What is ink made of

They derived this rudimentary form of ink from regional fruits, vegetables, and minerals. This eventually evolved over hundreds of years so that both pigments and dyes from fish and animal parts were used as ink to create symbolic communication, but as ink for fabric on clothing and other items.

The history of ink begins many centuries ago. Around B. He then added gelatin to the mixture that was made from the skin of a donkey with some addition of musk. All these ingredients created the first black writing ink that became very popular in China and the surrounding area. So much so that some tried to improve on the formula by substituting natural dyes and colors from plants and minerals. This included salt, gum, and nutgalls. This became the standard ink formula of that time.

Egyptians had also created their own form of ink around B. Once formulated, it was dried in the shape of sticks. Surfactants and polymers are the classes of compounds used for this endeavor, and they are suspended in a solvent. Each absorbs pigment particles and forms a coating that can vary in thickness and composition to prevent the fine pigment particles from settling.

The different sizes of pigment particles influence the intensity of a given color. Resins are added to ink to allow it to bind together into a distinct film, as well as to bind it to a printed surface. These materials improve not only binding, but also the rheology and mechanical properties of the ink. Resins, such as alkyds, ketones, acrylics, and formaldehydes, are also used in printing to create surfaces that are glossy, or heat, water, and chemical resistant.

You will usually find multiple resins in any given ink. There are many other ingredients of importance that are added to what printer ink is made of to improve its function including:. Most printer ink is made of what is a base of linseed or soybean oil, or a heavy petroleum distillate used as the solvent. This is then combined with pigments to create ink that is designed to dry by evaporation.

This base is often referred to as varnish. Color pigments are composed of salts and multiring nitrogen-containing compounds, or dyes including:. Though not as common, inorganic pigments are also used.

These include chrome green Cr2O3 , prussian blue Fe4[Fe CN 6]3 , cadmium yellow CdS , and molybdate orange a mix of molybdate, sulfate, and lead chromate. White pigments, such as titanium dioxide, can be used alone or to modify the characteristics of particular colored inks. These pigments are mixed with varnish to formulate color printing ink.

Additions, or additives, are added to what printer ink is made from to alter given physical properties to suit various situations. The additions are mixed with the resins and solvents or dispersants prior to the introduction of pigments.

Some of these additions include waxes to promote rub-off resistance, lubricants, and drying agents, which separate from the ink's body and allow print to bind to surfaces and dry quickly. It is amazing to think that so much goes into how printer ink is made. It is, of course, this vast amount of ingredients and complicated process that add to its notorious expense. In order to save on printer ink, shop remanufactured cartridges from 1ink.

We have cartridges for every printer imaginable and our prices are only a fraction of the manufacturer's cost. If you want quality ink without straining your budget, browse our shop today. What is Ink? A Brief History of Ink What is printer ink made of? Newspapers are generally printed with a mineral oil ink at a very fast rate--several thousand feet per minute.

Because newsprint is not heated, that allows little time for the ink to air-dry, Price noted. Instead, the ink is absorbed by the inner fibers of the sheet of paper and remains there a bit damp during most of the transient life of the paper--the vehicle doesn't completely evaporate. So when you handle the paper some of the ink can rub off onto your fingers. The amount depends on how fresh the newspaper is. Ink on the pages of books, magazines, newspaper inserts, and catalogs doesn't smudge off, Price added, because they are usually completely dried during the print run and are printed on a different type of paper.

As my ink odyssey was winding down, I had a chance to see ink in action during a trip to Brown Printing Co. The four colors of ink used--black, cyan, magenta, and yellow--are pumped into different units of a press. The ink sits in a "fountain" where it is picked up and transferred via the etched printing plate to the paper. I couldn't help sticking my finger into one of the fountains to check out the ink.

Although I expected the ink to be viscous, I was still surprised at how thick it was when I looked at my fingertip covered with cyan goo. That's about 20 L per page--a bargain. So what does the future hold for ink? The advent of personal computers, personal electronics, and the Internet may one day replace libraries full of printed books and periodicals with electronic products.

For example, electrophoretic inks that currently are being commercialized can be corrected, edited, or updated if needed by momentarily applying an electric field. And electronic books e-books with digital displays, something similar to a palmtop computer, may be in vogue in a few years. But the great paperless society hasn't begun to show itself yet--people simply like paper too much.

And as long as there's paper, then there must be ink.