Abstract
Printing quality of prints on three types of media paper was examined with ISO13660 draft standards. A thermal resin transfer printer drew test targets in each color of YMCK on three types of media paper i.e. wood-free paper, micro-porous paper and synthetic paper. Four major metrics i.e. Tangential Edge Profile (TEP) and Normal Edge Profile (NEP), area fill percentage reproduction, mottle metrics with ISO13660 draft modified by QEA and graininess metrics with Dooley and Shaw equation, ranked the specimens in descending order of synthetic paper, micro-porous paper and wood-free paper. The results can nearly be explained by the surface roughness. Micro-porous paper, however, showed some characteristic behaviors. The micro-pores in the surface of micro-porous paper seem to bring these features. The micro-pores (1) absorb melt ink into the sheet that brings a blur, (2) insulate thermally that overheat the ink-ribbon leading too much ink transfer, and (3) increase the compressibility of the sheet improving the print quality.
