Dye or Pigment ink for a book dust jacket?

Discussion in 'Medium Format Inkjet Printers' started by microprint314, Feb 12, 2020.

  1. microprint314

    microprint314 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2016
    Messages:
    9
    Location:
    Albuquerque, NM
    For printing a dust jacket for a hard cover book, is dye ink or pigment ink better? I find this confusing based on what I've read. For example, dye inks are vulnerable to moisture and thus smudging. But pigment inks - though not as vulnerable to moisture - are more vulnerable to scratching.

    So...what gives?

    I'm looking to purchase a medium format inkjet largely for this purpose and am trying to get some advice on this. Dust jackets need to be as durable as possible and ideally with a little moisture resistance. And not to mention they need to look beautiful.

    Maybe there's a middle ground where a printer mfg makes dye inks that are more durable than another mfg, and so they are good enough for this type of project?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. I.T. Supplies

    I.T. Supplies Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2019
    Messages:
    29
    Location:
    Rolling Meadows
    I know this is over a month late, but the durability of the ink is based on the type of medium it's being applied to. Dye/Pigment ink will have it's good and bads (like everything else in printing). Dye ink looks more vibrant since it lays on top of the medium, but not as long in longevity; where pigment will "sink" more into the medium and not look as vibrant and have better longevity. Pigment ink is actually the next version of ink for better durability. Thank you go up to Dye-sub, Latex and Solvent for even better durability (more more expensive hardware and much larger ink cartridges/tanks).

    For doing dust jackets, this will depend on the type of medium you're using and which ink type will stick better. Pigment ink shouldn't scratch easily since it "sinks" in the medium (hence better longevity), but this is all based on the settings of printing and what not.

    Feel free to contact us if you're still looking for options and details as we sell the different printers.

    IT Supplies
    www.itsupplies.com