- Moisture content
- Grammage
- Caliper or thickness
- Parker print-surface roughness
- Larocque proof press printability (letterpress)
- Optical properties
- Elemendorf tearing strength.
- Color test, shade and strength
- Viscosity, Laray falling rod or Brookfield spindle
- Tack
- Grind
- Percent solids
- Percent residue
- Emulsification, water pick-up.
New NAA/RIT Lab Up to the Test
NAA members now have access to an expanded range of materials-testing services, thanks to a significant investment in new equipment in the NAA Paper and Ink Lab at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
NAA and RIT teamed up last year to provide NAA members with the most comprehensive, cost-effective paper and ink evaluation services available anywhere. Testing procedures formerly performed at NAA's Reston, Va., headquarters are now performed at RIT.
The most important new piece of equipment in the NAA/RIT lab is an image
analyzer that quantifies dot gain, ink strike-through, print mottle and fan-out
against key paper properties such as sheet formation, dimensional stability,
smoothness and pore structure.
Installation of the image analyzer was accompanied by a complete renovation of the lab to facilitate a broader range of tests. Two scanning spectrophotometers will soon be installed as well.
"The new image analyzer puts us in an excellent position to deliver a variety of newspaper-specific services, including troubleshooting in such critical areas as ink setting, color registration and dimensional stability of paper," says Ching Chen, technical director of RIT's Printing Applications Laboratory, which houses the NAA Ink and Paper Lab.
RIT has developed a quick procedure for providing service. NAA members simply call (716) 475-5247 and specify which paper or ink trials they desire. The RIT representative then explains how to prepare the sample for accurate results and where to send it.
Within 10 days of receiving the sample, the lab faxes a customized report to the client. Faster service is available at an additional charge.
The newsprint tests offered by RIT include:
Ink tests include:
RIT guarantees all testing samples will be handled in a controlled, confidential manner. All discussion and results related to each customer's samples are proprietary.
To learn more about the testing services offered through the RIT Paper and Ink Lab, call Ching Chen at (716) 475-5247.