Printing ink

Printing ink is a formulated liquid or paste that transfers color to a surface during printing. Its pigments or dyes are carried by a vehicle designed to suit the printing process and substrate.

Pigment: A finely divided, insoluble material that gives a substance color by absorbing and scattering light. Pigments provide color while remaining dispersed rather than dissolved in many printing inks.
Ink transfer: The movement of ink from a printing element onto a substrate. It is the immediate step by which printing ink forms an image on paper or another surface.
Inkjet printing: A printing method that forms images by ejecting tiny droplets of ink onto a surface. Inkjet inks must form reliable droplets and suit the receiving surface.
Paint: A liquid coating that forms an opaque or decorative film on a surface. Paint is usually applied to cover surfaces, while printing ink is formulated for controlled image transfer.
Lightfastness: A material's resistance to fading or color change under exposure to light. It determines how long printed colors remain stable under illumination.
Dye: A soluble colorant that absorbs selected wavelengths of light and colors a material. Some inks use dissolved dyes instead of the suspended pigments common in durable printing inks.
Offset printing: A printing process that transfers an inked image from a plate to a blanket and then to a substrate. Its ink must transfer through an intermediate blanket and work with a dampened plate.
Newspaper printing: The high-volume printing of newspapers, commonly using fast presses and absorbent newsprint. News inks are designed for rapid setting on porous paper during high-speed production.
Toner: A fine powder used to form images in electrophotographic printing and copying. Toner forms images as a powder and is fused to the substrate, unlike liquid or paste ink.
Migration (packaging): The transfer of chemical substances from packaging materials into the packaged product. Ink components can migrate through or from packaging and require control in food applications.

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