INKJET PAPER: Manufacturing and Quality

• Posted on: 03, 25, 2019
• By : Junaid Alam 
• Categories : Blog 
• Comments : 7

Inkjet paper is a special fine paper designed for inkjet printers, typically classified by its weight, brightness and smoothness, and sometimes by its opacity.

What is history of Inkjet Paper?

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Lord Rayleigh described the behavior of liquid jets and Lord Kelvin described a siphon recorder that is considered a predecessor to the continuous inkjet printer. In 1951, Siemens patented a chart recorder that is considered the first practical inkjet printer.

How is manufacturing of Inkjet paper is done?

Some papers are made from high quality deinked pulp or chemical pulps.

What are the Qualities required by Inkjet paper?

Quality inkjet paper requires good dimensional stability, no curling or cockling, and good surface strength. For most purposes surface smoothness is required. Sufficient and even porosity is required to counteract spreading of the ink. For lower quality printing, uncoated copy paper suffices, but higher grades require coating. The traditional coatings are not widely used for inkjet papers. Glossy papers can be made by multi coating, resin coating, or cast coating on a lamination paper.

Properties of Inkjet paper:

Both photo paper and inkjet paper terms can be confusing if you are unfamiliar with the industry. Many papers in the market may carry the term Inkjet paper just because they are suitable for paper, however there is a difference at the end result and not all papers are equal.

To make some sense of it all, let’s look at the various types of Inkjet paper.

• NORMAL PAPER:

Also refereed to as Bond paper, Copy paper, Printer paper etc. and varies between 70gsm to 120gsm in paper weight. This type of paper is a normal paper which can be used on laser printer, copiers and as well on inkjet papers. The use of this paper on inkjet paper is for document printing only or simple graphics. Attempts to print photographic or complex graphic images will result in very poor print quality. This paper is not coated and made of pulp normally mixed with some chemicals and polymers to provide the whiteness (bleach) and stability.

• INKJET MATT COATED PAPER:

This type of paper is normally available in 90gsm to 210gsm in weight. It has a chalky coating on one side or both sides (in double sided paper case). This coating is an inkjet receiving layer to take the inkjet droplets and keep it crisp and well defined. The results when using coated paper may vary between manufacturers as some tend to put a thinner coating layer (around 5gsm), where others may use more.  Results using the thinner coated layer are better compared to normal paper, but do not produce a good colour definition.

How to put Quality on Inkjet Paper:

Even in the age of electronic communications, there is still no substitute for paper – but the requirements are changing. The fundamentals keep shifting as production and processing become more efficient, environmental awareness grows, new applications are found and trends such as inkjet printing move center-stage. Continuous product developments in the laboratories yield a wide range of products for inkjet printing. Paper coatings must meet requirements ranging from standard quality through to the needs of advanced digital images, which are now printed in photographic quality.

Sadiq paper is one of the leading paper mills in Pakistan. We are one of the leading paper manufacturers in the Pakistan involved in both traditional and developing markets

Written By:
Itechx