How to Improve the Color Saturation in Water-Based Ink Printing?

Why do printed patterns using water-based ink appear less vivid, layered, and glossy compared to those printed with oil-based ink? Is it due to the quality of the water-based ink provided by the supplier, or is it an inherent limitation of water-based ink?

In fact, it’s not accurate to conclude that water-based ink's color is inferior to oil-based ink. Let’s explore how to improve the saturation of water-based ink from the perspective of color formulation, thereby enhancing the vibrancy and gloss of printed patterns.

1. In dark tone areas, the tonal value of basic colors typically ranges from 65% to 90%. Since the dot gain exceeds 80%, it can cause tonal merging. Therefore, in this range, while ensuring adequate solid density, it is essential to maintain the clarity of tonal transitions. Don’t overemphasize saturation at the expense of tonal separation. The key is to moderately reduce the color amount in areas above 80%, creating a distinction between solid and toned areas, ensuring both density and tonal gradation.
2. Balancing brightness and tonal depth in color processing is challenging. To retain tonal gradation, complementary colors are recommended, but using complementary colors can reduce brightness and increase grayness. If brightness is the priority, less complementary color should be used, though this might affect tonal depth. For time-sensitive packaging products, focusing on saturated, bright colors will produce stronger visual effects. The key lies in achieving a balance, which reflects the operator’s aesthetic sense and directly affects the artistic quality of the print.
3. The tonal gradation in dark colors is mainly represented by primary color plates. For instance, warm colors like red and orange are expressed through the Y and M plates, while cool colors like green and cyan are shown through the C plate. Emphasizing the tonal gradation of the primary plates helps to bring out the physical texture of the subject.
4. Mid-tone areas are critical for color processing, with tonal values ranging from 35% to 65%. These areas represent the majority of objects. To adjust basic colors in this range for optimal saturation, slightly increasing the color amount by about 5% can help. For instance, for red flowers, if the mid-tone M color is at 40%, increasing it to 45% can make the red more saturated and vibrant.