How Is Ink Color Made?

Color Inks

Ink is used in a variety of applications from ballpoint pens to home inkjet printers to large commercial printing presses. Each type of ink is manufactured differently, although all types of inks have two basic elements: a pigment and a vehicle. The pigment is what contains the colorant and it is emulsified with the vehicle so it can be applied to the paper.

Pigments and Dyes

Ink Pigments

The most important component of ink is the colorant that is used, since it determines the hue of the ink. Colorants may be dyes that dissolve in the carrier vehicle or pigments, which are particles that are suspended in solution. Pigments are ground to a very small particle size so that they do not settle in the suspension. High-quality inks all use pigments.

Ink Vehicles

Ink vehicles

Ink vehicles used to be primarily solvent based and were very high in volatile organic compounds. Environmental concerns led the printing industry to abandon alcohol and solvent-based vehicles for organic carriers like vegetable- and soy-based products. Since printing operates on the basis that oil and water don't mix, an essential element of the vehicle is the ability to repel water.

Driers

Drier Additives

A drier is an additive used in ink manufacturing to help inks dry quickly after they leave the printer or printing press. Driers are typically made of metals, which accelerate the drying of ink on paper by stimulating oxidation. Inks may be ordered with built-in driers or added to the ink before use. Metals used for driers are typically made of cobalt, manganese and zirconium.

Ink Tack

Printing Ink on Ink

Ink tack can be described as a rating of the ink's ability to stick to the paper or another ink. In four-color printing, tackiness is extremely important since yellow, magenta, cyan and black inks have to lie down on top of one another in register to create a color image. Tack sequence is important, and inks are ordered for a specific tack based on the order in which the colors are printed on the press.

Ink Trapping

Four Color Web Press

During four-color printing the process of printing wet ink on top of another wet ink is called ink trapping. The driers used in manufacturing and the tack sequence of the inks are important. Inks are analyzed by comparing wet ink trap to dry ink trap. The ink trapping ratio is the two compared together, and inks are manufactured with specific ratios to assist printers in customizing their four-color printing workflow.

References

• inks have two basic elements, a pigment and a vehicle.

Resources

• Ink Driers