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What Are the Types of Printing Inks?

In this comprehensive guide to printing inks, we discuss digital, liquid, conductive, and energy-curable inks and industrial applications for each.

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By: DAVID SAVASTANO

Contributing Editor, Coatings World and Ink World

While one might think that the first printing inks would have coincided with Guterberg’s first press in the 1440s, inks date back far before that. Whenever a civilization wanted to write out records, for example, people used some sort of colorants, be it a dye, pigment, lampblack or other substances, combined with some sort of resin or drier. According to Wikipedia, the earliest known surviving document dates back to 26th century BC, as ancient Egyptians used their form of ink on papyrus. With ...

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