Ink and its Printing Quality

What ever activity you are in, chances are ink is present.

When you write, you need a pen. When you read magazines, books and newspapers, ink is necessary to print them. When you want to print something from your computer, ink is indispensable. You use money printed with ink. Almost in every thing you do way, ink is attendant.

What is ink? It is a dense liquid composed of dye or pigment suspended in a solvent. Early inks came from fruit and vegetable juices, barks of trees, protective secretions of octopus, squid and cuttlefish.

The very first instance when ink was used was when a man employed vegetable charcoal and glue in Egypt. It has happened 4, 500 years ago. Since then, ink has gone a long way already.

The most recent ink is divided into two - printing and the writing inks. The former is further classified into ink for digital non-impact printing which uses ink-jet and electrographic technologies and ink for traditional printing using a mechanical plate.

Ink is one vital material not only for writing but for printing needs as well. Only few people how to choose ink in order to boost the quality of their printing job. In fact, a lot are still confused about the matter.

How would you know that the ink is a high-quality ink? There are five major characteristics that have to be significantly considered to arrive at it. They are color, surface tension, cleanliness, pH and viscosity.

Color. It is the most apparent characteristic. You can utilize spectrophotometer to get color consistency. This instrument measures the amount of light energy or spectrum wavelength in the object.

Colored inks are usually made from linseed oil, soybean oil and solvent with organic pigments. Black ink, on the other hand, came from carbon black. These inks include additives like lubricants, waxes, surfactants and dying agents.

Surface Tension. This measures the cohesive energy in an interface. To exactly measure surface tension, surface tensiometer is necessary. Inaccuracy in surface tension results to unsuitable droplet formation. Consequently, the droplets will make poor print quality.

Cleanliness. This characteristic is vital so that blotting can be avoided. A messy print resembles crap. Thus, every printing company or a consumer must ascertain first the tidiness of the ink when applied to paper, shirt and the likes.

pH. It refers to the alkalinity or acidity of the ink. The pH value which ranges from 0-6 is acidic while pH value 7 is considered neutral. The pH range of 8 to 14 is considered alkaline. Higher acidity or alkalinity can damage the print heads.

Viscosity. It is the flow rate or measure of the fluid’s resistance to deformation. It is closely associated to being thick.

Now that you are well-informed, you are likely to make good decision with regards to choosing high-quality ink.

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