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optical/fluorescent brightening/whitening agent (OBA, FBA, FWA), whitener

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optical/fluorescent brightening/whitening agent (OBA, FBA, FWA), whitener (In French azurant optique, agent azurant/fluorescent/ de blanchiment) substances that convert the invisible UV components of incident light into visible wavelengths to make paper appear even whiter. The bluish brightening effect is complementary to the yellowish, not completely white-bleached paper components. In ICC color management, FWAs make the visual correspondence between digital proof and production print more difficult. For this reason, when recording the characterization data for ICC output profiles, the metrological consideration of whitening is desirable, such as basICColor makes possible with the KMS FD-5/-7.