Reading Between the Hues

Some printers hire permanent blending manpower and give them multiple jobs. "This can work well when there are various things to do, but having a person on staff whose only job is to blend can be detrimental when there are days that do not require this service."

Specialty's future—E-ink?

Electronic ink (or e-ink) is a liquid made of millions of microcapsules which are suspended in a dark dye, each one containing light-colored particles. When an electric field is applied, these particles move to one end of the microcapsule where they become visible and appear as a white spot. An opposite electric field pulls the particles to the other end of the microcapsules, where they are hidden by the dye, appearing to be dark. The ink can be printed onto nearly any substrate and controlled by a remote driving device.