Inkjet printing has long been considered a “black art” with a limited number of “magical” materials and combinations thereof known to a few individuals as giving highly reliable jetting performance. For many years experience and excessive testing of many materials predominated as the only guaranteed route to inkjet reliability and success. Recent years have shown a significant increase in the application of more scientific methodologies in attempts to understand the inkjet process and the fundamental parameters governing it. Many people within the industry are now using optical techniques to examine and visualize print head performance. Beyond visualization the next steps are characterization and measurement - a new technique has been developed to take those steps.The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the applicability of a novel technique specifically developed to quantify inkjet printing performance in all areas, from developing more robust and higher performance products to more meaningful quality control of existing products. This study demonstrates the range of different performance features that may be examined across the breadth of inkjet print head technologies and how this data may then be used in assessing reliability and defining key system parameters such as print head drive conditions and maintenance algorithms.