Gloss and goniocolorimetry of printed materials

Angular distribution of reflectance spectra and of colorimetric parameters for printed papers (varnished and not) and foils, clear and metallized, were measured by goniospectrophotometry, with a photomultiplier for visible region, or a spectrocolorimeter as a detector, keeping the light source in a fixed position, ?45° anormally. All reflectance spectra were related to near‐Lambertian BaSO₄ powder white standard, relative to which the color coordinates were calculated. The photometric cosine law holds for an ideal diffuser; consequently, all color parameters are significantly perturbed by gloss in a large region, several 10's of degrees around the specular angle. The reflectance peak in the specular angle region of glossy material can be well approximated by the Lorentz function, especially in the vicinity of the specular angle. Lightness, chroma, and hue angle in the gloss angle region suffer as a result of high changes and extremes depending on the gloss of the material tested. This is what complicates color measurements and full determination or definition of the complex appearance of printed materials. The change of chroma with varnishing of glossless materials was clearly elucidated. It was found that “bottom color gloss” considerably influences the appearance of printed metallized foils or other prints on high glossy substrates. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 28, 335–342, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10177