Dyes inks are either natural or chemical derivates, and the advantage it has is that it’s formulation is low cost, ease to use, raw material easily available, and generally non-toxic in nature.

The disadvantages of dye base are its tendency to fade out in the sunlight and slow absorption into paper. Therefore sharp printing is not achieved by this ink. Therefore drying agents are added to this to make it quick drying.

Now on the other hand Pigmented Inks are very small particles of the solid material. The main problem is that the particles need to be very small in order to pass through the print-head which is 5 microns or smaller.

Another problem is that pigment needs to stay suspended uniformly in the ink. To aid this electrical charges and polymers are added to create viscosity in these water based inks. Advantages of pigment inks are, its resistance to fade in the sun-light, much better water resistance, and sharp printing as its drying time is even faster.