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Pigment Inks vs Dye Inks – Which One To Choose

Posted December 29, 2022

So, you are looking for a great ink option to get the best prints for your labeling and packaging? If yes, this article can help you by informing you about the top inks that you can use for these purposes. You can read about details around what is better pigment inks or dye inks and what ink is made of?

Also, you can read about how they make your work easier as a vendor or a company. You can read about the benefits of both pigment inks and dye inks and why use these for certain jobs.

What Ink is Made of?

Some of the most basic ingredients of inks are solvents, additives, lubricants, colorants, resins, varnishes, drying agents, and waxes. But why does this technical information matter to you? Well, the answer is you can not use the right ink if you do not know different aspects of ink ingredients. So, it is a Solvent based ink option that you can try for your printing.

So, the top ingredients that matter for a company when it comes to finding the right ink are:

Pigment Inks Ingredients

As we mentioned, different ingredients matter heavily for inks, and there are certain proportions that you should know about. For instance, you can have:

Dryers:

• 10 to 20 grams of driers may work for a kilogram of ink.
• Such an amount of driers may speed up the drying process by 40 to 50 percent.
• You should be looking for the ones that do not affect the ink color.
• Make sure that this ingredient does not have any lead if you are printing a food packaging product.
• Some of these may not work for rubber-based inks that do not contain drying oil, so watch out for that.

Solvents:

Another important part of this kind of ink is solvents which play an important role as they make the ink fade-proof. So if you are looking for pigment ink, you should make sure that it has the right amount of this ingredient. This ingredient helps your print be more resistant to outdoor conditions.

Also, you should make sure that the solvent in your ink has a good evaporation rate. Quick drying can really help you with the printing process that really matters for your production.

These are some of the top ingredients you should know as a printing company when you want to know what ink is made of?

Dye Inks and Their Ingredients

Dye inks have their own ingredients that play an important role in making a better printing process for your print jobs. One of their important ingredients is water-soluble dyes. These can be plant-based and work super well to help with print vividness.

So, if you are looking to choose a dye ink you can try using the ones that have the right amount of water-based dyes. Also, you should know how good their surface tension properties are to make sure that the paper surface can easily absorb them.

At the same time, they are sensitive to ozone, light, and humidity. So, make sure you get the ink that is least sensitive to these environmental factors to improve your end product. Owing to this and some other reasons, dye inks are cheaper and may be used for less professional printing.

These factors can really help you find out if you need pigment ink or dye ink. So, these are the benefits you should know when you are looking for inks and what ink Is made of.

Pigment Inks vs Dye Inks

Comparing these two is really helpful when you are looking to choose something that works for your type of job. So, we will compare the two to help you decide the ink type that will work for your kind of printing.

Jobs and Uses of Pigment Inks

When it is about choosing one of them, you should know what are the plus points of using them. So, if you think you need to use a pigment ink type, you can have these following benefits that you must consider before choosing between pigment inks vs dye inks:

• Pigment ink is a type that we know as a long-lasting investment that also makes the color more stable.
• You can also rely on this one if you are looking to find something more resistant to stains, like smudges.
• Another benefit of its use is it can help you with water resistance.
• Also, you can rely on such ink if your product has to deal with sunlight. So, it can help your product be safe against exposure to sunlight.
• Plus, black pigment ink can help you with better image quality. Although they may provide better image quality for printing.
• You can use pigment inks for multiple media and works for finishes like gloss, matte, fine arts and luster. So, there is a wide range that you can use it for.

Now that we know some benefits of pigment inks, you can consider them for the type of printing and labeling that they may help with.

You can do a better job when you know what ink is made of.

So, use it for more professional work with durability and resistance to light. These packaging inks matter a lot for your choice, so make sure that you have the right amount of them.

Plus:

• You can use it as a photographer if you need a monochrome shade range.
• If you are looking to laminate your product, it can further enhance its life.
• One thing to remember is that you should try these inks for printers as it would clog inside them if they are made for dye inks.
• You can try them when you do not want to do any post-treatment.
• These are famous for being rich and thick with opacity.
• They are known for being helpful for long-lasting jobs and are also acid-free.

Some disadvantages of pigment inks

• Pigment inks are quite expensive when we compare them to dye-based inks.
• At the same time, black pigment inks may appear to be charcoal shades. So, you may not get the right results if you want to use black color for jet black shades.
• It is believed that using pigment inks on washable stuff may not help with durability; although the results depend on several variable factors.
• This type of ink may not be available in colors other than black.
• You may not like them for being slow when it comes to drying, so you may not like them for quicker jobs.
• Pigment inks may not be that good when it comes to color vibrancy.

So, these benefits and drawbacks should be enough to let you make a final decision and we will talk about dye inks in the next portion.

Dye Inks Benefits

Now that you know dye inks may work well for some aspects of a print job there are some other benefits that you should know. So, we have some top benefits that you should look to have with this kind of ink, like

• Dye inks are famous for having more vibrant colors in the print job.
• You can depend on their water and oil resistance if you use them with gloss paper.
• Also, they are quick to dry, which may also be a variable factor. Still, they will work better in the dying process than pigment inks, so a great thing for you.
• Dye-based black inks are also famous for better print quality for your jobs, so a great benefit that you can have.

If you are looking for better options, you can try using UV inks that can be super helpful to give resistance against UV light.

Some features of dye inks are

• They are smooth and crisp and quite vibrant for your print job.
• Also, it helps with dying the paper and absorbing it into the paper.
• You can rely on them if you are looking for something that has fewer chances of smudges and smearing.
• It works well on rubber and clear stamps and you can use them for card making.
• Moreover, they have less bleeding than pigment inks, which makes them better for many jobs.
• Also, you can use dye inks if you are looking for fade resistance in your print.

Drawbacks of Dye Inks

There are some drawbacks that you should be clear about before you go on and use them.

You may not like them if you want the ink to dry into the paper quickly. Also, it may not be resistant to water in normal conditions, which can be a major drawback for your print. Moreover, you can not use it for water-based mediums and with watercolors.

Final Thoughts

So, this is the most important information that you should have about these two types of inks, pigment and dye inks. You can read about what ingredients play a significant role in their features. At the same time, you can read about how dye inks may work for certain jobs and not for others. Plus, what ink is made of?

Using pigment inks can be beneficial if you are looking to use them for water-resistant and good-quality jobs. At the same time, you can use dye inks if you are looking for a certain type of job. Just make sure that you know which one will work best for your type of job and how to choose them on the basis of their ingredients. If you are not sure, then consult with packaging designing experts team.