Best Cmyk Inks

[PhiBiSoLa]

Hello,

 

My wallet tells me to stop buying inks,

so I'm trying to buy the 4 inks of a CMYK system to keep myself happy for a while (Ha!)

I am a student and therefore use a lot of cheap lined and copy paper.

 

So, my question is, which of those two systems would work better for cheap paper?

Noodler's: Navajoe Turquoise, Shah's Rose, Yellow, Bulletproof Black.

J. Herbin: Bleu Pervenche, Rose Cyclamen, Bouton d'or, Perle noire.

 

Thanks a lot,

Phil

[Uncle Red]

I don't know which will be better on cheap paper but the Noodler's is about $0.14 per ml and J Herbin is about $0.33 per ml.

Not including shipping of course.

Edited February 5, 2013 by Uncle Red

[PhiBiSoLa]

I don't know which will be better on cheap paper but the Noodler's is about $0.14 per ml and J Herbin is about $0.33 per ml.

Not including shipping of course.

 

Indeed, indeed... I'll disregard the price if the J. Herbin work fabulously better, though...

What's the point of buying the cheaper ones if I won't want to use them, right?

Edited February 5, 2013 by PhiBiSoLa

[chad.trent]

Convince her you need the Hexacrhome system and get a green and orange ink too...

[Margana]

Are you planning to mix your own colors? If so, Platinum makes a line of inks designed for that purpose. Not all inks mix well even with those manufactured by the same company, so that's something to consider in making your decision.

 

If you plan to use the inks straight, both Herbin and Noodler's make good products but poor quality paper can make even the best ink perform poorly. Noodler's can be diluted to improve drying time and that also makes it very economical. $12.50 for 3 ounces is good value regardless. Diluted by 10 to 20% makes it a steal. I've read that some inks can be diluted up to 50% though I've never tried that. Herbin ink is perfect from the bottle so no tinkering is necessary with that one.

 

Why don't you get some samples to test the inks in which you have an interest?

[opus7600]

There's also the Platinum MixFree inks to consider. They're specifically meant for mixing, so might be even better than the other two choices. I can't say anything useful from personal experience, sorry.

 

http://www.gouletpens.com/Platinum_Bottled_Ink_s/837.htm

[PhiBiSoLa]

Convince her you need the Hexacrhome system and get a green and orange ink too...

 

Oh what is wrong with you! Now I need two more? I was better off not knowing this.

Thankfully, I can't find much on the subject, and therefore would not know which ones to buy.

Fiou!

 

Shouldn't there be a purple there, while we're at it?

[Lloyd]

See this thread.

[PhiBiSoLa]

Are you planning to mix your own colors? If so, Platinum makes a line of inks designed for that purpose. Not all inks mix well even with those manufactured by the same company, so that's something to consider in making your decision.

 

If you plan to use the inks straight, both Herbin and Noodler's make good products but poor quality paper can make even the best ink perform poorly. Noodler's can be diluted to improve drying time and that also makes it very economical. $12.50 for 3 ounces is good value regardless. Diluted by 10 to 20% makes it a steal. I've read that some inks can be diluted up to 50% though I've never tried that. Herbin ink is perfect from the bottle so no tinkering is necessary with that one.

 

Why don't you get some samples to test the inks in which you have an interest?

 

Shipping from Goulet kills me, so I don't want to get samples. It's hard to justify 6$ shipping for 6$ worth of samples... so I'd rather take an informed decision and save a bit.

 

I haven't really put much thought in the mix free line, simply because I have not heard much of it. Does it follow the, should I say, official CMYK procedure? Is it good ink? Is it better behaved on cheap paper than Noodler's or J. Herbin?

 

 

See this thread.

 

That was indeed where I first found out about CMYK. Then I found here

http://blog.shopwritersbloc.com/ink/j_herbin_fountain_pen_ink_mixi.html

that the same could be done for J. Herbin, and now I'm wondering which one is the best for cheap paper

Edited February 5, 2013 by PhiBiSoLa

[chad.trent]

Convince her you need the Hexacrhome system and get a green and orange ink too...

 

Oh what is wrong with you! Now I need two more? I was better off not knowing this.

Thankfully, I can't find much on the subject, and therefore would not know which ones to buy.

Fiou!

 

Shouldn't there be a purple there, while we're at it?

 

In printing, certain colors are hard to hit using 4 color process. Greens and oranges are the most common ones. There are a lot of greens and oranges that exist in PMS books that can never be hit printing in CMYK. So green and orange inks were added to the mix in an attempt to hit those colors. We tried it a little bit, but it was more of a guessing game. Eventually I think the technology was abandoned. Now whenever we have a hard to hit color we print it CMYK+1.

 

More info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexachrome

Edited February 5, 2013 by chad.trent

[brunico]

A couple of bookmarks I have:

 

Noodler's ink mixing

 

Herbin ink mixing

 

Haven't tried it, though...

[McFortner]

Noodler's: Navajoe Turquoise, Shah's Rose, Yellow, Bulletproof Black.

 

I don't have the black (I'm using Parker Quink black) but those are the colors I use and have had pretty good luck with. I've found a few sites that you can pick a color and get the CYMK ratios to help with mixing. I have a bottle of Noodler's Whiteness of the Whale on the way that I'm going to try out to lighten some shades and see how that works out.

[cedargirl]

I've been thinking about the CYMK colours lately and recently purchased a 80ml bottle of turquoise ink from The Writing Desk in the UK for a very reasonable price.

They label them as TWD inks, but they are just relabelled Diamine inks. I received it today and it looks like a very good Cyan.

[Margana]

I haven't really put much thought in the mix free line, simply because I have not heard much of it. Does it follow the, should I say, official CMYK procedure? Is it good ink? Is it better behaved on cheap paper than Noodler's or J. Herbin?

Check out the Ink Reviews for info on specific inks. Unfortunately, I don't have enough experience with the line to answer your questions. Maybe someone else can help you.

[Uncle Red]

Yeah, ink reviews for each ink are the best way to judge the performance. Unless someone that uses one of the CMYK systems responds.

 

Platinum does not use the CMYK system. Each of the inks I've tried has been a solid performer, although the Mix Free Aurora Blue was hard to flush. Check out this thread about the Mix Free system

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/199621-platinum-mix-free-ink-recipes/

[PhiBiSoLa]

Noodler's: Navajoe Turquoise, Shah's Rose, Yellow, Bulletproof Black.

 

I don't have the black (I'm using Parker Quink black) but those are the colors I use and have had pretty good luck with. I've found a few sites that you can pick a color and get the CYMK ratios to help with mixing. I have a bottle of Noodler's Whiteness of the Whale on the way that I'm going to try out to lighten some shades and see how that works out.

 

Well, duh. I feel kinda horrible to have wasted your time... I can't really go J. Herbin, they don't have a Whiteness of the whale!

 

I'm certainly going to search for a website like that, but have little confidence that my screen will accurately display the colours...

Gotta get an IPS display!

 

Yeah, ink reviews for each ink are the best way to judge the performance. Unless someone that uses one of the CMYK systems responds.

 

Platinum does not use the CMYK system. Each of the inks I've tried has been a solid performer, although the Mix Free Aurora Blue was hard to flush. Check out this thread about the Mix Free system

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/199621-platinum-mix-free-ink-recipes/

 

You know, I'll try to keep true to the CMYK system, simply because I like following a standard, and it is one that can be replicated with many brands of inks.

 

 

I will certainly check some reviews, I thank you all for your help and time, and shall try to pay it forward!

I'll be sure to review the inks and the mixes I make, see if there are some interesting tibits to be said about them.

Edited February 7, 2013 by PhiBiSoLa

[chad.trent]

Here's a little tip as well...

 

In printing, most colors should be able to be achieved with just CMY. Theoretically 100% cyan, magenta, and yellow should give you black. However, pigments for printing aren't pure, so black was added to darken up black areas.

 

So, you may want to try experimenting with three colors and only adding black when you need it.

[tonybelding]

Just a thought... Noodler's Black is a "bulletproof" ink with characteristics that vary considerably from the other conventional Noodler's inks. You might get more predictable results with a non-bulletproof black, such as Borealis.

[Dioxazine]

I can definitely help here!!

 

Sometimes Noodler's Black-Yellow-Navajo-Shah's combos go for sale on Greenman508's eBay store.

 

But the Black is warm and mixing colors of different "temperatures" can result in ugly results (I think Air Corp Blue Black, Navajo+Black, to be uuuugly). Borealis Black is not at all bulletproof, and is a typical teal-black. Makes a lovely dark turquoise with Navajo.

 

In THEORY, mixing Shah's with Black would get you a dark magenta. <i>Not really</i>. Even a drop of any, and I mean ANY, black will make a nasty dusty pink. Unless you like nasty dusty pink, but I'd assume post people wouldn't. But when mixed with Navajo, it makes a nice blue or purple. Noodler's Blue and Purple are made with Shah and Navajo. Shah's will lighten royal blue very quickly, going from a bluer purple to a magenta violet.

 

A magenta for mixing with royal and blacks is Noodler's Saguaro Wine. It's also more concentrated, and has a cool temperature.

 

So I'd recommend for your Noodler primaries, with ink:water dilutions

And just for convenience, regardless what Noodler's says their inks are, I'm going to call some pigments and others dyes, based on behavior (namely, settling)

 

Black (pigment)(warm)(1:1)

Borealis (dye)(cool)(1:1 - 2:3)

Red (pigment)(warm)(1:1)

Shah's Rose (dye)(warm)(1:1)

Saguaro Wine (dye)(cool)(1:2)

Yellow (dye)(warm)(1:1)

Navajo Turquoise (dye)(cool)(1:1)

[McFortner]

My bottle of Noodler's Whiteness of the Whale arrived today, and I was able to make 2 oz. of a nice gray like I wanted. I just love mixing my own inks and the Noodler's I use work out very nicely. And it is a lot cheaper than the Platinum Mix Free inks too.