What is the Difference between Pigment Ink and Dye Ink?

While a pigment ink has many clear advantages to other kinds of ink, which typically fade more easily and are more quickly ruined, pigment ink tends to be more expensive, as well. Archival pigmented inks, which are made to last for a very long time without fading or suffering water damage, can get quite expensive. Pigmented inks are simply more expensive to make than simpler inks, such as dye-based inks. Colored pigmented inks are also very expensive because of the need to ensure that the color fades as little as possible.

Archival pigmented ink is ink that is designed to last for a very long time. It is not essential that most written documents last very long, and it is insignificant if they fade or not. For some rare documents or works of art, however, it is of the utmost importance that the ink used lasts for a very long time. Archival-quality pigment ink can last for decades if whatever it is on is kept out of unfavorable environmental conditions. Many artists favor pigment ink because it generally fades very little over time, while other inks commonly fade when exposed to sunlight for even short periods of time.