ASTM_F_2035_-_00_2011.pdf

Designation:F203500(Reapproved 2011)Standard Practice forMeasuring the Dark Stability of Ink Jet Prints1This standard is issued under the fixed designation F2035;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope1.1 This practice describes an accelerated procedure in-tended to determine the dark stability of ink jet prints.1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2D2244 Practice for Calculation of Color Tolerances andColor Differences from Instrumentally Measured ColorCoordinates2.2 ANSI Standards:ANSI/NAPM IT9.91990 Stability of Color PhotographicImagesMethods for Measuring33.Terminology3.1 Definitions:3.1.1 ink jet media,nrecording elements used by ink jetprinters to receive inks.The substrate may be paper,plastic,canvas,fabric,or other ink receptive material.The substratemay,or may not,be coated with an ink receptive layer(s).3.1.2 single accelerated test,ndark stability testing at asingle set of environmental conditions,for example 50C and50%relative humidity(RH).4.Summary of Practice4.1 Printed test samples are covered with a polyethyleneterephthalate(PET)sleeve4to simulate an album,or with asample of the same sample type to simulate a stack of prints,and placed in foil-lined bags.Air is forced out of the bags andthe bags are sealed.The bags are placed in dark recirculatingforced-air environmental chambers at 50C/50%RH and24C/50%RH and the color change of the samples is thenmeasured over time.NOTE1The foil bags serve several purposes:they protect the samples,they prevent any outgassing from the samples from contaminating othersamples in the test chamber,and they ensure contact of the PET or receiverto the samples.4.2 The duration of the incubation may vary widely depend-ing on the dark stability of the ink/media.4.3 During the course of the test,the color changes in theprinted samples are periodically evaluated instrumentally.Re-sults are compared to a control incubated at room conditionsand to the same specimen prior to incubation.The color changeis reported as percent retained optical density and colordifference,E.4.4 The test may be continued for a specific duration of timeor until a predetermined color difference has been achieved.5.Significance and Use5.1 Dark stability of printed ink jet media for specifiedperiods of time is pertinent to the end use of these materials.While natural aging is the most reliable method of assessingimage stability,the length of time required makes this practiceimpractical for most materials.As a result,accelerated testsoften are used.This practice is an accelerated short-termstorage practice that simulates long-term storage but at el-evated temperature.It provides faster results and is intended toidentify problems that may occur over extended time periods.A room condition sample also is tracked to provide practicaldata.Because testing is done at a single set of conditions,it isnot intended to be a long-term predictor as achieved throughArrhenius testing.NOTE2The results from single accelerated tests can lead to inaccurateresults.This procedure should be used only for early-screening informa-tion in side-by-side comparisons only.Arrhenius testing,which is basedon mathematical extrapolation of a series of high temperature tests toroom temperature,is a better predictor of a products stability.51This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee F05 on BusinessImaging Products and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee F05.07 on Ink JetImaging Products.Current edition approved Oct.1,2011.Published March 2012.Originallyapproved in 2000.Last previous edition approved in 2006 as F203500(2006).DOI:10.1520/F2035-00R11.2For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.3Available from American National Standards Institute(ANSI),25 W.43rd St.,4th Floor,New York,NY 10036.4Kodak Image Sleeve Cat.1600733.5S.Anderson and D.Kopperl,“Limitations of Accelerated Image StabilityTesting,”Journal of Imaging Science and Technology,37:363373(1993).Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 5.1.1 Since the ability of an ink jet print to withstand colorchanges is a function of temperature and humidity,it isimportant that dark stability be assessed under the conditionsappropriate to the end use application.While in