Printing With Alternative Inks- Thought Experiment

[PhotographerMatt]

Hey all. First time posting here. Hope this bizarre question is welcome in your forum.

Basically, I'm a photographer and I'm wondering if it's possible to print on inkjet paper with disappearing ink.

My first thoughts were to refill an empty cartridge with disappearing ink and printing on a watercolor (assuming this would work better because it is more porous) inkjet paper. I would be great to make each of the cmyk inks to make a full color print, but even getting just black ink to work would be great.

I have access to Epson 3800, 4800, and 4880 printers.

I came across an article where a book was printed with disappearing ink and wondered if it would be possible to do with an inkjet printer.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/27/3120431/draftcb-disappearing-ink-books

Thanks for reading through this rough idea. Any thoughts or info on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

 

[costadinos]

You could do that in principle, the success would depend on the physical characteristics of the ink you are using.
Unless it's too viscous to flow properly or contains large particles that could clog the printhead, and of course of very high/low pH (risk of corrosion), it should work.

Epson and Brother printers (piezo heads) would be ideal, but I'd personally run some tests on a cheaper printer before risking a 3800/4880.

Have you already found ink that "disappears"? Maybe you could try something similar to the acidic / basic indicators that chemists use to test for acidity/alkalinity of a solution and change colour accordingly. You'll then need a solution that turns acidic when exposed to air (by oxidation of its components for instance)...

 

[PeterBJ]

Hi PhotographerMatt

I noticed you wrote: "I have access to Epson 3800, 4800, and 4880 printers." Does that mean you are not the owner of the printers? If so I think you should not experiment with strange home made inks. What would be the consequences of damaging one of these expensive printers beyond repair? Epson print heads are not user replaceable, unlike Canon print heads.

 

[PhotographerMatt]

Thanks for the reply. I still need to find an ink that has a longer time before it disappears. But the basic inks I've found mostly consist of water so being too viscous won't be the problem. It'll be the opposite I'm guessing. Here's an example one I found below. My question is what needs to be present in the ink in order to make it act similarly enough with inkjet ink and react properly with the inkjet paper? I suppose it wouldn't be able to contain any of the ingredients of normal inkjet ink that wouldn't be able to fade away.

• 0.10 g thymolphthalein for blue ink or phenolphthalein for red ink (1/3 of 1/8 tsp)
• 10 ml (2 tsp) ethyl alcohol (ethanol) [can substitute 14 ml or 3 tsp of ethyl rubbing alcohol]
• 90 ml water
• 20 drops of 3M sodium hydroxide solution or 10 drops 6M sodium hydroxide solution [make a 3 M sodium hydroxide solution by dissolving 12 g of sodium hydroxide NaOH (1 level tablespoon of lye) in 100 ml (1/2 cup) of water.]

Peter- I have access to the photography print lab from where I went to college. They have students try out all kinds of alternative processes. But you're right that it is a concern. All things I'll have to tackle in time.

 

[PeterBJ]

The two acid-base indicators are coloured in strong or moderately strong alkaline solution, but colourless in neutral and acidic solution. Is the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere supposed to neutralize the sodium hydroxide, making the indicators colourless?

I guess this will only work with aqueous solutions so what happens when the ink dries. Maybe the ink will turn invisible too quick?

Calcium Chloride attracts water, so maybe this can delay the process?

For experimenting with these inks I recommend using a cheap printer with cartridges with combined print heads and sponges. You can pop open the cartridges and wash the ink out of the sponges and refill with your ink for testing.

 

[websnail]

I'd tend to agree with Peter... Look at maybe an old second hand printer like a D88 or any number of eBay SX models. Having checked online recently there's a lot going on for sale in working order as folks switch to wireless models.