Control of UV Offset Printing Processes by In-line NIR Spectroscopy

In the last 15 years, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been developed to one of the most common methods for process control. This is related to its analytic power and versatility, which allows adaption of this method to a wide range of quite different problems [1-3]. As a spectroscopic technique, NIR spectroscopy is a non-destructive and contact-free method, which prevents any effect of the measurement process on the analyzed sample. Moreover, modern process spectrometers are equipped with separate probe heads or sensors, which enable easy integration in production lines via optic fiber links. Therefore, NIR spectroscopy is widely used in process control.