As the title says, I'd like to know what the term saturated means in an ink review. A lot of times I see SATURATION - GOOD. What would ink be like if saturation was excellent? Or poor? Or just OK? Heck, I'm not sure I know what good saturation is.

When you are talking paint color, the term "saturated" means that there is no white mixed in it. With ink, I take it to mean that the paper doesn't show through. At the top of this page, where it says "The Fountain Pen Network", the colors go from pure white to very unsaturated blue, through to a moderately saturated blue. Smiley faces are a really saturated yellow.

Paddler

I'm suprised to see anybody calling saturation "good" or "bad" - it's like calling blue "good" or "bad".

Saturation is used to describe the amount of solute (dye/pigment) in a solution (water in our case). A highly saturated ink means that it has a larger amount of colorant per unit of water. An unsaturated ink has a higher proportion of water.

Technically, a "saturated solution" has the maximum amount of solute possible in a solution - ie. a "saturated" saltwater solution is one where salt no longer dissolves, because the solution can't hold any more.

In general, a highly saturated ink will have darker, more opaque, more vibrant colors. A poorly saturated ink has less dye/pigment per unit volume, and is "watered down" - as it does have a higher proportion of water.

But as far as a "good" level of saturation in ink - that's in the eyes of the beholder. Some people (like me) want highly saturated inks - I care about the writing on the paper; the ink is a tool to put the ink where I want it.

Others (especially collectors) want an ink that is less likely to damage the pen, and there's a belief that a watery ink is less likely to damage a pen.

So what is a "good" level of saturation? For me, it's a highly saturated ink. For many collectors - it's a less saturated ink.

As stated in the previous post, for paint and computer graphics, saturation refers to the amount of color in relation to white - a saturated red is, well, red; a midrange is pink, and completely unsaturated is white.

I hope this clears up the question...

Here's a couple of examples. I've edited these so I wouldn't embarass the authors, it's not my intention to call anyone out over the question I asked in Post #1 of this thread. I'm assuming they might be meaning the absorption of the ink by the paper. I too was thinking along these lines.

In ink reviews when you see saturation mentioned, it isn't referring to how the ink soaks into/saturates the paper. As others have stated above, it refers to ink that is more "heavily colored" or saturated with color. "Good saturation" would indicate that the reviewer is telling you that the ink doesn't look washed out.

Best, Ann

hey, that top one is mine the only thing I might be embarassed about is that the paper color looks pink (there's a corrected image later in that thread,btw)

Anyway, my definition of saturated is exactly as Ann described it, because that's the way most other reviewers seem to be using it. To me, it means that the colour is fairly intense, and nearly opaque. A less saturated ink in my eyes would be something like Lamy blue or Pelikan royal blue - it's translucent and the paper can be seen through it. I like both effects, actually, and the entire range in between.

Hi, No,no I didn't mean embarassed of your review, it was quite good and helpful ....you know what I mean. Did you notice the two inks in the reviews I put up are kinda sorta similar? I was trolling for colors the same hue over at the review section when I saw the "good saturation" and wasn't quite sure.

I'm liking Ann's response and will hold it to be gospel truth! Thaks all.

The more I read, the more I think that saturation is used in 3 completely different manner.

Color Saturation: Is the color greyish, or does it pop.
Solution Saturation: Is the pigment in the water in great quantity, or not? (This is the one that stains pen, or smears even when dry).
"paper" saturation: (Anns definition) This relates to how it will "cover" the paper.

Even if there are some relationship between them, I think the 3 aspect can mix and match in different manners
A highly saturated solution of a "dull" pigment could yield a not so saturated color, but still saturate the paper...

What do you think?

Saturated = Heavily Pigmented (i.e., the opposite of watery)

Inks in this category include Private Reserve and Noodlers.

Inks not in this category include Herbin, Sheaffer, Parker, Waterman, Montblanc, Dupont, Diamine.

Pelikan Black and Aurora Black are considered saturated, but the other inks of these brands are not.

Omas and Visconti inks are hard to categorize. You have to do them color by color.

"Saturation" simply means the amount of dye -- not pigment; FP inks aren't pigmented -- in the ink. The more saturated the ink, the more dye it contains per unit volume of water. The other properties you mention are by-products of the amount (as well as of the color and other characteristics) of the dye and its interaction with other ink components (e.g., surfactants).

Of course when most people here (including me) describe an ink as highly saturated, they're reasoning inductively from the observable properties of the ink in the bottle, in the pen, and on paper. The ink dries slowly; it smears long after it's dry; the color is opaque, not translucent; etc., etc. These all point to higher saturation, but saturation itself is a measurable phenomenon -- the amount of dye per unit volume of water.

Let's not forget the flip side of saturation....if you put more dye per cc of ink, you likely will (not always, but usually) have longer drying times, are more likely to smear and more likely to stain.

Yep... so true. And that's why I can't use saturated inks, being a left-handed over-writer.