Pigment Printer Ink
Industrial coding is a demanding process that is integral to countless packaging and manufacturing workflows.
Completed with production line printing equipment, industrial marking enables companies to efficiently outfit their goods with essential information and traceable codes. High-speed continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers and high-resolution thermal inkjet (TIJ) printers, for example, are used to code today’s most popular substrates and packaging materials, including:
To accommodate the diverse surface properties of these different materials, CIJ and TIJ printers are compatible with numerous ink formulas. By selecting the ideal ink and substrate combination, companies of all specialties can make their markings consistently readable and durable enough to survive the product lifespan.
For certain coding applications, bright colors and vibrant hues are required to ensure code visibility and machine scannability. Pigmented ink is often the best way to acquire these properties.
In this blog, we take a look at pigment printer ink, examine its properties, and explain its ideal applications.
Pigmented Printer Ink 101: How Pigmented Formulas Differ from Other Ink Options
By and large, inkjet printer ink is colored with two materials: pigment and dye. Although there are exceptions, such as food-grade inks, the vast majority of inks use pigment or dye as colorants.
Pigmented printer inks are brighter and more vibrant than dye formulas. This difference is caused by a few factors, all of which relate to the physical properties of pigment and dye. Pigment particles are roughly the same size as sand (~0.05-0.20 mm), while dye particles are much smaller (~0.004 mm). The different sizes and properties of these colorants greatly affect the formula appearance.
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While pigment does improve the color and brightness of ink formulas, the large particle size does require special accommodation.
Think of a pigmented ink cartridge like a paint can. For example, you can’t just open a can and start painting—you need to stir the mixture first to ensure that the pigments, solvents, binders, and additives are all properly dispersed. Only then will the mixture have the right qualities to begin painting.
Because pigment particles are so large, they sink to the bottom of cartridges. For smaller cartridges like those used by TIJ printers, this is not cause for concern. However, CIJ printers use much larger cartridges and therefore need to periodically stir the mixture to ensure it is usable.
Consequently, you must use a specialized printer model like the DuraCode 260-P Pigment Printer if you want to use pigmented ink through a CIJ. Specialty printers like the DuraCode 260-P are built with mechanisms that periodically cycle ink to ensure that all particles are properly dispersed.
Popular Pigment Printer Ink Applications and Formula Options
Pigmented ink is frequently chosen over dye inks for applications that require bright, long-lasting colors. Compared to dye inks, pigmented formulas offer better fade resistance against elements like heat, light, and abrasion. This enables pigmented codes to maintain machine scannability and high legibility for years, even in harsh environments.
Due to these factors, pigmented inks are a popular way to code materials that will be exposed to extreme elements. For example, pigmented inks are used to code the following goods:
By using pigmented inks to place QR codes, lot codes, and other essential markings on these materials, companies can ensure full product traceability and comply with rigid regulations.
At InkJet, Inc., we carry a wide range of pigment printer ink formulas to fulfill the needs of different operations. The table below shows some of our most popular options. If you have any questions about our pigment printer ink formulas, please contact our sales team today.
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