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Message

inkjet transparency testing

2003-08-11 by Adam Seychell

Hello,
I was interested in testing performance of various inkjet 
printers and transparency print media. Since I have a HP 692, 
Cannon S330, and Epson Stylus 660 inkjet printers plus various 
brands of transparencies I should be able to make a start on 
comparative testing.

 From what I've learned so far is that a 60X microscope view of 
the print through a incandescent back-light gives very good 
details of the print, and clearly distinguishes differences 
between printers (fitted only with genuine manufacture ink 
cartridges), driver settings, and print media. I have been taking 
digital photos through the microscope eye piece and the image 
quality seems plenty high enough for this purpose. If anyone is 
interested I will put some examples available online.

Now there is the question can a simple back-light images show how 
well it can work as a photomask in UV photoresist exposure? An 
improvement might be to replace the white light with a BLACKLIGHT 
(long wave UV tube with visible light filter). Long wave UV is 
the wavelengths photoresists are most sensitive too. anyone know 
if digital cameras respond to these wavelengths ?  If they don't 
then a phosphor screen or translucent fluorescent colored film 
could be placed directly on top of the print being tested. UV 
light that hits the phosphor or fluorescent pigment will emit 
visible light very closely as "seen" by photoresists during 
exposure. Anyone know where to get some translucent fluorescent 
colored film ?

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