What is print quality?
Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Raymond J. Prince
About every five years, someone comes up with the magic cure-all for printing and “discovers” that a new print quality factor, if measured and controlled, will make all of our problems go away. In the 1960s it was process ink color; in the 1970s it was density; in the 1980s it was dot gain; and in the late 1980s it was trap. In the 90s it was spectrophotometry, and currently it is gray balance. It keeps changing.
A few years ago, a quality printer set out to develop a process and quality control system for the pressroom. The company listed all the parameters that needed to be controlled, defined them, determined what instrument could be used to measure them and assigned +/- tolerances to each factor. The list became rather extensive and included the following:
- Density.
- Dot gain.
- Ink color.
- Print contrast at 75 percent.
- Gloss.
- Lay of solids.
- Coating smoothness.
- Ink trap.
- Dot structure.
- Fit.
- Register.
- Doubling.
- Slur.
- Ink gloss.
- Coating gloss.
- Hickeys.
- Scratches.
- Backup.
I'm sure everyone could add items to the list for their type of work. We developed a book in the pressroom to define quality for all. Copies were distributed to sales, pressroom and management. Discussions ensued the next morning. Sales was selling perfection, and management and the pressroom were in agreement regarding print quality.
Currently, many feel that controlling one factor makes everything right. Printing is a complex process, and many factors make quality. Print quality is made up of many attributes, each of which must be controlled. We do not live in a perfect world with perfect presses, paper, ink, etc. If we take a look at those plants that consistently win the awards, they all have good process control systems in place.
Editor's note:
Ray Prince's “Tech Thought” series appears each month in AP's New Products section. See
www.americanprinter.com. And, don't miss his new podcasts at
www.napl.org.
Raymond J. Prince is a leading expert in pressroom technical and operational issues. He is vice president and senior consultant, operations management, NAPL (Paramus, NJ). Contact him at (605) 941-1492 or e-mail RaymondJPrince@aol.com.
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus
Most Recent Story
advertisement
