Estimation of fabric opacity by scanner

Abstract

Purpose – This study aimed to use a scanner as a low-cost method for measuring the opacity of textile fabric. Textile fabrics must have specific ranges of opacity according to their uses for shirting, curtaining, etc. In this way, opacity is an important property in the textile industry. Conventionally, textile opacity is estimated using a spectrophotometer, which is an expensive method. Design/methodology/approach – In this study a scanner was used as a low-cost method for measuring the opacity of textile fabric. The opacity was estimated by using red, green and blue (RGB) parameters of images of fabric against white and black background. Findings – The accuracy of opacity estimation was improved by converting RGB into several color spaces. The best opacity estimation was obtained by using the XYZ color space. In addition, using a regression method, the best estimation was obtained by using a fourth-order polynomial regression with the LSLM color space. Originality/value – The opacity of fabric has been measured by spectrophotometer, but in this study, the opacity of fabric was measured by scanner as a low cost device and also with novel and simple method. This method achieved acceptable accuracy for opacity estimation. The obtained result is comparable with spectrophotometer results.