Printer inks, like all other inks, are made from mixtures that contain pigments and a carrier. The type of printing process the ink is intended to be used for will determine the way particular inks are manufactured.

Whatever its purpose, though, printer inks should be able to cover the surface that it is being printed on quickly and evenly.

Printer Ink for Newspapers

When thousands of newspapers are being printed every day they are often printed on huge offset printing presses. These offset presses need ink that will easily soak into the newsprint. Only then can the newspapers be cut and folded while the ink is still drying.

If you've ever read a newspaper and noticed that the newsprint sometimes ends up on your finger tips you now know why.

A Brief History of Pigments

Ground lamp black was the original source of printers ink pigments. Lamp black is often called "soot." Lamp black was combined with different animal or vegetable compounds to create different colors.

Nowadays the pigments are often comprised of either chemical compounds or dyes. Nonetheless, lamp black is still a favorite choice when it comes to manufacturing black pigments.

Carriers are the things that attach pigments to paper. Traditional printer inks recipes used linseed oil as the carrier. More modern recipes use resins or alkyds as the carrier. These carriers are usually either soybean- or mineral-oil.

No matter the carrier that is used, the process has changed very little over hundreds of years. Here's what takes place.

First, the carrier is heated to between 200- and 600-degrees Fahrenheit. Once it reaches the target temperature the carrier is allowed to cook for up to 12 hours. The amount of time it is cooked will determine how thick it gets. The longer it is cooked the thicker the end product.

If the ink will be used for letterpresses or lithographs it will be allowed to cook longer.

If the inks are going to be used for flexographic printing or rotogravures, then, once these oil links or paste links are cooked, thinning solvents will be added.

Pigments are often prepared while the carriers are being cooked. Roller mills - which were designed in the 1800s - are still used to grind the pigments.

Once everything is prepared additives such as surfactants, wax, lubricants, or drying agents may be added. What's added is determined by the ultimate purpose of the ink.

The idea, though, is that the ink will be made to be thick enough to cover the media it will be printed on, but thin enough to dry easily.

Today the look of many of these traditional processes can be achieved at home or in the office on inkjet printers. The printer inks that your printer uses dries quickly and gives you the professional quality results that you are looking for.