Whats the transfer function of offset printing?
A image destined for halftone printing conventionally specifies each pixel in terms of dot percentage in film. An imagesetter’s halftoning machinery generates dots whose areas are proportional to the requested coverage. In principle, dot percentage in film is inversely proportional to linear-light reflectance. Two phenomena distort the requested dot coverage values. First, printing involves a mechanical smearing of the ink that causes dots to enlarge. Second, optical effects within the bulk of the paper cause more light to be absorbed than would be expected from the surface coverage of the dot alone. These phenomena are collected under the term dot gain, which is the percentage by which the light absorption of the printed dots exceeds the requested dot coverage. Standard offset printing involves a dot gain at 50% of about 24%: when 50% absorption is requested, 74% absorption is obtained. The midtones print darker than requested. This results in a transfer function from code to reflecta
