Pigment Base (UV) Ink vs. Dye Base Inks*

The term Pigment Base (non-soluble pigments) and Dye Base (water soluble dyes) inks both utilize water as the carrier as base for inkjet inks used in digital printers. Water is the carrier solvent in which the colorant component of the ink can be suspended or dissolved. Water base inkjet inks are far more "family" friendly. They are Non-toxic, non-flammable, and to this point non-carcinogenic. These types of inks are much safer to use in a home or office environment and offer a more eco-friendly way of printing, as compared to the dangerous industrial oil or alcohol based inks.

Water-soluble Dyes are the more common of the colorants and generally provides the widest color gamut for color printing. They are relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture (compared to other types of inkjet inks). They have the lowest support issues and can be used in the cheaper to manufacture print heads. They also have some of the weakest longevity (permanence) ratings and have poor UV resistance, leading to fading at a swifter rate.

Pure colored pigment suspensions, long thought to be superior, must utilize a dispersant to maintain proper suspension of the pigment particles in solution since the particles are not soluble in water. Most color pigments are made of chemically generated color plastic polymers that are ground to very fine particles then coated with a dispersant to help the particles develop a slight static charge. The static charge helps keep the particles suspended in low viscosity bases (a thin base such as water) suitable for inkjet printers. Unfortunately, the combination of the polymer and dispersant produces rather dull colors (low color gamut) but the use of color pigments is achieved by wide format printers that use complicated software to layer the pigments to produce more dense and vibrant colors providing excellent archival properties as well as high UV resistance. 

*Article excerpts from “ask Rodger”, November 2004, Pictureline.com