By Melissa Donovan
Annually Digital Output looks at the state of ink and the external and internal components influencing the market. The last year raw material shortages have affected sourcing of inks. Despite these challenges, usage of traditional CMYK in addition to specialty inks like fluorescents, metallic, and white continues to grow.
Sourcing Materials
Inks are compromised of specific materials—dyes, pigments, and additives. The manufacturing of each type of ink may be in flux based on challenges in obtaining these materials.
According to Alfredo Cruzat, ink business manager, Mimaki USA, Inc., “sourcing of any raw material independent of the technology is more challenging. We need to maintain our consistent quality of ink so we need to be sure of what is going into our formulas. We need to search for newer sources of pigments, dyes, and additives that are constantly changing.”
“Overall, manufacturing remains feasible but requires strong supply management, diversified sourcing, and reformulation flexibility, where regulatory and compliance changes have also come into effect,” admits Simon Daplyn, product and marketing manager, Sun Chemical.
Both trade fluctuations and transportation costs affect material availability, admits Marie Lehéricey, inkjet application manager inks, Agfa. This is particularly in regards to pigments and UV-specific components like photoinitiators.
In the UV category, Paul Edwards, VP of the digital division, INX International Ink Co. says many products come from Asia and some chemical precursors are only made in China. “This disruption in price and availability has pushed companies to look for multiple sources—or second sourcing of materials—to ensure they can manufacture their products and control cost increases.”
Also of note, some raw material suppliers have discontinued or reformulated products in response to environmental directives. “These changes reduce the pool of approved substances, requiring manufacturers to qualify alternative sources and sometimes redevelop ink formulations,” adds Lehéricey.
To that point, Pedro J. Martínez, CEO, AFFORD INKS says one challenging factor is the sourcing of new ingredients to be evaluated as alternatives to TPO. Recent regulatory changes impacting the use of TPO and even formulations with carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic substances in UV inks is an example.
“Sourcing materials for UV LED curable inks is more complex, but supply remains stable. Regulatory requirements, combined with consolidation among chemical suppliers, have reduced the number of qualified raw materials available for certain formulations, particularly photoinitiators and specialty monomers. The primary challenge is maintaining consistent ink performance across evolving LED curing platforms and next generation printheads that operate at higher firing frequencies and smaller drop sizes,” continues Adam Tourville, channel manager, Fluid Color.
Specialty Inks
Fluorescents, metallic, white—these specialty ink options aren’t always the right choice for the print provider, but if a client’s job necessitates them it is a chance to excel.
“Specialty inks are generally seeing growth in the market due to their ability to differentiate the final product from competition,” notes Edwards.
Cruzat finds the demand for specialty colors constant. “These are inks used by customers to provide a visual advantage or achieve a certain effect on the print that the customer is requesting.”
Specific to white, varnish, and primers, Lehéricey says the demand has remained steady. “While they may not be regarded as niche or decorative ‘specialty effects,’ they are critical functional elements that underpin high-quality output and expand application versatility.”
“White inks are more mainstream, and you can see this occurring especially in the packaging area. Having white under the color is a common and key requirement,” says Edwards.
Tourville says white ink is now considered a baseline requirement for most UV printing systems. “Growth is driven by packaging prototypes, décor applications, industrial components, and retail displays where opacity, layering, and visual impact are critical. In many production environments, white ink usage is increasing at a faster rate than CMYK.”
White ink’s technology continues to improve, with a shelf life comparable to colored inks, states Martínez. However, “the use of white inks utilizing titanium dioxide still require management at the printer such as recirculation due to their relatively high specific gravity. Printer manufacturers are well aware of this and equip their printer accordingly.”
Fluorescent inks are trend driven, according to Scott Donovan, North American commercial leader, Dupont Artistri Digital Printing Solutions. While at present they enjoy renewed interest, historically their demand fluctates every few years. He credits this to cycling in and out of popularity as fashion and design trends evolve.
Speaking in terms of UV, fluorescent inks are used where visual impact really matters, according to Tourville. “Their use is very application driven and chosen when the effect adds value rather than as a general-purpose ink.” This includes use in promotional graphics, retail signage, safety markings, and point of purchase displays.
Similarly, Tourville says metallic inks, again in his expertise UV, serve niche applications where visual differentiation justifies their use.
Fluorescents and metallics, while popular, present challenges—which play into usage. “Materials such as metallics and fluorescents do have technical challenges. Metallics are difficult from a technical standpoint to develop, and fluorescents have somewhat limited applications due to a very low fade resistance,” explains Edwards.
Part of the hesitation is how they interact with print systems, say Emilio Rangel, product manager, and Tony Simmering, product manager, Mutoh America, Inc. However, newer hardware is designed to better handle these ink sets, with improved circulation systems and more aware self-cleaning and diagnostic methods.
“Demand for metallic, fluorescent, and other specialty inks for decorative purposes remain stable. Customer requests for customized decorative and functional inks flow in as customers seek out new and novel applications,” observes Martínez.
Read more about the state of ink in the April issue of Digital Output. We discuss digital ink in the following categories—aqueous, with latex/resin included; bio; eco-solvent/solvent; textile, which includes acid, disperse, reactive, pigment, and sublimation; and UV.
Apr2026, Digital Output
