The Problem: Quality Assurance via Ink Density Measurement
To meet the needs of readers and advertisers, the New York Times insures not only quality editorial, but also quality production by enforcing high levels of quality control throughout all stages of production. This control extends right down to the inks used, as these are rigorously tested and evaluated in their own laboratories.
An X-Rite 400 Reflection Densitometer is used to measure the density of ink printed on a newspaper as part of the meticulous quality assurance testing performed at the New York Times.
The Solution: WinWedge inputs real-time Densitometer Readings into Excel
The densitometer measures the reflection of light off sample black ink areas and these readings are input via WinWedge directly into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The data readings are automatically graphed in real-time in Excel to show the highs and lows. Statistical analysis is also performed using Excel to determine if the measured ink densities fall within an acceptable range.
In addition, ink “rub-off” quality control tests are performed with densitometer readings taken before and after the ink has been rubbed with a weighted tissue. WinWedge inputs data from all these tests directly from these tests directly from the RS232 output densitometer into MS Excel.
WinWedge was extremely easy to set up and it eliminates the need for slow, error-prone manual data entry of densitometer readings into Excel greatly increasing the speed, accuracy and efficiency of the process. Hence WinWedge assists the quality control technicians to assure that the inks used are fit to print “All the News That’s Fit to Print“.
WinWedge Advantages
- 100% accurate and cost effective data collection
- Easy to set up and use and free support
- Significant time reduction in data collection
- Ability to perform real-time graphing and statistical analysis in Excel
- Lifetime license
Updated August 2026