RELATION BETWEEN THE K-AND-N-TEST AND PRINTABILITY TEST FOR NEWSPRINT

The K&N ink stain test is commonly used in North America to predict th e ink absorptivity of coated papers. Some publishers have shown intere st in adapting the test for newsprint. However, many factors influence the results of the test performed on coated paper or on newsprint. We therefore have investigated the potential of the K&N test to predict the print properties. The study showed that the K&N test value is not strongly correlated with other printability tests where actual printin g is performed. Only trends can be identified between the K&N value an d the ink requirement, the ruboff, and the print-through at a print de nsity of 0.85: the higher the K&N value, the higher are the ink requir ements, the ruboff, and the print-through.