Whenever you go to buy ink cartridges, it’s important to know the basic difference between pigments and dye-based ink cartridges. After all, it’s a matter of printing high-quality documents with no fade or smudges.
There’s no wonder that you are knowing the difference and specifications of both ink cartridges, in fact, it is your high-priority to figure out the differences clearly. If printer cartridges can help you have the quality prints to accomplish your printing goals, in the same way, it can also ruin your dreams if not buy the best type. So, no matter what company you have planned to buy the printer cartridges, it will benefit you a lot if you know the difference thoroughly.
So, don’t go anywhere. Stay here for the next few minutes. Here’s a lot to know a lot to discuss always!
Table of Contents
1.) Definition:
Pigment Based Ink Cartridge:
Pigment-based ink cartridges are obtained through resins, chemically-based polymers. These are then crushed into tiny particles and coated with a dispersant. The particles and resin are later dissolved in water so that they can be utilized in an inkjet printer. The creation process for producing pigment-based ink makes the ink much more versatile & repellent to UV and provides it a more extended life likelihood.
Dye Based Ink Cartridges:
Dye-based ink cartridges, on the other hand, are easier to manufacture and this is the only reason that they have been the ink of choice for advanced digital printers. Dye-based inks are basically manufactured with optical brighteners to make their colors a little more vivid and clear touch since they use a colorant dye dissolve-in solution. Vivid colors fade quickly due to a poor UV resistance; and therefore, the colors take longer to dry. It results in a blurry image and uncleared texts. Therefore, people usually prefer buying pigment-based ink cartridges rather than buying dye-based ink cartridges.
2.) Which Is The Better – Pigment-based Ink Cartridge or Dye-Based Ink Cartridges?:
Here comes another important difference that is based on the features, working, and capabilities that further help you decide which works better over another.
If you are planning to buy pigment-based ink cartridges then you must know that the Pigment particles sit on the paper and bond with the fibers. It simply means that pigment particles are thicker on the paper than dyes. And this is the reason that pigment inks are resistant to external influences like environmental gases & UV rays from the sun. These features give pigment ink a boost when it comes to choosing the best one in terms of stability of color.
If pigment-based ink features the stability of color, dye-based ink, on the other hand, also beats its counterpart in terms of print quality & cost. Dye-based ink cartridges offer more saturation of colors, amazing brightness, greater color range, and an enhanced density of black color. Apart from it, there’s a phenomenon, termed as metamerism. While many leading companies & manufacturers have come up with a way in decreasing the occurrence of metamerism with pigment-based ink cartridges, it’s still worth considering if you’re not sure about pigment vs. dye-based ink cartridges.
3.) Compatibility:
Which ink cartridge is compatible with your printer and able to give you amazing quality prints relies on your printing requirement. If you want to print brighter prints, more vibrant photos, and clear & sharp texts, then dye-based inks are the best option to choose from. However, if you need a cartridge for text-based documents only that need to last longer and fade-free, then a pigment ink cartridge is better to make a purchase.
So, more than just a property, compatibility is a feature that depends upon your printing needs and most importantly your printer’s specifications. Therefore, to have high-quality prints, check specifications, and model the number of your printer then decide to buy the ink cartridge.
4.) Merits & Demerits:
The other important difference that can help you make the right purchase is knowing the merits and demerits of both pigment-based and dye-based ink cartridges. If we talk about the dye-based ink cartridges, then its key advantages are a wider color range and lower cost, while its disadvantages are that it is water-soluble. A single drop of water can ruin your dream of printing quality documents as it can fade faster.
Pigmented ink cartridges, however, last far longer and are more water-resistant. As everything has its limitations too, pigment-based ink cartridges have less color depth & are more costly. So, as per your printing needs, choose the one that meets your requirements without compromising the quality.
5.) Cost:
Needless to say, the cost is always a strong driver for decision making, whether you are going to purchase a toner/ink cartridge or any component of the printer. For the high-quality pigment-based ink, you have to spend more on dye-based inks. The reason behind it is the complex process of creating pigmented inks needs more labor time, which has daily or monthly wages. Custom pigmented ink cartridges are also highly demanded their ability to mix colors immersively. These few characteristics make pigment ink cartridges quite more expensive. So, the choice is yours! Either spend more money on pigmented-based inks and get high-quality prints or spend a little less on dye-based ink and compromise the quality.
6.) Paper Type:
Both dye and pigment-based ink cartridges work on cheaper porous paper. Dye-based inks dry faster but don’t give the likewise transparency & vibrancy as pigment-based inks give. Pigment-based inks work amazingly on almost all types of paper.
And as we mentioned above, dye-based ink cartridges are water-based and dissolve into the paper while pigment inks don’t absorb into the paper but remain linked to the paper’s surface. All it happened due to drawback of pigmented inks – as particles sit on the paper, printouts are more prone to UV fading & smudging following the printout.
7.) Color Combinations:
Last but not least! Knowing color combinations can also make a big difference when it comes to buying the best cartridge for you. Gone are the days when printer cartridges came up with only three dedicated colors i.e. cyan, magenta yellow, and black. But now with the change in technology and growing demand of users, modern printers don’t only come with the 3 colors but can house up to 7 cartridges.
And if you are using a more advanced inkjet printer, then you must know that its cartridges tend to use ink that houses pigmented inks. And without any doubt, we can say that Pigment ink-based cartridges are excellent for everyday use and for modern applications such as high-quality photo printing, banners printing, and graphics that users more than three colors. Dye-based ink cartridges, however, are not far more considerable to attain high-quality images and different colored prints.
Conclusion:
Concluding all the above-mentioned points, we just want to say that if you really want to get the best quality prints, then you must do research beforehand. Your research can help you know the basic structural and functional differences yourself and allow you to purchase the best printer cartridges. It truly doesn’t matter if you use a brother printer and seek to buy pigment or dye-based ink cartridges for your Brother ink, just believe us, if you know the specifications and features in-depth, you will surely be able to buy the best ink cartridge for you.
We hope the above difference helps you take the decision wisely and you will buy the ink cartridge that matches your needs.
Happy Reading! Happy Purchasing!
About the Author:I’m Eliza Courty, working as a content writer at Cartridge Direct a well known online cartridge store offering Imaging drum, hp ink, Brother cartridge, Canon ink cartridges, Epson ink cartridge, and xerox toner. I love to write content about printing technology and computer components with my innovative and unique Ideas.
Great…!! that’s great advice good work, I read your every post, nice article very useful your post Thank you so much for sharing this and the information provided.
Welcome here and thanks for reading our article and sharing your view. This will be very helpful to us to let us motivate to provide you more awesome and valuable content from a different mind. Thanks for reading this article.
Hi admin, thanks for sharing the great information related to this topic. It really helps us in making an article like this, the article carries such informative things, keep sharing the right one. Thank you
Welcome here and thanks for reading our article and sharing your view. This will be very helpful to us to let us motivate to provide you more awesome and valuable content from a different mind. Thanks for reading this article.