Ink Cracking
Copyright © 2009 BERTL Inc.
September 2009
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Page 31
September 2009
Xerox ColorQube 9203
www.BERTL.com
INK CRACKING
Scoring and Folding
– Scoring and folding should be
done with the grain of the media in order to prevent paper
or ink from cracking (this is similar to grain considerations
with traditional printing and finishing).
The test files printed by the Xerox ColorQube 9203 were
used specifically by BERTL for evaluating its numerous
spot colors or solids. The best test for ink cracking is with
a densely covered sheet. The most creative marketing
materials that require folding utilize heavy coverage.
These particular sheets were folded and scored in both
directions and there was no more or less cracking on either
fold – inside or outside. They were printed on 220 gsm
media.
The photos to the right are examples of what used to be
problems when producing booklets with heavy coverage.
Normally, designs gave way to the shredded edges that
were synonymous with heavy ink on the spine of a booklet.
Test Results:
Prints produced by the Xerox ColorQube
9203 can be folded with a slight ink cracking using heavier
weight stocks. In all the BERTL tests performed for ink
cracking the ColorQube 9203 performed admirably.
BERTL’s benchmark test of printing 100% solids on 220
gsm media, and then scoring and folding the printed pages
reveals how well a device can handle the challenge of ink
cracking. Again, the Xerox ColorQube 9203 was able to
fold with minimal cracking.
BERTL Analysts also ran a Temperature Adhesive Test to
see if the output generated by the Xerox ColorQube would
fuse togerher under extreme temperatures. During
BERTL’s evaluation, several full bleed pages were printed
and left on the dashboard of a car with temperatures in the
car as high as 101 degrees over a period of 9 hours.
During this evaluation, none of the pages left on the
dashboard stuck together, nor did they curled, or
experience any toner scratching off or flacking.
