The Gel Printers

Some printer manufacturer have introduced a new inkjet technology nowadays, called GelJet technology. Machines that use this technology are equipped with a GelJet engine. The gel used in the GelJet technology is a pigment-base ink. , it does not go into the fibers of the paper, bleeding the image. The gel dries as soon as it comes into contact with the paper. This minimizes smudging and bleeding images. To understand pigment-base ink we study main component of ink.

The main components of ink are:

Chemical base:

It is the carrier for the colorant and keeps the ink in a liquid state. It can be water, oil, or other solvent.

Colorant:

It is the substance that gives color to the ink. It can be a dye or a pigment. Ink that uses dye as the colorant is called dye-based ink. Ink that uses pigment as the colorant is called pigment-based ink.

Dye-based ink:

It is a chemical that fully dissolves in the chemical base. Generally dye-based ink has a brighter color than pigment-based ink, but because the dyes are dissolved in the chemical base, they tend to soak into the paper, which makes the ink less efficient and causing the ink to bleed into the paper.

Pigment-based ink (Gel)

A pigment does not dissolve in the chemical base. Pigment is a very fine powder of solid colorant particles, dispersed throughout the chemical base. The pigment particles do not soak into the paper together with the chemical base, they remain on or between the fibers on the surface of the paper. Because pigment particles are larger than dye particles, pigment-based ink is more durable and ultraviolet resistant. Also the pigment particles can be coated to enhance the properties of the ink.