On Natural Inks And Printer Ink

Ink is a fairly all-embracing term, used to describe pretty much anything that can be used to colour a surface or produce text, or an image or design

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Its source can be natural or man made. The first inks were made from plant dyes, whilst a little while later the Greeks and the Romans produced theirs by mixing soot, glue and water. When the first printing presses were made the glue and water were replaced respectively with turpentine and walnut oil which adhered to printing surfaces much better without smudging.

Most inks can be hazardous if ingested. Whilst rarely fatal, consuming ink internally can generally lead to headaches, skin irritation and damage to the nervous system.

Clearly this is not so however in the case of cephalopod ink. This is the substance secreted as a defence mechanism by such creatures as cuttlefish and squid. As well as having been used in the past as a printing ink (Sepia is after all the Greek name for cuttlefish) these animal inks are sometimes used as a colouring and a tasty additive for pastas and sauces.

Historically the most common inks have been made from carbon and iron gall. Carbon inks were generally made from soot and a binding agent such as gum Arabic. The particles did not fade even when exposed to sunlight and was not harmful to the paper, however it did sometimes smudge when in a humid environment and could be washed off a clean, non porous surface.

Iron gall inks became very popular by the 12th century but it is corrosive and over time will damage the paper surface that it is on.

Modern printer ink tends to be aqueous, based upon a mix of water, glycol and pigments or dyes. These water based inks allow the thermal heads of the inkjet to perform. Despite being more expensive than dye-based inks, those using pigments are much more durable and resistant to fading in sunlight.

There is no perfect ink delivery system and inkjets and laser printers have many advantages and disadvantages relative to one another which need to be factored in when deciding which is the most suitable to our needs. Ink cartridges can sometimes report empty when they in fact are a third or more full, and often nozzles can become clogged with dried ink. Generally speaking the laser printer gains the advantage when runs are larger than a certain size, whilst the inkjet is favoured when producing smaller volumes of printed material.

by: Mark Richards

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