What Are The Most Important Ink Characteristics?

[migo984]

I have bought a large number of inks over the years and have settled on certain characteristics that an ink has to have before I add it to my collection.

 

When you buy an ink what are your main criteria for making that purchasing decision & why? e.g.

 

- colour

- brand

- water resistance

- saturation

- shading

- sheen

- fade resistance / colour stability

- ease of cleaning

- drying time

- price / value for money

- scarcity / hard-to-find

- specific purpose e.g. marking or editing

- other

Edited August 6, 2014 by migo984

[FPFan]

Now, the first thing that comes to my mind is FLOW. Has it got a nice even flow from the nib?

[Trom]

colour

brand

price

flow

 

some inks work better in some pens. Often you know when you bought the ink already

[lapis]

Colour flow lubricity sat maintenance

The rest is all secondary.

 

Greets

Mike

[Oranges and Apples]

Color because I would have to like the ink color before even considering the other characteristics.

Bleed through because I want an ink which is functional on the paper I write on and with that on various papers.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Oranges and Apples

[AllenG]

Color

Flow

Feathering

Shading

Saturation

Price

Bottle

Brand is last on the list for me

Edited August 6, 2014 by AllenG

[The Blue Knight]

I've always used blue ink as I find it far easier to my eyes to focus on especially blue blacks and grey/blues.

 

• So the first criteria is the color, I'm open to trying different colors however they have to be fairly saturated as I don't have much use of lighter inks which are harder to read.
• Second of all I'd say price. I can't really spend any more then £6-7 on one one bottle when I'm only a student.
• Third saturation and shading, I like fairly wet inks that shade well and lubricate the nib well.
• Forth brand, I've found diamine and J.Herbin inks well however I'm very much open to the idea of trying other brands.

The rest of the factors don't really matter to me.

Edited August 6, 2014 by The Blue Knight

[doggonecarl]

1. Minimal feathering on a wide range of paper

2. Water resistance

3. Average or below drying time

4. Smear resistance

 

If it shades, that a plus, but not something that goes into the decison to buy an ink.

[dylim1]

Drying time

Price

For writing on copy paper

[TeaHive]

I find this to be my general order of qualities I'm looking for in an ink, the top being most important:

 

- colour - If I don't like the color, I'm most likely not going to use it (unless I can mix it with something else for painting.)

- pH neutrality/lack of corrosive or clogging properties - It can't destroy my pens.. Otherwise, what's the point?

- lightfastness - I like to keep my writings. Not that I leave them open in the sunlight, but no fading is preferable.
- water resistance - Almost as important as the lightfastness, for the same reason.
- saturation - Watery inks blow.
- shading - More of a personal taste, but not necessary. I just like the way they look.
- price / value for money - If I really like an ink, and it has all the above qualities I'm looking for, price generally doesn't matter. (Within reason, that is. I can't say I see myself paying much more than $30 USD for a single bottle of ink, unless it's a great quantity of something I already like and use a lot, or if it's something super special, like the Kingdom Note Tanna Japonensis, the only ink out of my normal price range that I'm even considering. That green!! That sheen!!) Of course, if I can find an ink that is very similar, but can be bought cheaper from another brand.. Of course I'm going to save all the money I can.

 

Feathering is not too big of a deal to me, as I have a great variety of papers, and the know-how to make my own journals and notebooks out of said paper. Now, if an ink were to feather on every type of paper I own.. that would be a pretty poor ink indeed, and likely deserving of a trip down the sink drain.

[NCGibbon]

Name - I'm a sucker for a cleaver/punny name.

[napalm]

A. Look (colour & saturation)
B. fade resistance / colour stability
C. ease of cleaning

D. other: well behaved when writing (reasonable flow, wetness, feathering, bleeding)

 

I've found that these also translate into brands.

Edited August 6, 2014 by napalm

[napalm]

Watery inks blow.

 

Watery BLUE inks blow x 10

 

[TeaHive]

 

Watery BLUE inks blow x 10

 

 

*cough*Kaweco*cough* If it had been more saturated, it would have been a nice blue. That's the last time I bother with a free cartridge.

 

 

Name - I'm a sucker for a cleaver/punny name.

 

I have to admit, I sometimes choose a color for its name! Not always of the punny variety, sometimes if it's just interesting. That's how I ended up with my bottles of Black Swan in English/Australian Roses, hah!

[Venemo]

Two things I haven't seen in anyone's list yet:

 

- Legibility: if you are writing something, it's very important to be able to read it too.

- Time to dry: the sooner it dries, the less the chance that you smudge it (especially important if you are left-handed)

[TeaHive]

Two things I haven't seen in anyone's list yet:

 

- Legibility: if you are writing something, it's very important to be able to read it too.

- Time to dry: the sooner it dries, the less the chance that you smudge it (especially important if you are left-handed)

I figured saturation would count for legibility, or color. Unless one is using invisable ink without the light necessary to see it, hah!

 

For me, time to dry doesn't matter. I'm patient enough to let the ink do its thing. If I were in a hurry, I'd just blot it. I'm not a lefty, though, so it's not often I drag my hand through ink!

[Icywolfe]

You forgot about the "Smell."

 

- Color and other looks. As in if the looks are awesome it will out weight the Bulletproofness.

 

- Bulletproofness. If it's ugly yet can survive a nuke I'll get that.

 

- Smell. I love scented inks. I sniff (and get high ) off my pens!

 

Cost is actually I major factor for me. If they the Pilot's ink wasn't near 30 USD per bottle I would have the whole collection.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

For me it's colour, bleeding and feathering, staining, ease of cleaning, performance, and price. I try to look for colours I like that don't stain much and are easier to clean out of my pens when I need to clean them.

 

Dillon

Edited August 7, 2014 by Dillo

[cellmatrix]

Number one for me is lack of line widening or spreading, so you can appreciate line variation when using cursive italics. Some inks are good at this and others not. Other important factors are shading, color flow lubrication.

[brindle]

Color and flow. I like 'dense' highly saturated blue inks with good flow.