"The era of inkjet has begun in the commercial printing industry," says Dr. Mark Bohan, vice president Technology and Research at the Printing Industries of America (PIA), in a release. "We’re committed to developing products and services to help firms use inkjet technology in a productive and profitable way."
As part of that commitment the PIA has announced its new 20 x 40-inch Test Form for Wide-Format Inkjet.
"Many people just assume that inkjet performance is optimized right out of the box," notes Ken Rizzo, PIA’s director of technical and lean services, in the release. “Not so–this form will help ensure that companies are getting the best colour fidelity possible.”
The test form, pictured above, is comprised of 18 test elements (including CMYK/RGB tone scales, type quality target, as well as fill and stroke targets) so companies can use the form to generate colour management profiles to improve a device’s colour output. The form allows for visual examinations, attributes analysis, equipment characterization, and print standardization.
The test form will also help printers compare the print capabilities of various wide format inkjet printers so jobs can be directed to the optimum device. In addition, users will also be able to better identify and correct problems that could lead to waste and/or complaints.
According to the PIA, a unique feature of the form is its Open Designation Region consisting of two 8-1/2 × 12-1/2-inch areas left open so users can add their own colour management images, ink and substrate targets, artwork or client-specific images. Several free images and targets are included with the form, including the IT8/74 target, ECI 2002 target, PIA’s photo montage, and the Colour Conversion Swatch Target.
The inkjet test form is available online and officially goes on sale October 11: US$195 (PIA members), US$250 (non-members).
