A Study of the Print Gloss of Ink Jet Glossy Photo Papers

Abstract

Many commercially available ink jet media claim to deliver photograde image quality, i.e. high image quality including a uniform high print gloss. Although many glossy papers show a high gloss in unprinted areas, the gloss in the printed areas is often much lower, especially in areas with high ink loads. This is the case for both Narrow Format ink jet printing (SOHO printing, printing at home) and Wide Format ink jet printing. It is a problem for thermal as well as piezo ink jet printers.In this paper is presented a study of print gloss for Narrow Format printing with both thermal and piezo ink jet printers.First, a few examples are given of print gloss of commercial glossy photo papers. Then, the paper describes how the combination of different binders can influence the gloss in unprinted and printed areas.