Imagine a life where there are no books to learn from. No morning newspaper to bring us the news. No magazines to leaf through. No letters to be exchanged. No fairy tales to read to our children as we put them to sleep. It's no wonder they say; a world without inks is unimaginable. But where did the story of inks begin? Perhaps from our desire to communicate with each other across the barriers of time and space. Centuries ago, this was conducted through carving on stones, cave walls and tree barks.

Later, history saw the invention of paper in 105 AD and the earliest use of inks in the form of coal, gum rosin and tung oil. This was clearly amongst the major influences that led to the rapid progress of human civilization. Despite its ancient origin, little has been said or written about the influence of inks throughout history.

Today, inks are our silent companions present in our lives in some form or the other in almost everything that we do. Thanks to modern printing technology in particular. A saga, which began in 1450 AD, when Johan Gutenberg invented the letterpress. Thereafter, ink technology evolved in tandem with the evolution of printing technologies.

In the present day, Printing Inks are a blend of various ingredients, formulated to create graphic design or text on a variety of substrates or surfaces ranging from paper to polyfilms, foils and metals. These inks are a complex mixture of pigments, flushes, resins, vegetable oils, waxes and solvents. Today, varieties in ink are as extensive as printing methods themselves. Broadly, these consist of Lithography, Flexography, Gravure, Screen printing etc.

Developments in printing technology and processes made it necessary for Printing Inks to have very high quality. Fact remains, Printing Inks business, though apparently simplistic, is a highly complex one. Truly an art and science in itself.