it possible for the first time to make objective print quality measurements anywhere,including in the field and on the production line. This paper describes the design of the instrument and demonstrates its capabilities by means of a series of practical applications in digital printing.