An instrument that measures transmitted or reflective light. It will indicate, in density units or percentage dot, the percentage of a given area this is covered by halftone dots. This instrument is used to ensure consistency and process control.

When used to determine ink restrictions (in the profiling workflow), this photoelectric instrument measures the density of printed inks. The goal is to match a given Target Density used in other traditional print methods.

A densitometer works in two modes: Integral mode measures density on a logarithmic scale from 0 to about 4; Dot-percent mode measures density on a linear scale from 0 to 100. RIP-Queue uses integral mode.

See Configuring Color Sampling Devices.