What is Ink: Definition and 43 Discussions

Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colourant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing.
Ink can be a complex medium, composed of solvents, pigments, dyes, resins, lubricants, solubilizers, surfactants, particulate matter, fluorescents, and other materials. The components of inks serve many purposes; the ink's carrier, colorants, and other additives affect the flow and thickness of the ink and its dry appearance.
In 2011, worldwide consumption of printing inks generated revenues of more than 20 billion US dollars. Demand by traditional print media is shrinking; on the other hand, more and more printing inks are consumed for packaging.

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  1. L

    How are polarization test cards created for proving polarized glasses?

    I could swear I saw this topic in the forum in the past but haven't found it today. I was curious how polarization test cards are made to prove that a pair of glasses are polarized. Special ink or paint? What is that type of substance called or commonly used for? I'd love to use it for art. Does...
  2. adambenson9771

    Thermal Printing and Ink fading

    Hello, I am not sure if this is the right place but I would appreciate some help. Basically I have been trying to accelerate the fading of the ink on thermally printer paper. “Receipts are typically printed on thermal paper, a chemically coated paper that produces text and image when the...
  3. abdulbadii

    Make our own permanent conductive ink

    How do we make our own permanent conductive ink for a marker or pen the cheapest, most practical way?
  4. A

    Can moisture in a microwave cause ink to move on a mug?

    Hello. I was wondering if anyone could help me understand what just happened. I wrote a message ony mug, then microwaved water in it for coffee. I just noticed that a few letters are now duplicated below the message. It kinda looks like some moisture on the side lifted the ink up and ended up...
  5. Aidentheawesome23

    Invisible Ink that you can see through an IR lens

    I’m making an eyepiece that can see hidden messages, and I need to know an ink that you’ll be able to see through the IR lens.
  6. tanaygupta2000

    How to Solve the Non-linear Differential Equation in Radial Ink Diffusion?

    I assumed p(r,t) as p(r,t) = R(r)T(t) as Separation of Variables method. I got the expression of T(t) as T(t) = C1eC2t and got a non-linear differential equation in R(r) as d2R/dr2 + (2/r)dR/dr - (C/D)R = 0 (I assumed r to be the radial distance in spherical coordinates) Now I'm not getting...
  7. Benjamin_harsh

    B Why doesn't the ink in a pen refill flow back if I hold it inverted?

    Problem Statement: Why does the ink in refill won't flow back if I hold it inversely? Why does the ink in refill won't flow back if I hold it inversely? What stopping it?
  8. A

    What do surface tension vectors mean in this quote?

    I was reading Fundamentals of Inket Printing and it said the following: "The surface tension in a liquid causes a force to act in the plane of the free surface perpendicularly to a free edge in that surface." Can someone explain to me what this means? What's the direction of the force? I have...
  9. F

    Using a fountain pen for homemade conductive ink

    I've recently found out about conductive ink and thought i'd make some at home with charcoal. However most guides online always keep using brushes and such and their mix seems to be very low adhesive properties. Therefor, I have two questions. Is there a way to make it more like a traditional...
  10. J

    Laser Activated transparent ink?

    Hello everyone, I was just wondering if there is any type of transparent ink that could be permanently activated by heat or intense light (laser). Preferably I am planning to use a laser light to activate the ink. I am trying to coat a piece of metal (or paper or etc.) with this ink (which is...
  11. Mastico

    Special Ink invisible to the eye

    Greetings all, I am quite new to this forum so please forgive me if this is on the wrong thread. I recently purchased some reflective paint which sprays on clear and appears white/silver once light hits it at night. However I am looking for a type of paint that is invisible to the naked eye...
  12. P

    Gel pen refill ink is what ester?

    I want to try to use neutral pen and ink to fill with all the gel pen refill But oil-fill plug, what won't and you want to use ink compatible? Oil is the plug at the end pen ink, back or prevent ink evaporation. Google queries to be only lithium ester, but not too much formula
  13. L

    Fading Marker Ink: What's Happening?

    I used Colour markers to write on a piece of paper and pasted the piece of paper on the wall. After a few weeks, I noticed the ink faded, or rather, became very faint that the words were almost illegible. Can anyone explain to me this phenomenon scientifically? Thanks
  14. ezfzx

    Archived Should Labs be Written in Pen?

    A student asked if the labs need to be written in pen. Apparently, the lab instructions say to do so. Actually, I forgot that was in there. It’s kind of a hand-me-down set of instructions from ancient times (a few years ago). I should probably take it out, but it's worth a short discussion. The...
  15. W

    Droplet of ballpoint ink in water (why)

    I was wondering, a ballpoint pen ink droplet is droped on water, it floats and moves, why? Is it density, viscosity, surface tension or something else. I am pretty stuck
  16. L

    Can extended non-use cause printer cartridges to fail?

    My printer is printing pages with text that has white bars through it (basically the bars are where there's no ink). It's just black text. The text doesn't appear to be faded, and the printer software says the black ink has about 1/5th left and it has a green checkmark indicating it's ok. Anyone...
  17. P

    Making Metallic Ink at Home: Easiest Way

    I want to make homemade metalic ink mixing aluminium powder with some binder.And use it with brush or pen to write some text.So tell me the easiest way , the exact proportions ingridients and way of producing
  18. Cosmobrain

    Exploring the World of Infrared Ink: Is It Real and How Does It Work?

    (I think Chemistry is the best forum to post this) My question is... does infrared ink exist? Also, If you paint your room with a near infrared "color", would you be able to see it differently in a picture taken by a average camera? (just like you can see the IR light in a remote control...
  19. C

    Pen ink faded off upon heat(or maybe sunlight)

    Last month I bought one of those pens which you can rub off your writings with a kind of rubber at the end of the pen. I was so happy because I don't need to use correction pens anymore, so I did all of my maths exercises with that pen. One Friday, my books was very heavy so i left some inside...
  20. L

    Printer low on ink, what to do?

    I have 3 options; get a new black ink cartridge, refill the one I have, or buy a whole new printer. It's absurd, but the price for all 3 are about the same, as far as I can tell. Am I just looking at the wrong places to get new cartridges or refills, or is this normal? What do you guys do...
  21. O

    Effective Methods for Removing Printer Ink from Paper

    Hello I need to remove printer ink from paper, I have been searching for a while and basically I found a formula that suggests mixing aceton, bleach and hydrogen peroxide together in a glass container, when the solution starts becoming hot and bubbling insert the paper into the container and let...
  22. D

    Electrostatic Printer and two plate capacitors deflecting charged ink droplets

    Homework Statement One type of ink-jet printer, called an electrostatic ink-jet printer, forms letters by using deflecting electrodes to steer charged ink drops up and down vertically as the ink jet sweeps horizontally across the page. The ink jet forms 30-μm-diameter drops of ink, charged...
  23. T

    Solving the Clever Compound Cartoon Puzzle

    Clever compound cartoon...Dying to figure out the formula to calculate the ink used. There is a strange compound nature to this that I can *almost* calculate. This is just something nagging at me. Take a look at this (IMHO) extremely clever cartoon...
  24. R

    Remove ballpoint ink from postage stamps

    I am a US postagestamp collector. Occasionally a letter will miss the post office's canceling machine and the postage stamp is then "hand canceled" by another person in the sorting/delivery chain by using a ballpoint pen. I would like to find a means of removing the ballpoint mark from the...
  25. Greg Bernhardt

    Temporary Tattoo Ink: Does It Exist?

    I have a friend who is interested in getting a tattoo but of course isn't sure she wants it for life. I tried researching "temporary tattoo ink", like something that last 6 months or so, but I couldn't really find anything. Does anyone have knowledge of a temporary ink? Does it exist? I have...
  26. G

    Ink Jet Printer Physics Problem PLEASE HELP

    Homework Statement In the somewhat ‘archaic’ inkjet printers, letters are built up by squirting drops of ink at the paper from a rapidly moving nozzle. The pattern on the paper is controlled by an electrostatic valve that determines at each nozzle position whether ink is squirted onto the...
  27. Z

    Strange Observation of Ink in Ball Point Pen

    I observed something odd this evening. When I inverted my ball point pen (writing side upwards-perpendicular to the ground level), there was no change in the level of ink. To my surprise, the ink started coming downwards (towards the open end of the refill) when I wrote with it ( inverted ) on...
  28. H

    Initial Number Density of Ink Particles

    Homework Statement Suppose an initial number density of ink particles (i.e. number per unit length) is given by: f(x) = 2Nx ; for 0 < x < 1 f(x) = 0 ; otherwise. Suppose also add a point source containing N molecules at the point x = − 1. (a) Showing that the initial total...
  29. Astronuc

    Unusual Find: A US Dollar Bill Stamped with Red Ink

    I just noticed that a US dollar bill was stamped with red ink. Someone went to the trouble of marking it with "TRACK THIS BILL", "WHERESGEORGE.COM" and an F-clef or bass clef. If you receive a bill, one can enter information about it at www.wheresgeorge.com. Registration is not needed.
  30. G

    Fading Ink on Book Covers: Sunlight Cause?

    I have a book with a green cover. I left it on a window sill in direct sunlight for about a week and now the colour on the exposed side has clearly faded. Why does this happen? Is it something to do with the Ultra Violet properties of sunlight destroying the pignments in the ink?
  31. N

    Engineering Alarm circuit using conductive ink

    Hello, I am a graphic arts student attending a class of "New printing technologies", which aims to introduce us to RFID and printed electronics in general from a designer's point of view. However, we have been assigned homework which requires knowledge of electronics and apart from the...
  32. S

    Phosphorescent Ink: What Chemicals to Use?

    Does anyone know any combination of chemicals or anything which is a phosporescent ink that I could use on a project
  33. M

    Remove printer ink one colour paper witout demge paper

    dear forum friend i need a help here did anyone have any idea how to remove black printer ink on colouerd paper without damgeing the other colour , if some know what will the best solution for the . help
  34. M

    Ink diffusing in water - partial diff equations

    Homework Statement The particles of an ink blob dropped into a large container of water diffuse outward and obey the radial diffusion equation: dn/dt = (D/r2) (d/dr) (r2* (dn/dr) ) where n(r,t) is the density of ink particles at point r at time t and D is the diffusion constant. Verify, by...
  35. S

    Exploring Rubber Ink Filling: Which Method is Best

    Basic question - How does an rubber ink filler work? (I don't want answers like - there is a vacuum created thus ink fills space and thus... Thats not Physics) Extending discussion : Is it better to press the rubber then dip and then suck and remove. OR To dip then press and suck and remove?
  36. O

    Removing Ink Stamps from Book Pages: A Scientific Approach

    In this case, on the top corner of the book. I occasionally buy some of my books used, and they have stickers and stamps on them. I generally don't mind but this one is on the top of the book when the book is closed (on the top of the page), and it is some ink stamp. I tried removing it...
  37. S

    Charge deflection in ink jet printer

    Homework Statement In an inkjet printer, letters are built up by squirting drops of ink at the paper from a rapidly moving nozzle. The pattern on the paper is controlled by an electrostatic valve that determines at each nozzle position whether ink is squirted onto the paper or not. The ink...
  38. S

    E Field Of A Ink Jet Printer

    1. One type of ink-jet printer, called an electrostatic ink-jet printer, forms the letters by using deflecting electrodes to steer charged ink drops up and down vertically as the ink jet sweeps horizontally across the page. The ink jet forms 30.0 (mu)m diameter drops of ink, charges them by...
  39. A

    Observing Ink Points in Water: What is the Motion?

    Hello I want know if i put ink point in water cup .. How i can describe ink point motion ?? :uhh:
  40. H

    Can an Ink Stain Always Be Avoided with a 1 x 1 cm Net on Paper?

    My friends gave me a problem that he said it can be very simple to be proved, but really it is not (to me) There is an ink stain with area of smaller than 1cm2 on a sheet of paper. Prove that there is always possibility you can place a net with square mesh of 1 x 1 cm on the sheet so that not...
  41. V

    How to Make Laser Ink | Step-by-Step Guide

    Hello all, I would like to know what chemical composition of laser ink is and how to make it? Thank you!
  42. D

    Infared light - lenses and ink

    is it possible to read infared ink with human eyes. I have seen lenses for cameras but can't find anything for eyes. If so, where is informaiton on this thakns
  43. Greg Bernhardt

    Kate spilled black ink on her white dress.

    Kate spilled black ink on her white dress. Can you turn black into white by changing one letter at a time? Each step must create a valid word in the English language. Kate made the change in 8 steps. Can you do as well ... or better?
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