Black Printing Research Articles

A MULTI-ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION OF AN IRANIAN LITHOGRAPHY BOOK FROM THE QAJAR PERIOD

The lithography books of Iran, despite their historical importance, have received relatively little attention. This study aims to comprehensively examine an Iranian lithography book from the Qajar period titled Hayat al-Qolub, to identify its materials. The paper pulp, sizing, inks and leather of the bookbinding were analyzed through various methods, including staining tests for identifying paper pulp, light microscopy, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, Micro-spectrophotometry, multi-band imaging, SEM-EDS and LC-MS. The findings suggest that the book was made of rag paper composed of linen and cotton fibers, while animal glue and gypsum were used for paper sizing and filling, respectively. Carbon black was used as black printing ink and cochineal was used for red ink. The leather cover of the book was made of goat skin that was tanned with gallotannins and unhaired with lime. Evidence of the use of liming in the unhairing process was also observed in this leather. This research enhances our understanding of paper and bookmaking techniques of the Qajar period in Iran.

Study of color degradation in package prints: Analyzing kinetics with principal component analysis

AbstractColor degradation is a pressing issue in various fields like food and medicine packaging, as well as printed materials, leading to a loss or distortion of vital information. Therefore, understanding how the color of package prints evolves over time is essential for product quality assessment and effective product life cycle management. This study focuses on investigating color changes in prints on blister foils, widely used in the medicine and packaging industries. To assess fading characteristics, samples printed via the gravure process have been exposed to a Xenon Test Chamber (B‐SUN). Spectrophotometric measurements of the prints have been conducted using a spectroradiometer, and the data have been analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). The fading nature of cyan and black prints aligns with Type IV, while magenta and yellow prints correspond to Type II, as described by Giles. Notably, cyan and black inks demonstrated resistance toward fading at the end of the exposure, with a minor exception. The investigation involved curve fitting, revealing a consistent first‐order kinetic model governing fading rates throughout the exposure time. High R2 values (0.96–0.99) and low root means square error values (0.02–0.08) are observed across all cases. While color fading involves diverse kinetics, the fading rate consistently adheres to a singular first‐order kinetic path. The study highlights that yellow ink is most sensitive to light, followed by magenta ink. These findings offer valuable insights for optimizing packaging materials and ensuring product quality in industries reliant on printed materials. By mitigating color degradation, manufacturers can enhance the longevity and appeal of their products, reinforcing consumer trust and satisfaction. Furthermore, the effective utilization of PCA as a data analysis tool offers a valuable approach for future investigations in color science and related fields.

Preparation of sustainable mineral oil-free offset printing ink with vegetable oil esters.

Mineral oils are used in substantial quantities for the production of varnishes and inks due to their abundance and versatility. However, as part of the production process, some of mineral oil components are separated as waste material, whereupon they can mix with air, water, or soil and become potentially harmful to the environment. Almost all these waste materials are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals that can easily evaporate at room temperature and have toxic effect. Therefore, a novel green, mineral oil-free offset printing ink was produced using vegetable oil esters as bio-renewable raw materials. Accompanying varnishes were prepared with linseed oil, methyl oleate, octyl stearate, and four types of resin (A, B, C, and D). The application of these varnishes to magenta color offset ink was subsequently studied to screen out the best combination of resin and ester in terms of setting time. Meanwhile, dyeing force tests were conducted to evaluate the ink's printability, while rheological analysis was done via viscosity and flowability tests. The setting time of the magenta color offset ink made by varnish A was observed to be considerably shorter than that of the ink samples prepared using varnishes B, C, and D. Furthermore, varnish A proved to be a good alternative varnish for the production of yellow, cyan, and black color offset printing inks. Samples of these inks were printed on coated paper, and their printability was contrasted against that of vegetable oil-based (pure vegetable oil), mineral oil-based, and other mineral oil-free offset printing inks. Results determined that the varnishes produced with linseed oil, methyl oleate, and octyl stearate can replace mineral oil-based varnishes for the production of offset printing ink.

Words of Weather: A Glossary

Words of Weather: A Glossary

Study of Fingerprint Pattern in Relation to Gender and Blood Grouping amongst the Medical Students of GMC Srinagar

A study was conducted on MBBS students in GMC Srinagar. A total of 100 students was included in the study ofboth genders. A proper informed consent was taken from participants. For collection of fingerprint, a tabulatedproforma was be used. Black printers ink was used for creating an imprint by rolling the finger on ink and thenon paper (rolling method) A cello tape was used to seal the print and a magnifying lens was used for aiding inobservation. Imprints from all ten fingers were collected. Information about blood groups was collected fromstudent identity card. In a few cases where the information was not known, blood grouping and Rh typing wasconfirmed by slide agglutination method using antiserum A, antiserum B and anti serum D. The aim of the studywas to find out the correlation between gender, fingerprint and blood grouping in students of GMC. Results: Wenoted that majority of the subjects belonged to blood group O (37.2%), followed by B+ve(24.5%) and A+ve(23.5.Maximum subjects (97%) were Rh positive. The rest were Rh negative. Females had highest percentage of loops(44%) followed by whorls (41%). Males had the highest percentage of whorls (55.5%) closely followed by loops(39.4%).Blood group O-ve is correlated to fingerprint whorl followed by AB+ve with whorls and B+ve with loops.A+ve is correlated to whorls and O+ve with whorls and B-ve with whorls. Blood group A showed highest whorls(45.4%) followed by loops (41.25%) and arches (10.42%). Also males had predominantly whorls (44.2%) followedby loops (39.4%) and females had predominantly loops(44.29%) followed by whorls (41.7%). the purpose of thisstudy is to correlate the relationship between various patterns of fingerprints, gender and “ABO” blood groupsand “Rh” blood types in students of GMC Srinagar. Conclusion: blood group, fingerprint and gender can only beassessed independently to secure identity if an individual.

A Test System for Safely Measurements of Cancer-Inducing UV-C Diodes Produced in a Simple and Cost-Effective Way by Rapid Prototyping

New technologies leading to better and more efficient light emitting diodes. The emitted radiation reaches higher energy levels and lower wavelengths especially in the UV-C spectrum. UV-C light has a cancer inducing effect on human cells. Therefore it is necessary to work in a safe way with those devices.
 This work is focused on an open-source solution for rapid 3D printing of an safe UV-C radiation measuring device. Especially for research groups or universities which can not afford big safety labs.
 After modeling and printing the prototype, a series of tests has shown the functionality of that UV-C Diode test system. By using black printing filaments and infill rates over 50 %, the transmission of light could be prevented and the system worked well.

An Appraisal of Key Soap on Tensile Strength in Three Washing Cycles of Selected Printex Fabrics in Ghana

The tensile strength is an imperative properties and essential indications consumers’ look out for in purchasing a quality fabric. The objective of this study was to examine key soap on tensile strength in three washing cycles of selected Printex fabrics in Ghana. Quantitatively, the study adopted both experimental and factorial research designs. Materials for the study consisted of three fabrics with black prints and white as base colour were purchased from the market. These three fabrics had the same designs but two had different fabric finishes and the third one had no finish (plain, embossed and plisse). Six yards each of the Printex black and white fabrics with embossed, plisse and a third one which did not have any special fabric finish were used for the study. Key soap purchased from the Ghanaian market, and standard soap from Ghana Standard Authority was used for the study. Purposive and simple random techniques were used to select materials for the study. The main research instrument for the testing tensile strength was Universal tensile testing machine. Data were analysed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis formulated to guide the study. The study revealed that continuous washing had degrading effects on the tensile strength. The implication is that continuous washing weakens the internal strengths of fabrics which cause them to fail or weakens their resistance to stress test. The study also found that continuous washing had degrading effects on the tensile strength of the selected fabrics. It is recommended that the Ghana Standards Authority should encourage soap producers to get their chemical compositions as close to those of the standardised soap as possible.

Nondestructive discrimination of black ceramic prints on automotive glasses by portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.

Automotive glasses are important forensic evidence often recovered from crime scenes. Black ceramic prints on automotive glasses contains various elements in high concentrations. A portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) allows an instant and nondestructive analysis of various elements. In this study, the Bruker Tracer 5g was used as the pXRF equipment. The NIST SRM612 glass standard was used to determine the limit of detection (LODs) of a pXRF and its optimal conditions. The acceleration voltages of 15, 30, and 50 kV were appropriate for measuring Si Kα (1.740 keV)-Ni Kα (7.473 keV), Cu Kα (8.042 keV)-Pb Lα (10.552 keV), and after Bi Kα (10.839 keV), respectively. The pXRF was used to compare 37 black ceramic prints on automotive glasses from the known source. The samples were divided into two groups: the Pb type and the Bi type. The samples were compared in pairs. The most appropriate and effective indicators for discriminating between the Pb and Bi type of black ceramic prints on automotive glasses were Zr Kα /Pb Lα and Cu Kα /Cr Kα for the Pb type, and Zr Kα /Bi Lα and Cu Kα /Crα for the Bi type, respectively. The samples were compared with other elements detected by pXRF to further discriminate them. 98.9% of all pairs were successfully discriminated. Results showed that black ceramic prints on automotive glasses are able to be discriminated by pXRF.

Preparation and characterization of PMMA encapsulated carbon black for water-based digital jet printing ink on different fibers of cotton and PET

An encapsulated carbon black (CB) pigment aqueous digital printing ink have been fabricated by an emulsion polymerization. The CB have been encapsulated by methyl methacrylate (MMA) through the emulsion polymerization with SR10 and ER30 which were nonylphenol-free reactive surfactants. We optimized the ratio of SR10 and ER30 in the emulsion polymerization. The encapsulated CB with a size of 170 nm were investigated via a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), a dynamic light scattering (DLS) with the zeta potential, and a transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The encapsulated CB ink showed the excellent dispersion stability that were confirmed by a stability analyzer (Turbiscan). The ink was coated onto the surface of fibers through the digital printing process that showed an outstanding color density and fastness in rubbing and washing.

TiO<sub>2</sub>- Based Coating for Improving the Quality of Prints on Papers with Supplementary Barley Pulp

Even though most information is digitized today, paper as a printing substrate is still essential. The quality of the paper depends on whether it has the properties required for its intended use, which will fundamentally rely on the raw materials used. Nowadays, the production of paper and board is increasingly focused on alternative non-wood raw materials. In this context, the main objective of this research is to improve the quality of prints on laboratory-made papers with supplementary barley pulp by coating the surface of the papers with titanium dioxide coating. Since laboratory-made papers were not subjected to the bleaching process and no additional surface treatments were used, TiO2-based coating proved to be one of the ways to improve the quality of the prints on such substrates. In this study, it was concluded that TiO2-based coating did not affect the colorimetric values of the black prints to the extent that it affected the colorimetric values of the magenta prints. However, density of printed inks was increased up to 14% for prints on laboratory-made papers with higher amount of barley pulp and TiO2-based coating in two layers.

Changes in polyamide 11 microstructure and chemistry during selective laser sintering

A polyamide 11/carbon black (PA11/CB) SLS nanocomposite printing powder was characterized throughout a laser area energy density (A N ) range to elucidate significant changes to the PA11 microstructure and chemistry during the SLS printing process. We will show that there are specific microstructural changes that occur in PA11, some gradual and others more striking, between the as received PA11/CB powder and printed parts. The melting temperature (T m ), percent crystallinity (X c ), lamellae thickness (l c ) and d hkl spacing of PA11 were all shown to change significantly upon printing, whereas the molecular weight was shown to have a rather gradual increase as a function of A N . These results imply that the printing conditions used result in an irreversible change in PA11 polymer microstructure and chemistry. The use of DSC, XRD, FTIR and molecular weight analysis provides a more complete picture of the changes due to the SLS printing process and can help optimize the printing parameters to create high-quality printed parts.

Dérives: Street photography as post-/Situationist practice

Street photography has hardly lacked for popular cultural currency, as attested by those ubiquitous black framed prints and coffee table tomes. However, it has long been a relatively marginalized genre within photography that has seen relative critical neglect even compared to other demotic forms concerned with the everyday, such as the family portrait (Bourdieu) and snapshot (Barthes). This article seeks to sketch a series of potential intersections between street photography’s antecedent, formative and breakout phases on both sides of the Atlantic and the Situationist International’s (1957–72) embodied practices surrounding the dérive, détournement and psychogeography more generally. Arguably, remediating street photographic practice and composition in relation to these disruptive strategies can provide a kind of corrective to the more formalistic conception of the former, as exemplified in the reification of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s famous dictum of the ‘decisive moment’. I will argue that Situationist discourse helps reframe these moments of the street as ‘situations’ in the Situationist sense, lines of flight that became explicit when the development of street photography in Europe is overlaid with that of the United States, Paris with New York. Such détournement arguably brings into view vectors between street photography and revolutionary art practices often neglected in discussions of these dérives of the street, and gestures towards – at least in potentia – a kind of afterlife of post-/Situationist praxis in the practices of street photographers.

Cleaner production of flexographic ink by substituting carbon black with biochar

There is growing interest in making printing inks more sustainable, and lowering the overall carbon footprint of the printing industry. A recent surge of research activity has emerged to develop “green” inks with bio-based solvents and binders, but little attention has been given to replacing the pigments that give inks their distinctive color. In this study, flexographic inks were formulated by replacing carbon black with a more sustainable biochar pigment derived from recycled paper, and fast growth cycle wood pulp. Obtained from fossil fuel sources, carbon black imparts high quality black prints, but at a significant environmental cost. Biochar, derived from recycled and renewable resources, has the potential to replace carbon black in many applications. Canceled United States currency stock was pyrolyzed at 1600 °C to produce a black biochar. Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) was selected for comparison, and converted to biochar at 550 °C and 1600 °C. Each biochar was functionalized and formulated into a simple ink composition optimized for flexographic printing. Prints exhibiting reflective optical densities exceeding 1.0 with excellent tone reproduction were obtained. Comparable print quality was achieved on both coated and uncoated paper substrates. Although further work would be required to fully optimize a biochar ink to match current print industry standards, a viable pathway for sustainable black ink development with good black density derived from recycled resources has been demonstrated. Our results indicate that it is possible to replace fossil fuel-based carbon black with biomass derived biochar, potentially resulting in cleaner production of flexographic printing inks.

Color2Hatch: conversion of color to hatching for low-cost printing

In this paper, we propose Color2Hatch, a decolorization method for business/presentation graphics. In Color2Hatch, each region represented as a closed path and uniformly colored in scalable vector graphics (SVG) is converted to a region hatched in black and white. From the characteristics of business graphics, the hatching patterns are designed to represent mainly the hue in the region; additionally, lightness and saturation can also be reflected. To discriminate subtle differences between colors, attached short line segments, zigzag lines, and wave lines are used in hatching by analogy to a clock. Compared with the existing decolorization methods, for example, grayscale conversion and texturing, our method is superior in the discrimination of regions, suitable for low-cost black and white printing that meets real-world needs.

From lines to dots and beyond


 
 
 For her third exhibition, at Fyns Grafiske Værksted, the Danish print workshop located in Odense, Sylvie Karier exhibited a selection of works, engravings and monotypes created between two separate periods of almost 20 years. The selection demonstrated a great cohesion and showed how she continued to make works along formal and technical constraints. Through a conversation with the artist, Anne Heyvaert explores how Sylvie balances traditional values of printmaking of etching and aquatint with a larger sense of graphic potentials, from using the line to a mass of dots and intensely velvety solid areas. Sylvie shows how her predominantly black prints are a play between figure and ground, and exploit aspects of printmaking such as reduction, repetition and progression. Anne Heyvaert points out how Sylvie Karier eventually breaks the limits of the discipline, by exploring the materiality of inks and paper using monotypes and stitching.
 
 

Alkyd Printing Inks from Waste Frying Oil

Alkyd-based printing ink vehicles were successfully prepared from waste frying oil. Three alkyd resins were synthesized using different ratios of phthalic anhydride. Properties of the 3 prepared resins were measured and compared with virgin oil alkyd resin and commercial alkyd resin. Viscosities of the obtained ink vehicles ranged from 8.6 to 34.9 poises. The vehicles were also completely compatible with carbon black for formulating black printing inks. Preliminary properties of the 3 formulated inks were evaluated and compared with black printing ink prepared from virgin oil alkyd and commercial alkyd. The formulated inks had satisfactory viscosity and tackiness as properties suitable for a variety of printing applications. The 3 synthesized inks had rub resistance values ranging from 4.61 to 5.75 %, slightly higher than the rub resistance of virgin oil alkyd ink and commercial alkyd ink. Particle fineness and water tolerance properties of the 3 formulated inks were comparable with virgin oil alkyd ink and commercial alkyd ink. Results suggested that waste frying oil has potential application as a raw material in the printing ink industry.

Highly conductive graphene/carbon black screen printing inks for flexible electronics

The industrial scale production and application of liquid conductive nanomaterials with well-defined conductive properties, printing adaptability and mechanical properties are crucial for the flexible electronic devices. Although graphene can be used as an attractive liquid nanoink platform for electronic devices, it is still a major challenge to prepare graphene conductive inks with high concentration, conductivity and stability with graphene powders as raw materials and improve the post-treatment process for printed patterns. Here, a novel graphene-based screen printing conductive ink employing liquid-exfoliated graphene powders produced by jet cavitation and carbon black jointly as conductive filler is presented. The inks with graphene powders containing thicker smaller-area flakes and carbon black fraction of 15% in the total conductive fillers exhibit printability down to lines of 90 μm in width and printed pattern electrical conductivity of 2.15 × 104 S/m at 7 μm thickness along with outstanding mechanical properties. Also, special post-treatment, i.e. heating-compression rolling-heating, makes the conductive ink formulation compatible with a wide range of substrates and suitable for Roll-to-Roll applications. Overall, this paper provides a new solution to high-efficiency, low-cost, large-scale production of printed flexible electronics.

Петербург в творчестве Анны Остроумовой-Лебедевой

Статья посвящена творчеству народного художника РСФСР, действительного члена Академии художеств СССР, заслуженного деятеля искусств РСФСР Анны Петровны Остроумовой-Лебедевой (1871–1955). Художник большого и многогранного дарования, она оставила нам множество рисунков, черных и цветных гравюр на дереве и линолеуме, литографии и акварели. А.П. Остроумова-Лебедева сумела придать гравюре на дереве подлинную художественную выразительность. Избрав главной темой творчества изображение города на Неве, она с большим поэтическим чувством запечатлела его картины и образы, прошлое и настоящее, его вечно живую историю. Издание третьего тома «Автобиографических записок» в 1951 году совпало с восьмидесятилетием автора. Тогда же в залах Государственного Русского музея была открыта последняя прижизненная персональная выставка художницы. Автор статьи исследует воплощение образа Петербурга в графике А.П. Остроумовой-Лебедевой. The article is devoted to the work of people's artist of the RSFSR, full member of the USSR Academy of arts, honored artist of the RSFSR Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva (1871–1955). An artist of great and many-sided talent, she left us a lot of drawings, black and color prints on wood and linoleum, lithographs and watercolors. Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva managed to give the woodcut a genuine artistic expression. Choosing the image of Petersburg as the main theme of her work, she captured its paintings and images, past and present, its eternal, living history with great poetic feeling. The publication of the third volume of her “Autobiographical notes” in 1951 coincided with the author's eightieth birthday. At the same time, the last personal exhibition of the artist was opened at the State Russian Museum. The author of the article explores the embodiment of the image of St. Petersburg (Leningrag) in the graphic work of Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva.

Forensic discrimination of black laser prints by a combination of chemometric methods and μ-ATR-FTIR spectroscopy

The combination of spectral and chemometric methods to obtain information of the samples appears to be useful in forensic analysis of questioned documents. In this paper, the application of non-destructive method including FTIR spectroscopy in combination with principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to differentiate black laser prints was investigated. A set of 49 types of laser printers of 10 brands was investigated. PCA was applied to identify the differences between the laser toner samples. PCA of laser prints spectra was used as a base of the method for toner identification. The difference between the spectra of the unknown print and the spectra of the database was tested. The method was confirmed by the analysis of four test prints. A model document printed on three different printers was prepared. The MANOVA test together with PCA scatter diagram confirmed that the model document was printed on three different printers.

From Wine to Print: Reconstruction of Frankfurt Black Pigment and Intaglio Printing Ink

ABSTRACT ‘Frankfurt Black' made of charred wine lees was often preferred above other charcoal pigments for intaglio printing in 17th to 19th centuries primary sources. As no samples of the dry pigment survive, it was experimentally recreated. Wine lees were charred according to historical instructions to determine appropriate conditions for dry pyrolysis (380°C, 300 min T). The pigment was ground with burnt oil varnishes prepared according to Abraham Bosse’s 1649 manual on etching and engraving. Reconstructed Frankfurt Black was compared to hand-ground inks made with different plant black pigments and modern bone black printing ink. Impressions were made from an etched plate and compared for their colour, contrast, clarity of lines and details. Generally, Frankfurt Black ink displayed the properties described in historical sources: deep dark colour and a soft texture. The ink resembled modern inks in print. The study illustrates how the choice and manufacture of historical ink constituents can affect the appearance of an intaglio print.