Abstract: The present invention relates to a liquid composition for use in forming a colored portion by imparting it together with an ink containing a colorant to a recording medium. The liquid composition includes at least a solvent and fine particles reactive with the colorant and, in which the fine particles in the liquid composition have an average particle diameter in a range of 30 to 200 nm, and a 10% cumulative value of scatting intensity of 10 nm or more and 90% cumulative value of scattering intensity of 300 nm or less, when measured by a dynamic light scattering method.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for allowing a high quality image to be recorded with good coloring.

Abstract: A liquid composition is adapted for use with an anionic ink for forming a high quality image with alleviated bleeding by means of an ink-jet recording system. The liquid composition includes a first cationic substance and a second cationic substance different from said first cationic substance, of which the first cationic substance is provided in the form of micro-particles at least whose surface is cationic.

Abstract: A recording medium for ink jet printing comprises a base material layer such as paper or plastic sheet, a porous lower layer formed on the base material layer, and a porous upper layer formed on the porous lower layer. The porous lower layer contains hydrated alumina showing a boehmite structure. The porous upper layer mainly comprises agglomerates of spherical silica particles with particle diameters ranging between 1 and 100 nm and a binder and contains voids mainly found between the agglomerates, not within the agglomerates. Preferably, a second type of spherical silica particles having smaller particle diameters than the above first type of spherical silica particles are also contained in the porous upper layer, and in this case, the first type particles have particle diameters ranging between 10 and 100 nm and are mostly found outside the agglomerates, while the second type particles have particle diameters ranging between 1 and 10 nm and are mostly found within the agglomerates.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a liquid composition, an ink set employing the liquid compositions a method for forming a colored area of an image on a recording medium with the ink-set, and an ink-jet recording apparatus employing the ink set are provided, which enables formation of ink-jet record on a plain paper sheet with a broad color reproduction range, uniformity of the color, less stripy unevenness in a solid print part, and high rub-off resistance of the record. The liquid composition is stable in storage, and is ejected stably from the recording head. The liquid composition is used for forming a colored area on a recording medium by application with an anionic or cationic aqueous ink containing a coloring material, and the liquid composition contains fine particles dispersed therein and the surface of the fine particles being electrically charged in a polarity opposite to the aqueous ink.

Abstract: The invention provides an ink set, a process for forming a colored portion and an ink-jet recording apparatus which are used for obtaining higher-quality ink-jet recorded articles. The ink set comprises an aqueous ink containing at least an ultrafinely particulate pigment as a coloring material and an aqueous liquid composition containing fine particles, dispersed therein and electrically charged at the surface in a polarity opposite to the ink.

Abstract: Provided is a recording medium comprising alumina hydrate, wherein said alumina hydrate having a boehmite structure and containing silica within alumina hydrate particles, in part of or a whole of said alumina hydrate particles, and the crystallinity of said alumina hydrate obtained by an X-ray diffraction analysis of said recording medium is in a range of from 15 to 80.

Abstract: This invention relates to an ink set which can form a colored area on a recording medium with a broad color reproduction range, excellent uniformity of the colors, with effective prevention of bleeding at the boundary between adjacent different color areas on a recording medium, and high rub-off resistance of the colored area. The ink set has separately an aqueous anionic or cationic ink containing a coloring material, and a liquid composition containing fine particles dispersed therein and electrically charged at the surface in a polarity opposite to the ink. The ink and the liquid composition are adjusted to give, when mixed at a mixing weight ratio of about 1:1, a pH of the liquid mixture to cause aggregation of at least the coloring material.

Abstract: A color ink jet recording method/apparatus is capable of reducing blurring of ink dots without reducing dot saturation, generating no difference in tones of secondary colors, and inviting no reduction of throughput, hence materializing an excellent performance of recording in high quality at high speed. A color image is formed by causing ink dots of plural colors to land in such a manner that each of the ink dots is essentially not superposed. The ink dots have the optical density of 1 or more and 1.5 or less. Thereby, overlapping between adjacent ink dots is lessened, and thus a high-quality color image having no difference in tones of secondary colors and a high saturation can be attained.

Abstract: The invention relates to a liquid composition measurement method. One embodiment of the method comprises the steps of: i) subjecting a liquid composition containing fine particles and a solvent to the following pretreatment steps (a) to (c) to form an agglomerate of fine particles: (a) evaporating the solvent of the liquid composition at 120° C. for 10 yours in atmosphere, and drying the liquid composition; (b) burning the dried liquid composition resulting from the pretreatment step (a) at 700° C. after raising temperature from 120° C. to 700° C. over one hour; (c) cooling a burned product obtained in the pretreatment step (b) to room temperature, powdering the burned product to obtain agglomerates of the fine particle; and ii) vacuum degassing the agglomerates at 120° C. for 8 hours, and measuring physical properties of pores of the agglomerates by a nitrogen adsorption and desorption method.

Abstract: Color ink jet recording method/apparatus capable of reducing blurring of ink dots without reducing dot saturation, generating no difference in tones of secondary colors, and inviting no reduction of throughput, hence materializing an excellent performance of recording in high quality at high speed. A color image is formed by causing ink dots of plural colors to land in such a manner that each of the ink dots is not essentially superposed. The ink dots have the optical density of 1 or more and 1.5 or less. Thereby, overlapping between adjacent ink dots is lessened, and thus a high-quality color image having no difference in tones of secondary colors and a high saturation can be attained.

Abstract: A surface grinding method for a thin-plate workpiece is provided including the steps of (a) roughly surface grinding a first surface of a thin-plate workpiece using a thin-plate workpiece surface grinding device to create a reference plane having no sori or waviness; (b) inverting the thin-plate workpiece, the first surface of which has been roughly surface ground and, with a surface grinding device having a hard chucking plate, chucking the first surface to the hard chucking plate to roughly surface grind a second surface of the thin-plate workpiece; (c) chucking to the hard chucking plate the first surface of the thin-plate workpiece, the second surface of which has been roughly surface ground with the surface grinding device having the hard chucking plate to further finely surface grind the second surface of the thin-plate workpiece; and (d) inverting the thin-plate workpiece, the second surface of which has been finely surface ground and, with the surface grinding device having the hard chucking plate, ch

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a printing medium comprising a substrate and an ink-receiving layer which comprises an alumina hydrate surface-treated with a coupling agent and is provided on the substrate.

Abstract: A recording medium includes a porous ink-receiving layer whose main components are an alumina hydrate having a boehmite structure, and a binder. The ink-receiving layer contains voids which communicate with the surface of the ink-receiving layer through pores having radii smaller than the radii of the voids. An image forming method forms an image by providing the recording medium with ink droplets.

Abstract: A recording medium comprises an ink-receiving layer comprising a pigment and an alkali-process gelatin, wherein the alkali-process gelatin has no sol-gel reversibility in an environment of room temperature and has a weight average molecular weight within the range of from 50,000 to 150,000. A coating aqueous dispersion comprises water and has dispersed therein a pigment and the alkali-process gelatin. A process for producing a recording medium comprises the steps of coating on a support at room temperature the coating aqueous dispersion and drying the resulting coating at a high temperature of 80.degree. C. or above. An image forming method comprises ejecting minute droplets of an ink from fine orifices to apply the ink droplets to the recording medium to make a print. A printed material comprises the recording medium.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a recording medium having an ink-receiving layer which comprises an alumina hydrate and acid-processed or alkali-processed gelatin.