Thinking About Ink

How many of us, when we take up our pen to write

, or click the print button to set our printer in motion, consider for how many years man has been making his mark on the environment? Since prehistory, human beings have mixed soot and fats, pigments and earth, to make ink or paint, first to draw on cave walls, then later on tissue or parchment.

Writing ink

Inks were used in India and China for writing texts much earlier than in the Western world. The name of Indian ink is familiar, but its composition may not be. Most pre-21st century inks had as their base either carbon or iron gall, a tannic solution containing iron. This can be extracted from oak gall, the parasitic growths of an oak tree. Indian ink was usually made from a base of carbon, with gum Arabic, shellac and borax. For red ink the colorant was red cinnabar. These inks were fast drying, and of vibrant colour which didnt fade. They were best for semi absorbent material. Iron gall ink was used extensively in Europe after the 12th century, and possibly before. Inks made using iron gall are known as oxidised inks, and were in use into the late 19th century. The disadvantage of this type of ink is that it fades with time, and is corrosive to paper or fountain pens.

Printing ink

Printing had been known in China for some centuries before the first presses appeared in Europe, but in 1454, Gutenberg succeeded in printing his first book, owing to ink that had been made using oil as a solvent, rather than water, and moveable type. Linseed oil had been used for paint for only a few years, and its oiliness facilitated the transfer of colour from wood block to paper. Caxton printed the first book in England soon after, in 1474. This was the start of the growth of books and papers which has continued to rise exponentially to the present day.

The first possibility for do-it-yourself printing was with the invention of the typewriter in the mid 19th century. Early typewriters used inked fabric ribbon which left an impression on the paper as each letter key struck against it. The ink was made using a base of castor oil, mixed with oleic acid and ground colorants. Later models used carbon powder on plastic tape.

The typewriter was superseded by printers on modern lines from the 1970s onwards. The first of these was a dot matrix printer which used an inked ribbon, much like the typewriter. This was followed in 1977 by the ink jet printer, which is now the most popular home printing device. The smaller versions use water soluble ink, with either dye or pigment as the colorant, together with various other chemicals such as fungicide and penetrant, anti drying agents and pH adjusters. Laser printers, more used in commercial applications, work on a different basis. Toner ink, which is a powder, was originally carbon powder but is now mixed with polymers. These are melted, and adhere to the paper in a pattern dictated electrostatically by the printer drum. Who knows what may be the next development in printing? Maybe e-books will reign and the secrets of ink technology will be lost to history. Somehow after all this time it seems unlikely.

by: Louisa London

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