All Diamine Inks Compared

[cybaea]

There are currently (August 2013) one hundred colours available in the standard series from Diamine. Below I have written one line with each colour first on low-absorbent paper (Rhodia No 18 dotpad) and second on normal absorbent paper (our corporate printer’s stock “cartridge” paper). All lines are written with a medium Lamy Z50 nib on a Lamy Safari pen.

 

Apologies for the corporate branding: I do not have blank cartridge stock paper. I hope it does not distract too much from the inks. If you want to calibrate your monitor, the blue and orange colours in the logo are Pantone Blue 072 and Pantone 1375, respectively.

 

There are 25 colours on each sheet so 4 sheets in total. I will write more about the sorting of the ink colours later. For now: enjoy! and I hope this is useful.

 

(And if someone wants to send me samples of the special edition Diamine inks that I do not have, then I will be happy to add them. This is mainly the Music set.)

 

Colour set 1

 

Low-absorbent paper (Rhodia)

 

 

Normal absorbent paper (cartridge)

 

 

[cybaea]

There are currently (August 2013) one hundred colours available in the standard series from Diamine. Below I have written one line with each colour first on low-absorbent paper (Rhodia No 18 dotpad) and second on normal absorbent paper (our corporate printer’s stock “cartridge” paper). All lines are written with a medium Lamy Z50 nib on a Lamy Safari pen.

 

Apologies for the corporate branding: I do not have blank cartridge stock paper. I hope it does not distract too much from the inks. If you want to calibrate your monitor, the blue and orange colours in the logo are Pantone Blue 072 and Pantone 1375, respectively.

 

There are 25 colours on each sheet so 4 sheets in total. I will write more about the sorting of the ink colours later. For now: enjoy! and I hope this is useful.

 

Colour set 2

 

Low-absorbent paper (Rhodia)

 

 

Normal absorbent paper (cartridge)

 

[cybaea]

There are currently (August 2013) one hundred colours available in the standard series from Diamine. Below I have written one line with each colour first on low-absorbent paper (Rhodia No 18 dotpad) and second on normal absorbent paper (our corporate printer’s stock “cartridge” paper). All lines are written with a medium Lamy Z50 nib on a Lamy Safari pen.

 

Apologies for the corporate branding: I do not have blank cartridge stock paper. I hope it does not distract too much from the inks. If you want to calibrate your monitor, the blue and orange colours in the logo are Pantone Blue 072 and Pantone 1375, respectively.

 

There are 25 colours on each sheet so 4 sheets in total. I will write more about the sorting of the ink colours later. For now: enjoy! and I hope this is useful.

 

Colour set 3

 

Low-absorbent paper (Rhodia)

 

 

Normal absorbent paper (cartridge)

 

Edited August 8, 2013 by cybaea

[cybaea]

There are currently (August 2013) one hundred colours available in the standard series from Diamine. Below I have written one line with each colour first on low-absorbent paper (Rhodia No 18 dotpad) and second on normal absorbent paper (our corporate printer’s stock “cartridge” paper). All lines are written with a medium Lamy Z50 nib on a Lamy Safari pen.

 

Apologies for the corporate branding: I do not have blank cartridge stock paper. I hope it does not distract too much from the inks. If you want to calibrate your monitor, the blue and orange colours in the logo are Pantone Blue 072 and Pantone 1375, respectively.

 

There are 25 colours on each sheet so 4 sheets in total. I will write more about the sorting of the ink colours later. For now: enjoy! and I hope this is useful.

 

Colour set 4

 

Low-absorbent paper (Rhodia)

 

 

Normal absorbent paper (cartridge)

 

[cybaea]

About the colour sorting

 

I took a 20% sample from the centre of the colour swab images from Diamine’s web site, converted to HSV, calculated the average colour, and sorted by HSV values. Six colours were taken out manually and put at the end: four neutral colours, one green-black and one violet-black.

 

This is the original list:

Hue	Saturation	Value	Name
0	201	122	Matador
0	231	154	Passion Red
1	227	130	Poppy Red
2	139	74	Rustic Brown
2	179	109	Monaco Red
3	194	90	Ancient Copper
3	211	132	Wild Strawberry
5	232	147	Brilliant Red
6	232	136	Vermillion
7	224	148	Pink
7	228	129	Pumpkin
8	105	41	Chocolate Brown
8	157	128	Burnt Sienna
8	239	126	Sunset
9	117	66	Saddle Brown
9	253	155	Coral
10	172	81	Ochre
11	79	60	Macassar
11	135	108	Dark Brown
12	251	130	Blaze Orange
12	251	134	Orange
15	239	129	Peach Haze
16	134	77	Raw Sienna
18	201	110	Sepia
25	145	103	Golden Brown
25	237	133	Amber
29	253	141	Sunshine Yellow
34	12	23	Jet Black
36	252	118	Yellow
51	127	133	Light Green
59	201	110	Jade
65	75	63	Evergreen
70	210	69	Meadow
72	213	81	Kelly Green
97	91	70	Emerald
99	149	113	Apple Glory
105	99	67	Umber
107	235	62	Ultra Green
110	94	26	Green Black
114	156	39	Sherwood Green
115	243	49	Woodland Green
118	30	34	Graphite
121	250	72	Dark Green
122	192	42	Delamere
127	248	87	Soft Mint
129	247	92	Steel Blue
129	250	99	Marine
136	229	117	Beau Blue
136	252	113	Turquoise
138	253	106	Aqua Blue
139	169	44	Teal
139	252	108	Aqua Lagoon
140	201	80	Eau de Nil
145	159	45	Twilight
146	18	26	Onyx Black
146	123	99	Indigo
146	206	100	Misty Blue
148	211	78	Prussian Blue
148	252	106	Havasu Turquoise
149	212	117	Washable Blue
149	229	101	Presidential Blue
149	246	89	Kensington Blue
152	16	126	Grey
152	143	69	Denim
152	250	107	Royal Blue
152	251	88	Asa Blue
152	252	104	Mediterranean Blue
153	191	52	Midnight
154	230	23	Blue Black
154	234	54	Majestic Blue
155	220	149	China Blue
155	252	95	Florida Blue
158	240	62	Sargasso Sea
160	77	115	Amazing Amethyst
164	9	54	Quartz Black
164	68	27	Eclipse
167	141	107	Imperial Blue
169	152	63	Bilberry
170	253	79	Sapphire Blue
188	125	122	Majestic Purple
194	126	111	Lavender
195	116	139	Violet
198	135	99	Imperial Purple
202	59	66	Damson
222	108	42	Grape
228	169	134	Claret
228	198	117	Deep Magenta
236	214	145	Hope Pink
241	118	79	Merlot
244	167	116	Amaranth
247	252	156	Cerise
249	171	68	Syrah
250	179	139	Maroon
250	214	128	Scarlet
252	208	91	Red Dragon
253	177	65	Oxblood
253	198	130	Classic Red
254	229	165	Flamingo Pink
255	208	128	Ruby
255	251	101	Crimson

(I tried attaching the spreadsheet, but FPN will not let me do that.)

 

The six colours at the end were sorted by Value ignoring Hue and Saturation.

Edited August 8, 2013 by cybaea

[inotrym]

Oh thank you so much for all the work. It's really helpful that you grouped them by color.

 

Btw, for some reason I like better the scans of the stock cartridge paper.

[cybaea]

Btw, for some reason I like better the scans of the stock cartridge paper.

 

The absorbent paper of course brings out the colours more than the Rhodia. Especially for the pale colours.

 

Glad you liked it.

[Mesu]

Amazing scans.

 

I am a huge fan of Diamine inks and sometimes confused between some shades as thy look similar on the monitor. Seeing them adjacent to each other is very helpful.

 

Thank you

[cybaea]

Amazing scans.

 

I am a huge fan of Diamine inks and sometimes confused between some shades as thy look similar on the monitor. Seeing them adjacent to each other is very helpful.

 

Thank you

 

You are most welcome. I am glad you found it useful.

[Francis_Rex]

Thank you, cybaea, for this post which will become, I am sure, a "go to" post for those of us who like the Diamine range. A lot of work (and money I should imagine) has gone in to this.

 

There are a couple of Diamine "specials" that I have used and which I have scanned below. One is a Deep Blue Black that Cult Pens have started to sell. It mimics the colour of their logo and is a business-like ink. (http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Cult-Pens-Ink.html)

 

The second is a blend that Mr Pen offers and starts with Radiant Blue and features four drops of Mr.Pen's "special ingredient" (http://www.mrpen.co.uk/index1.html)

 

I saw that there is a range of Conway Stewart inks that come from Diamine (http://www.conwaystewart.com/pendetails.php?pen=inks )

I have not tried those yet.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[cybaea]

Thank you for the kind words @Francis_Rex and for the additional scans. I do have the Cult Pens ink (I won a bottle from them) but not the radiant blue. When Diamine releases their new set in the autumn I will (probably) get one and then add a sheet with those and any other 'specials' I have around. But other than the boxed set I don't think I will be buying much ink for a while.

 

If you want to see what 100 (small) bottles of Diamine ink looks like, head over to https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/249919-pick-a-colour/

[rafapa]

Wow! I really thank you. It' quite usefull to have all of them next to each other.

[Soot]

cybaea,

 

Thanks for the very informative comparison!

 

It's interesting to see how every company these days are coming up with colors that is almost the same with another (within the company) but with a different name to attract sales.

[michelim]

Grat job!! Thanks for sharing!!!

[Francis_Rex]

Thank you for the kind words @Francis_Rex and for the additional scans. I do have the Cult Pens ink (I won a bottle from them) but not the radiant blue. When Diamine releases their new set in the autumn I will (probably) get one and then add a sheet with those and any other 'specials' I have around. But other than the boxed set I don't think I will be buying much ink for a while.

 

If you want to see what 100 (small) bottles of Diamine ink looks like, head over to https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/249919-pick-a-colour/

 

I have just followed your link to your stash of Diamine. I thought I had a bit of an ink and pen addiction but I feel quite restrained after seeing that...

 

Thanks again for this; a great addition to FPN.

[wastelanded]

This post has been duly bookmarked under 'indispensable'. You, good sir, deserve at least an MBE for this: many thanks!

[cybaea]

cybaea,

 

Thanks for the very informative comparison!

 

It's interesting to see how every company these days are coming up with colors that is almost the same with another (within the company) but with a different name to attract sales.

 

I am glad you found it useful. Regarding the colours, don't forget that there is much more to an ink that just the colour. Diamine Sargasso Sea has the most amazing sheen - you can't see it on a scan but search the forums and just look and marvel at that dark border on each of the lines in the scan:

 

 

(Sorry about the compression artefacts: my scanner can only save jpeg format )

Edited August 8, 2013 by cybaea

[Beechwood]

A remarkable undertaking taking what must have been a huge amount of time and effort for the benefit of FPN members.

 

Thank you

[cybaea]

This post has been duly bookmarked under 'indispensable'. You, good sir, deserve at least an MBE for this: many thanks!

 

You are too kind. But thank you and I am happy you liked it.

 

A remarkable undertaking taking what must have been a huge amount of time and effort for the benefit of FPN members.

 

Thank you

 

You are most welcome.

[The Good Captain]

A great bit of work and nice to see all the colours together - as written examples, not swatches.