Simulation of optical dot gain in multichromatic tone production

Optical dot gain (light scattering or Yule-Nielsen effect) is an important effect influencing the quality of tone reproductions. Based on probability descriptions on the light scattering, a framework is established for descri bing this effect on the reflectance and color appearance of a chromatic hal ftone image. General expressions for the reflectance and CIEXYZ tristimulus values have been derived. Simulations for images printed with 2 inks have been carried out by applying Gaussian type of point spread function (PSF). Dependence of the optical dot gain on the optical properties of substrate a nd inks, the dot geometry etc., have been studied in detail.