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Application guide

Pigments for
Printing Inks

Ensuring sharp, vivid, and stable colour for high-quality printing inks. Our pigment portfolio covers the full spectrum needed for process and spot colour printing — from CMYK cyan to rich violets — across flexographic, gravure, offset, and digital ink systems.

High transparency & tinting strength Rub & scuff resistant Flexo · Gravure · Offset · Digital
7
Recommended pigment grades
3
Available product forms
4
Printing processes covered
PB 15:3
Process cyan standard
What printing inks demand

Key Performance Requirements

Printing inks operate at high speeds and thin film weights — pigments must deliver maximum colour with minimum usage, disperse without flocculation, and stay stable across long production runs.

High transparency & colour strength

Inks are printed in thin films at high speed. Pigments must deliver intense, transparent colour — especially for process printing where C, M, Y, and K layers must overlap cleanly to reproduce the full gamut.

Flocculation resistance

Pigment flocculation causes shade drift, tack variation, and inconsistent colour from start to end of a print run. Pigments must remain stably dispersed in the ink vehicle throughout the job.

Rub & scuff resistance

Printed substrates — especially packaging — face rubbing and handling after printing. Pigments with coarser particles or poor binding reduce rub fastness and cause scuffing on finished packs.

Solvent & water system compatibility

Flexo and gravure inks use a wide range of solvent and waterborne vehicles. Pigments must be compatible with the specific resin and solvent system without settling, gelling, or viscosity instability.

Product forms

Forms Available

Printing inks are supplied in three forms suited to different ink manufacturing workflows — no dry powder, as inks require pre-wetted or pre-dispersed pigments for optimal transparency and flow.

Water-Based Dispersion Visual

Dispersion — Water-Based

Pre-dispersed aqueous concentrate for waterborne flexographic and gravure inks. Ready for direct let-down into water-reducible ink vehicles — no milling required.

Typical loading5–20% in ink base
Best forWaterborne flexo & gravure inks
Packaging20 L pails / 200 L drums
Shelf life12 months
Solvent-Based Dispersion Visual

Dispersion — Solvent-Based

Pre-dispersed solventborne concentrate for conventional gravure, flexographic, and offset inks formulated with aromatic, ester, or alcohol-based solvents.

Typical loading5–20% in ink base
Best forSolventborne flexo, gravure, offset
Packaging20 L pails / 200 L drums
Shelf life12 months
Paste Visual

Paste

High-strength pigment flushed or milled into a vehicle-compatible paste. Provides superior fineness of grind and transparency versus dry powder — the preferred form for high-quality offset lithographic inks.

Typical loading10–30% in ink base
Best forOffset litho inks, high-quality gravure
Packaging25 kg tins / pails
Shelf life12 months
Quick reference

Recommended Pigments & Performance

Key properties for each grade across flexographic, gravure, and offset ink systems. Contact us to confirm suitability for your specific vehicle, solvent, and substrate combination.

Pigment Application role Transparency Colour Str. Flexo / Gravure Offset Waterborne
PB 15:0
 Clean blue — flexo & gravure inks
PB 15:1
 Reddish blue — offset inks
PB 15:3
 Process cyan — high-strength gravure
PG 7
 Strong green — packaging & commercial
PY 74
 Bright yellow — packaging & commercial
PV23
 Clean to rich violet inks
Pigment Red
 Primary red shades
Recommended
Suitable — verify first
Not recommended

Ready to find the right pigment for your ink system?

Our technical team can advise on grade selection, form, and loading for your specific ink vehicle, printing process, and substrate — including sample dispatch and TDS documentation.

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