ink

thumb|Bottles of ink from Germany thumb|Writing ink and a quill Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing.

AI overview

Ink is a liquid or paste containing colorant (like dye or pigment) that is used to create images, text, or designs on surfaces through writing, drawing, or printing. It matters because it has been essential for communication and artistic expression throughout history, serving as the medium for everything from handwritten documents to printed materials.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

15,895 papers

Tattoo ink exposure is associated with lymphoma and skin cancers - a Danish study of twins.BMC public health · 2025Clemmensen SB, Mengel-From J, Kaprio J et al.DOI: 10.1186/s12889-025-21413-3
Current advancements in bio-ink technology for cartilage and bone tissue engineering.ReviewBone · 2023Badhe RV, Chatterjee A, Bijukumar D et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2023.116746
Cephalopod ink: production, chemistry, functions and applications.ReviewMarine drugs · 2014Derby CDDOI: 10.3390/md12052700
Nice Ink.Cornea · 2016Schwab IRDOI: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000000694
The Latest Advances in Ink-Based Nanogenerators: From Materials to Applications.ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Shao B, Chen Z, Su H et al.DOI: 10.3390/ijms25116152
Synthetic Melanin E-Ink.ACS applied materials & interfaces · 2017Chang L, Chen F, Zhang X et al.DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b03890
Recent Developments in Bio-Ink Formulations Using Marine-Derived Biomaterials for Three-Dimensional (3D) Bioprinting.ReviewMarine drugs · 2024Khiari ZDOI: 10.3390/md22030134
Ink Drop Displacement Model-Based Direct Binary Search.IEEE transactions on image processing : a publication of the IEEE Signal Processing Society · 2023Mao Y, Sarkar U, Borrell I et al.DOI: 10.1109/TIP.2023.3283924

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Wikidata facts

Image: Ink-stain-texture-9.jpg

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Commons category: Ink
Commons gallery: Ink
P8168: SBC
P13411: ACF Fiorentina

Sources (4)

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~16 min read

Article

17 sections

Contents

History
Types
Colorants
Pigments
Dyes
Functional colorants
Health and environmental aspects
Carbon
Iron gall (common ink)
Indelible ink
Inkblots
Gallery
See also
References
Sources
Further reading
External links

Ink can be a complex medium, composed of solvents, pigments, dyes, resins, lubricants, solubilizers, surfactants, particulate matter, fluorescents, and other materials. The components of inks serve multiple purposes; the ink's carrier, colorants, and other additives affect the flow and thickness of the ink and its dry appearance.