Investigating the wavelength dependency of dot gain in color print

Abstract

By separating the optical dot gain from the physical dot gain, it is possible to study different behaviors of color inks on different papers. In this study we are investigating the dependency of dot gain and wavelength in color print. Microscopic images have been used to separate optical and physical dot gain from each other. The optical behavior of primary color inks in different absorbing wavelength bands has been studied. It has been illustrated that the light scattering in the paper is wavelength independent, and therefore the Point Spread Function which indicates the probability of light scattering of the paper does not change in visible wavelengths (380 nm -700 nm). We have shown that it is possible to separate two printed color inks on one specific wavelength, due to the filtering behavior of the color inks. By considering the fact that light scattering in the paper is wavelength independent, it was possible to separately analyze the dot gain of each color.