- Pigmented ink is a mixture that takes pigments, or pieces, of a non-liquid colored substance and sticks them together in liquid form. Solvent-based ink is a type of pigmented ink in which resin, the sticky substance, and the colored pigments are mixed together. The solvent, what they are dissolved in, is any liquid that is not water. Once they are mixed together, they stick to the paper and when dry are hard enough to avoid being scraped off. Pigmented ink that uses a binding agent, uses the same concept of dissolving colored pigments, except they are dissolved in water and chemicals are used to hold them together.
- Dyed ink dissolves colored dye into a liquid solvent, and when the ink is used, it dries on the paper. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Dyed ink provides a larger range of colors that can be used, and they are harder to rub off than pigmented inks. However, as they dry on the paper, they tend to run or soak through to the back. There are several ways of avoiding this problem. For large printing jobs, a business may have a machine to blow air on the paper and dry the ink. Some papers are printed with chemicals on them to keep the ink from smearing. This is commonly used in ink jet printers, as we will talk about in the next section.
- Printer ink is made from a combination of materials. The ink may be created from pigments or dyes, depending on the type. It is mixed with water and glycol, a thick syrupy substance that helps the ink to stick together and mix. For larger businesses, a solvent ink may be used. They are cheaper, but use high vapor steam instead of water to print. This allows them to print on more surfaces, but the printer requires more cleaning. UV-curable ink are inks that dry when exposed to UV rays. They are used to keep ink from spreading and running, but are expensive. Finally, dye sublimation inks have a special type of dye mixed into the solvent that allows them to print on fabric.
