Options for printer ink often comes up as either dye-based ink or pigmented ink. Just what makes these two different from each other? What type of printer ink cartridges are better?
The first thing we must look to distinguish dye-based ink from pigmented inks are the substances that go into them. Pigmented inks are made with resins or binders, which makes them more resistance. Dye inks, on the other hand, is made with optical brighteners to make their colors more vibrant.
Given these characteristics, let us look at the desirable qualities of printer ink, and how these two types do for each grade. 
1. Resistance to water. Dye ink must be dissolved to work. They are often used as inkjet printer ink, because they readily dissolve in water and therefore flows easily with it. But if a print made from dried dye-based ink gets wet, it will issue. Pigmented ink, on the other hand, absorb water, but can not dissolve it. Thus, the more waterproof.
2. Resistance to light. Dye inks have optical brighteners, which make for vivid colors. Such optical brighteners, however, are vulnerable to light and other chemicals, and thus fade faster. Pigmented ink is ink choice for archiving jobs because it can last for years, even under light or chemical exposure.
3. Sharpness color. Dye ink is requested for brightness and vividness of the colors they produce. Thus they are more accustomed to printing photos and graphics. The same is not true of pigmented inks, so they are more restricted to the grayscale printouts and text documents.
Now that we know the difference between dye-based ink and pigmented ink, the next question would be: Which printer ink dye-based marks and which is pigmented? Here is a brief guideline:
• Apart from a few models, Canon ink cartridges typically use dye-based ink.
• The Compaq printers, all color inks are dye-based, while the all black ink is pigmented.
• The same goes for Dell printer ink.
• Apart from printing ink used for the Designjet printer and some black ink, Hewlett-Packard uses mostly dye-based ink colors.
• Epson sells mostly dye-based ink, though they also have special pigmented black ink.
• Lexmark printer ink is pigmented black and the dye of the colored them.
And there we have it, the difference between the dye-based inks and pigment inks. Always consider what you want to use your printer before you select the machine and printer ink.
