Difference Dye V Pigment Ink
Ever wondered what the difference between Dye and Pigment Ink
When it comes to printer ink, nothing is just cut and dried, plain and simple. Ink for your standard desktop printer generally falls into two major categories: pigment or dye based ink. Some major commercial applications require oil-based inks to satisfy their requirement or even Archival Inks (lasts up to 100 years without fading), but pigments and dyes dominate the home and office.
Pigment Ink
Let’s explain pigment ink, what it is and when it is used. A pigment is a dry, powdery substance that must be mixed with a liquid like water to leave behind black, white or colour. Without going into detail about the science of pigment ink, pigment is not necessarily water – soluble, it may remain suspended in the liquid (much as is the case for a “colloid*”). So what are the advantages of using pigment ink? Pigment particles tend to bond to edges within the chosen medium, a reason why these inks tend to last longer and resist fading over time.
When To Use Pigment Ink
Pigment inks in generally more suited to printing on polished surfaces, such as transparencies and stickers. They are also more expensive to produce with the colours produced are not as brilliant as with dyes. If you are printing an important image/document that you want to last for a long time, pigment inks are your best option. If you’re looking for bright colour at a lower cost, dye ink may be a better fit for you.
Dye Ink
Dye-based inks tend to be cheaper and water soluble, explaining why dye inks are more likely to smear. Dye ink generally takes more time to dry and results can be poor if a drop of water hit a page. So what’s the advantage of dye ink? Colour is more vibrant. Colours are brighter because various optical compounds are added to dye ink to enhance the colour. However, these compounds, like the dyes, have a low resistance to light or to UV rays, especially since dye-based inks are usually spread more thinly than pigment inks on the surface. Fading can be an issue if your document will be exposed to the sun, so dye inks aren’t perfect for printing things such as signs and banners that are shown in a window or outdoor. While dye ink has its drawbacks, advances in ink development have improved the fade resistance of dye inks. Big brands like Canon, Epson, HP & Fuji Xerox have improved the fade resistance quality of their dye-based inks, almost rivalling the quality of pigments.
Should I use dye or pigment ink for my printer?
So what is the best type of ink for your printer? The answer to this question depends on what you are printing. Screen Printing presses often use dye or pigment based inks. If you wish to print phones with brilliant colours, then a dye-based ink may be best. On the other hand, if you need to print contracts or text documents that need to last, a pigment-based ink is probably more suited. If exposure to sunlight won’t be a big issue, dyes can also be good for printing text documents because dyes tend to print darker than pigment-based dyes.
Now you know the difference between dye and pigment ink. If you can’t decide what type of ink you should use, don’t worry. In many cases, your printer manufacturer has already made this decision for you. If you’re wondering what kind of ink is in your cartridge, know that most black ink cartridges are filled with pigment ink, while colour ink cartridges usually take advantage of the favourable colour properties of dye-based inks. Either way, make sure you get the best price on bulk ink and inkjet cartridges at CartridgeMate
*A colloid is a solution that has particles ranging between 1 and 1000 nanometers in diameter, yet are still able to remain evenly distributed throughout the solution. These are also known as colloidal dispersions because the substances remain dispersed and do not settle to the bottom of the container
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