Pigment Versus Dye Printer Ink Applications

Pigment Versus Dye Printer Ink Applications

Businesses will often have similar daily printing requirements, yet individually, may also need additional applications. It's not often realised that a majority of ink cartridges contain dye-based ink, which provide a general purpose, high colour brilliance, bit it is also possible to purchase a longer lasting, pigment-based ink just for everyday black and white document printing.

Dye-based Printer Inks

A colour inkjet printer will most likely use printer cartridges containing dye-based inks as the machine will be purchased for producing a high professional standard of colour graphics and photo reproduction. However, it's worth noting that because pigment-based inks are mostly just used for black and white or grayscale printing, it's possible that a colour inkjet printer may also use a pigment-based ink only for the black ink cartridge.

Inevitably, simplicity and economy of manufacture are the key reasons that dye-based inks are predominantly found in inkjet cartridges. Not only are dye-based inks water soluble, they are also colour enhanced by optical brighteners which produce colours which are much brighter and vivid than pigment-based inks.

However, because dye-based ink is water soluble, there is a constant risk of smearing the page if it comes into contact with water, even when dried, and the optical brighteners are also strongly affected by light and chemical exposure. Due to a shorter shelf life than pigment-based inks, colour will fade much more quickly in the sun and eventually break down over a longer period of time.

Pigment-based Printer Inks

By contrast, pigment-based inks are more expensive and difficult to manufacture than dye-based inks and consequently, less likely to be found in colour desktop printers. Individual ink cartridges, which can become blocked under heavy use as they operate by flowing together, can be more expensive to purchase because they require special hardware to prevent blocked cartridges resulting in thickened, dark colours.

Pigment-based inks are chemically-based polymer resins, ground and shaped into small powder pigment spheres, which are suspended in water, but are not themselves, water-soluble and thus, will not tend to smear if they come into contact with water. Pigment-based inks, being more resistant to UV waves and possessing a longer life expectancy than dye-based inks, will not fade as quickly when exposed to sunlight.

Many printer manufacturers will more often use pigment-based, black printer ink cartridges alongside a dye-based colour ink cartridges set because colour brightness is less important with black ink and the increased water resistance. As a result, pigment-based ink can be considered a more desirable method for the purposes of archival printing, because of the longer period of preservation of its original colour, even when exposed to sunlight or if unfortunately, coming into contact with water.

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