Most people know that some makes of printer are better at printing photos while others are better at printing documents; few people though realize that this is partly because of the type of ink that the printer uses. In most cases a printer will use a dye based ink cartridge, or a pigment based ink, and the type of ink indicates the best for the printer.

Dye based ink is a term relating to water soluble inks, while pigment based ink is a non-soluble ink. Both are considered environmentally friendly, especially when compared to industrial oil or alcohol based inks.

Pigment Based Ink

Pigment ink is produced through resins, normally chemically based polymers. These are then ground into small particles and covered with a dispersant. The particles or resin are then suspended in water so that they can be used in an inkjet printers. The production method of pigment based ink do cause printed colors produced to be rather dull when compared with dye based inks.

It has been common for black inks to be pigment based inks, this is partially due its quick drying nature that see a much clearer and crisper result produced.

Pigments have not been used for color desktop printers though as constant usage would see the color pigments mass together, causing the print cartridges to become blocked. In fact, the only color pigment based ink printers were the most expensive sorts that have in built software to cope and produce dense colors.

Dye Based Ink

Dye inks are far cheaper than pigment inks and are easier to manufacture, and as a result, they have traditionally been the ink of choice for digital printers. Dye based inks are produced with optical brightness in mind, as they have a colorant dye dissolve-in solution. When printed, this results in a print that is brighter in color and much more stable. There are though many more drawbacks to the use of dye ink.

Hence, a pigment ink is more resistant to water and light, but the dye based ink is much better in holding and projecting color. A dye based ink printer, such as Canon, will be best used for photo and graphic production, while a pigment ink printer will produce much better text documents. Major companies, such as Lexmark, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Epson and Dell, will use pigment based black ink to go alongside dye based ink for their colors.

Knowing what ink a printer's cartridges is filled with will ensure the correct machine is used for a particular job, be it dye based ink for color, or pigment based for more monochrome work.