Ink: From Ancient Times To Today

By Keren Kipfer


In some form or another, ink has been around nearly as long as there have been people. There are ancient Chinese scrolls that were written with ink that date back to the 23rd century BC, and archaeologists have found Indian papers with ink that are as old as the 4th century BC in India. Every culture has discovered a way to create inks to write down stories of their history, as well as religious texts and even bills of sale.

In ancient times, people used whatever substances were readily available to produce ink. This included using a variety of local plants, as well as tar and even bones that had been burned. Today, there are many types of inks produced and they come in several forms, including more solid powders and pastes and two types of liquid inks. One type is known as aqueous, because the carrier substance for the ink colorants, additives and binders is water. Other types of liquid inks will use oil, alcohol or other forms of liquid.

Printing accounts for the majority of our ink usage in the world, with about 90% of all inks being used in the hundreds of types of printers and presses that have been invented. We have been using printing presses since about 1450 when Gutenberg developed the world's first press with movable type thus eliminating the need to have books written by scribes. It would be several hundred years before a fast computer printer would be invented, but these were actually around as early as the 1950s, which is long before most people had a home computer. Even the copy machine is not as new an invention as you might imagine, having been created just prior to World War II.

These days, every business has at least one printer, and most have several. Many companies rely on printers for manufacturing, whether they create posters, clothing, signs and much more. There are many different types of printers that are used for printing on surfaces other than paper. In fact, many companies need printers to place product ids on everything from food products to aerosol sprays to electronic equipment. This product id might be a serial number or perhaps an expiration date or other important information. These coder printers can print information on a huge variety of surfaces, including glass, plastic and different metals.

While ink is a product that just about everyone needs, it is definitely not an inexpensive product. Even simple ink cartridges can be quite costly, but for those who use more complex coders and printers, ink is always a significant monthly expense. To cut their overhead, many manufacturers purchase their inks from specialized product id companies that sell both ink and make-up fluid for many brands of printers, including VideoJet, Domino, Maxima and more.

Not only can you purchase make-up and ink, many product id companies can help you with coder repairs and also sell replacement parts. Some companies even offer refurbished printers in excellent condition but for far less than it would cost to purchase a new printer.




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