Where would we be without Ink?

Like many things we tend to take ink for granted, yet it is a truly brilliant invention and, of course, an absolute essential in the printing trade!

In its simplest form ink is a pigment or dye that is used for colouring a surface in order to produce an image or text. 

History of Ink

Many cultures have independently discovered their own ink for the use of writing.

Ink goes all the way back to the 12^th century B.C. where the Chinese used natural plant dyes, squid ink and mineral inks, which were all ground together and applied with the help of ink brushes.

In India, the ink that is locally called ‘masi’ has been used since the 4^th century B.C. and was made from things such as burnt bones, tar, pitch and other substances.

Applications for Ink

There are three types of ink:

Pigmented ink, dyed ink and printer ink. And their applications are extensive and varied ….

It is interesting to recall that uses of ink were dying out, with people not using ink for any other reason than to refill their pens. Even fountain pens had become a rare novelty since the introduction of the ballpoint pen in the market.

Today, ink is most commonly used in printers, with different companies utiliisng technology to develop better and more efficient printers and processes to meet and exceed their customer needs!