THE MILLENNIUM HISTORY OF PRINTING INKS
Did you know that the origin of printing inks dates back to the prehistoric era?
Everything originates from the rudimentary natural pigments carved in caves, reaching the most elaborate current inks, with almost magical properties.
Join us on this journey through time to discover the origins and evolution of these mysterious substances that have allowed us to capture ideas and communicate through texts and images.
Natural Pigments
The first ink used by humanity arose from the need to record their experiences on stone and cave walls. For this reason, these first "inks" were made with natural pigments obtained from the earth, plants, minerals and even animal blood.
We can imagine our ancient ancestors crushing roots, burning wood and mixing colored clays to create their first cave paintings. A feat that would lay the foundations of visual communication.
Egypt and China
Later, in Ancient Egypt and China , more sophisticated inks emerged based on soot from oil lamps, vegetable gums and organic dyes such as sepia or indigo, which laid the basis for modern inks. These allowed us to capture the ancient hieroglyphs that we can still see, witnesses of ancient civilizations.
Around 2500 BC , in China , wise alchemists immersed themselves in the search for perfection. It was there where with ingenuity and curiosity, they mixed soot, aromatic elements and natural plant pigments to create a magical substance: ink. Although paper did not yet exist, the Chinese wrote on various surfaces, leaving their mark on history.
Furthermore, four thousand years ago in ancient Egypt , ink was already flowing between the hieroglyphs on papyri and the walls of tombs. The Egyptians mixed soot with an aqueous solution of vegetable gum to create their ink. The reed quills danced across the papyrus, leaving behind symbols and characters in black and red ink. But they didn't stop there. They experimented with red iron and copper oxide inks, marking not only words, but also the fashion of the time.
Classical Greece
In ancient Greece, sages delved even deeper into the alchemy of ink. Extracts, juices and suspensions of plant, animal and mineral origin were mixed to create vibrant colors. For example, alizarin, extracted from a root, was used to dye red. Likewise, indigo, coming from the bushes, was responsible for giving a blue color.
Renaissance Ink and the Birth of the Printing Press
It was in medieval Europe when ink began to be produced in a more industrialized way and with greater precision. Scribes and monks developed recipes based on drying oils such as flax, mixed with pine smoke and gums to obtain the first printing inks.
One of its greatest advances was the incorporation of iron and alum salts into the mixture, creating intense black metalloacid inks. These were essential for Johannes Gutenberg to revolutionize the world with his revolutionary movable type printing press in 1436.
The arrival of Industrial Inks
With the Industrial Revolution came mass manufacturing processes and inks had to evolve into resistant inks, made with mineral oils and varnishes to withstand the high speeds of mechanized presses. In addition, black aniline and the first anilines began to be incorporated, a source of intense colors and greater versatility.
Already in the 20th century, the invention of water-based offset inks marked another milestone, allowing quality printing on various materials. Advances in formulations with unique pigments, dyes and chemicals led to the incredible specialty inks we know today.
Inks of the 21st Century: High Technology and Fascinating Properties
We finish this journey through the history of inks, moving to modern printing, where we find increasingly amazing inks and with applications that seem straight out of a science fiction story. Some of the most incredible are:
Piezoelectronic Inks
They eject microscopic droplets at the millisecond using electrical pulses to achieve exquisite definition. Epson and Brother printers are two major brands that use this technology.
UV inks
They dry and harden almost instantly when ultraviolet light is applied, providing great resistance. UV inkjet printers can print on a variety of substrates such as paper, plastic, glass, metal, and more. The ink cures almost instantly when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Magnetic Inks
They contain metal oxides that are "etched" when exposed to a magnetic field. Magnetic ink is a technology that is most often used in the banking financial field to securely print documents, such as checks, bearer bonds or certificates of deposit. Frequently used with a Lexmark printer, the blend is combined with MICR toner cartridges and secure printing software to help prevent fraud and document theft.
Electronic Inks
Packed with electronically charged pigments, they form high-contrast, high-definition images. It was created in 1997 by researchers at the MIT Media Lab (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), who created the company E Ink to develop electronic ink technology. This ink quickly managed to sneak into the current offering of electronic reading solutions thanks to its low consumption and versatility.
Products like the Amazon Kindle use this type of ink, offering a reading experience very similar to that of paper, which reduces eye fatigue. On the other hand, we have the Huawei MatePad Paper , which was presented at MWC 2022, being the first hybrid tablet with an electronic ink screen and digital pen, promising a writing experience as organic as on paper.
Similarly, there is the Garmin Instinct 2 smartwatch , which uses electronic ink technology for its screen, allowing for longer battery life and excellent readability in sunlight.
And it doesn't just stop there, there are also eco-inks, curable inks, antibacterial inks, thermo-chromatic inks that change color with heat... It's incredible!
So the next time you print that design, work, or artistic creation, take a moment to consider the ancient and incredible substance you have in your hands: ink. Its evolution has been a long journey of innovation and human genius, where you continue to be the protagonist!