The scholarship of current and emerging print technologies is the theme of the latest edition of Test Targets 9.0, published by Rochester Institute of Technology.

RIT students, faculty and staff from RIT's School of Print Media submit research papers for the annual publication. Topics covered in Test Targets 9.0 include color management, process control, color measurement and dimensional printing.

In collaboration with Eastman Kodak Co., there is a special insert, "Gallery of Visual Interest," featuring an article "Benchmarking Color Image Quality Between Inkjet and Offset." Kodak was the vendor that agreed to incorporate the actual targets printed on its inkjet solution. Test Targets 9.0 contains the first widely available Kodak Prosper 5000XL press with Stream Inkjet Technology samples.

Using color measurement and visual comparisons, RIT researchers determined the Kodak Prosper 5000XL press, a high-speed color inkjet press, produces pleasing offset print quality by honoring the gray balance of a standard offset printing while having higher chroma as seen in various hues. The article also demonstrates how the Kodak Prosper 5000XL press can closely match a standard offset printing condition by using a device link ICC profile.

In addition to research and content creation, collaborators also perform pre-media, prepress and printing tasks using facilities at the School of Print Media and RIT's Printing Applications Laboratory. The production of the publication was sponsored by the Printing Industry Center at RIT as part of its 2009-2010 research agenda. Copies of Test Targets 9.0 were distributed to its industry partners at the annual Printing Industry Center Symposium and Planning Meeting held Nov. 19 and 20 in Rochester.

Test Targets 9.0 is available as a PDF free of charge at http://cias.rit.edu/~gravure/tt/

Hard copies of the publication may be purchased for $24.95 from RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press. Profits from the sale of the publication are donated to RIT's School of Print Media scholarship fund.