Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale

Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale Chart
Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale Calibration
Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale Comparison
Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale Pdf

TAPPI Standards compared to Related Standards of ISO and ASTM (revised May 2015) NOTE: “Related” does not imply “equivalence.” A “Related Standard” may be a standard for a similar property, but this should not assume identical technical content or matching results.
Both the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have industry standards for measuring brightness, TAPPI Standard T451 and ISO Standard 2469, respectively.

Brightness, as specified by the TAPPI is the measurement of the amount of reflectance of blue light (Wavelength 457 nanometers, 44nm wide). There is also an ISO standard for measuring brightness (ISO 2469 - Paper, board and pulps - Measurement of diffuse radiance factor) but this is rarely used as the CIE whiteness scale is the more common measurement.

When looking for a new paper to use for your high speed inkjet projects, remember to get all the paper the details. Characteristics like brightness, whiteness and shade level of the paper can impact the inkjet color outcomes for your project. Lets talk about how some of the manufactured paper specifications and how brightness can directly affect your color fidelity.

It’s easy to have a general idea of what the term brightness means but, there can be confusion as to the technical definition and how it affects the appearance of your final product. Let’s get technical:

Brightness is the volume of light reflected off the sheet of paper. Measured from 0 to 100, it is the measurement of reflectance of the blue (short wavelengths) of the visible spectrum at 457 nm and completely ignores the longer green and red wavelengths, thus, ignoring shade.

The brightness is much like the wattage or brightness of a light bulb.

Because of this, two types of paper with the same brightness can visually appear very different, even though their “brightness” is the same.

Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale Chart

The higher the number, the brighter the paper.

And, the brighter the paper, the brighter and lighter your images can become. Colors on less bright papers are noticeably darker. For the most part, high chroma colors printed on brighter white papers are vibrant, but darker colors can become visually washed out.

A paper of 98 to 100 bright can affect how colors are represented and may be too bright for your ink coverage. A combination of high bright paper and low TAC requirements with light weight papers can make your ink to look dull and washed out.

If you want to get really technical, some papers can have a brightness measure of over 100 when optical brighteners are used. These are really bright papers. Also note that there are three different measures of brightness.

TAPPI Brightness is the North American standard
ISO Brightness – the European standard
D65 Brightness – based on viewing in “outdoor” light (note – more likely to return values higher than 100)

Inkjet Insight Paper Finder reports paper brightness using the standard specified by the mill. Talk to your mill representative to better understand your papers actual “specs” as well as print a fingerprint on the actual paper with the profile and production machine settings.

Whether you are printing vivid color documents or important proposals, or just making copies of general office documents, the right office paper elevates any project. Some factors to consider before you place your office paper order are paper weight, brightness, recycled content and the availability of specialty papers for specific tasks.

Paper Brightness

'Brightness' refers to a specific measure of how much light a sheet of paper reflects. The U.S. uses the GE/Tappi scale and is a different brightness measurement system than the International scale. The comparison scale below, along with the new brightness icon, will guide you through the different numbers.

U.S. (GE/Tappi) Scale	92 Brightness	96 Brightness	98 Brightness
International (Int'l.) Scale	102-106	108-112	113-117

The higher the brightness rating, the sharper the print. Color documents should be printed on office paper with a minimum 96 brightness. General office documents only require 92 brightness office paper

Office Paper Weights

Office paper ranges from 20 lbs. to 32 lbs. These numbers indicate the weight of an 500 sheets. Between 24-28 lbs. is fine for general office documents. The heavier weight work best for for color documents.

Most Common Office Paper Styles

Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale Calibration

These paper choices feature fast-dry coatings and paper surface treatments to resist smearing and provide high-quality results.

Higher brightness and excellent toner adherence—along with the smoothness and opacity required to produce excellent results in laser and color copier applications.

Traditional copy paper—generally the least expensive option for everyday use on most types of office machines.

Professional coatings produce the same results from an inkjet printer as you’d expect to receive from a photo lab.

Traditional stationery grade paper is made with special linen and parchment finishes or cotton content.

Traditional “Dot-Matrix” paper (also called continuous-feed and color bar paper) that’s specifically made for printers that use a “pin-fed“ design.

Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale Comparison

Eco-Friendly Office Paper

Tappi Versus Iso Brightness Scale Pdf

Recycled paper requires less water, energy and fewer chemicals to manufacture. Look for the recycled symbol and recycled less water and energy in man

All Green Seal Certified paper meets strict minimum standards for recycled and chemical content:

- At least 30% post-consumer fiber;
- Post-consumer fiber is not de-inked with any solvent containing chlorine;
- The bleaching agent for any virgin fiber does not contain chlorine or its derivatives.