An inkometer is a specialized

measuring instrument Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

used by the

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

industry to measure the "tack" (

adhesive Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advantage ...

ness) of an ink with the roller system on an offset press. The importance of tack is that it is not so excessive that it doesn't allow effective transfer from the rollers to the plate and then to the blanket and onto the substrate being printed. Inks can also be tack "graded" in descending sequence to allow for better trapping of one color over another. Inks with too much tack can cause the surface of the paper to pick off and interfere with transfer on subsequent printing units and copies. The amount of tack can be controlled by changing the amount of

solvent A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...

or other diluent used in the ink. The inkometer is made up of three rollers. The center roller is a temperature controlled brass roller, the bottom roller is an oscillating rubber distribution roller. The top roller is attached to a load cell which measures the tack at a given press speed (i.e. 800 feet per minute for a web press or 15000 sheets per hour for an offset press)

References

Measuring instruments Printing terminology Print production {{Printmaking-stub