Unlike regular pigments based on selective light absorption, the so-called “effect pigments″ are based on the phenomena of structural color, or selective reflectance. Structural color has appealing aesthetic qualities, such as angle-dependent hue, and is able to produce lightfast colors. When used as a pigment, however, the gamut of the print is more limited, the color is difficult to measure, and therefore color management and preprint process become challenging. The aim of this paper is to compare the behavior of effect pigments in the processes of lithographic and screen printing with standard pigments used in so-called process inks, and to analyze their optical properties when used on their own or in combination with absorption pigments. An image of amber beads was printed as screen prints and lithographs. Three sets of inks were used: Set one: Standard process inks in the colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK); set two: RGB inks formulated with Merck Spectraval™ pearlescent pigments which allow additive red, green, blue printing on a black substrate; and set three: golden inks formulated with pigments from the Merck Iriodin™ and Pyrisma™ effect pigment range. The image was printed on white and black paper. The optical appearance was assessed visually, and spectra and color coordinates were measured.
The iridescent effect produced by structural color is difficult (if not impossible) to capture and print using traditional CMYK pigments. The so called RGB reflective pigments, nonetheless, generate angle-dependent colors by light interference. A layered surface structure generated by the pigments' particles on a substrate reflects light waves of different wavelengths at different viewing angles according to the optical principle known as the Bragg Law. In this work, we have studied the influence of different halftone structures on printed images, produced with RGB reflective inks via screen printing. The main goal was to enhance the iridescence of a printed reproduction by studying the performance of different halftone algorithms on a screen printing process. We investigated the influence of different halftone structures in creating different spatial combinations of inks on a print to reproduce the image of an iridescent feathered headdress. We applied first-order, second-order, and structure-aware FM halftones to compare how they influence the reproduction of the material appearance of the object represented in the original image. The results show that the structure-ware halftones improve the representation of the image structures and details. Therefore, it could better convey the 3D surface features that produce iridescence in real feathers.
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