What Is So Special About Computer Ink?

Upon breaking the seal on the shiny foil package, the ink cartridge is revealed. We simply pull the tab, and place the cartridge into the printer. Ever wondered what is really in that plastic cartridge?

Printer ink can be vastly complicated. The substance is made up of many different components, and these components will effect the look of the print job. Printer ink is composed of either dye or pigments of a specific quantity and type for coloration. Added to this is a surfactant to help balance how much the paper is wetted and to provide surface tension.

To make sure that the ink adheres to the paper and to limit the evaporation, resins and humectants are used. Thses cartridges also contain a mixture of de-ionized water, biocides, fungicides and buffering agents.

The print quality is affected by whether ink is dye based or pigment based. Dye based inks usually provide a sharper quality, and the colors are brighter. Due to the dye based ink's stability, it can be stored for long periods of time without degrading. However, there is a drawback to dye based ink.

This substance has a drying time of ten seconds, which often results in the image being blurred. Because of this drawback, pigment based inks are better suited for color printing.

Since pigment based inks are waterproof and fade resistant with a faster drying time, they prevent the print job from blurring. Also, they are a lighter and faster.

Another benefit of pigment based printer ink is it has a lower toxicity level. Ink manufacturers are striving to produce an ink that incorporates the best qualities of both types of inks, resulting in an ink that is not only vivid and durable, but also fade resistant and waterproof in hopes that the new ink would be capable of printing on any type of media.

Whether you are using dye based or pigment based ink, your actual ink colors are strangely limited. The actual ink colors found in cartridges are black, cyan, yellow, and magenta. In some cartridges that are created with photo printing in mind, you will also find the variations of light cyan, light yellow, and light magenta.

Cyan is a shade of blue, magenta is a shade of red, and yellow is just yellow. This gives the printer good mixing shades of the primary colors so that it can combine to create every color needed. The light variations also provided by photo cartridges help to insure the greater color distinction that is needed for quality photographs.

Now you have the facts about computer ink; make informed decisions about the features you want when you purchase that next printer cartridge. Feel empowered to achieve the results you desire!