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The history of ink development
Release time:
2022-06-23 17:51
China has been producing ink for a long time. The predecessor of ink is pine ink. China uses pine smoke, glue (mainly cowhide glue, which plays the role of bonding soot) and water to make black ink. It was used for writing at first and later for woodblock printing. Ink developed rapidly in China in the early days. After the Middle Ages, it has been self-contained, satisfied with traditional secret recipes, and not very innovative. At that time, woodblock printing in Europe was also mainly water-based, but it was not well applied, so it was changed to oil. Later it evolved into modern printing ink. The development of printing technology stimulated the development of the ink industry, and inks that meet various printing requirements, have multiple functions and high quality have appeared.
It is internationally recognized that China is the first country to use ink in ancient civilization. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (200 BC), China began to use ink. This ink can be used to write on bamboo and silk to convey information, and some of its functions can be compared with contemporary inks.
The development of ink and the development of printing plates go hand in hand, because if the two do not match, the imprint will not be clear, the ink film will fall off, and the printing quality will be affected. For example, in the era of woodblock printing, ink was made by mixing charcoal from burning wood and gum and drying them evenly. It was water-soluble. When printing, the ink was applied to the plate, and then paper was placed on it. Then, it was gently wiped with a cloth or brush, and the image on the carved plate could be transferred to the paper through the ink. When it came to the metal plate era, because water-based ink could not be evenly applied to the plate, oil-based ink was invented. It was made by evenly dispersing the pigment in oil. The original ink pigment was natural inorganic minerals, and the binder was plant or animal oil. This type of ink has a slow drying speed, poor glossiness of the printed product, and poor adhesion to the substrate. With the development of the chemical industry, the ink industry has been revitalized. New synthetic resins and advanced organic pigments are widely used in ink manufacturing, making the ink variety richer and the performance better. The development of ink has entered a new stage. Finally, traditional lithography, letterpress, gravure, and screen printing have a complete and mature ink system [2].
With the advancement of human civilization and the development of the printing industry, the printing materials are constantly being developed and expanded, and the printing methods are constantly being innovated. The production process of inks is more sophisticated, and the types and varieties of ink products are constantly increasing. For example, the promotion of waterless offset printing technology has increased the demand for waterless offset printing inks, and the rise of flexible digital printing has also allowed digital printing inks to stand on the stage of history. In addition, the strong call for green environmental protection has set off a re-selection of ink raw materials and reforms in manufacturing processes, such as water-based inks, soybean offset inks, UV inks, FB inks, etc. Ink, the largest source of pollution in the printing industry, is working hard to reduce the volatilization of its organic matter and the use of harmful metals. We have reason to believe that the future development of the ink industry will move in the direction of caring for life, embracing nature, and a harmonious society.
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