Colours of printing and ink
Inks for books, banknotes, posters and packaging.
Brown
Aniline
A colourless oil that darkens with air and launched the first synthetic dyesPigment · 🇩🇪 Germany
Blue
Woad
A blue dye once vital to Europe's textile trade, made from the leaves of a flowering plantDye · 🇫🇷 France +3
Blue
Methylene blue
A synthetic blue dye and medicine first made in 1876Dye
Red
Carmine
A deep red pigment made from cochineal insects, once prized across continentsPigment · 🇫🇷 France +2
Yellow
Tartrazine
A synthetic lemon yellow dye widely used in food, cosmetics and medicinesDye
Black
Carbon black
A deep black pigment and filler made by burning carbon-rich materials with little airPigment
Purple and violet
Crystal violet
A synthetic purple dye used in science, medicine, and industryDye
Blue
Haematoxylin
A natural dye from logwood, best known for staining cell nuclei in histologyDye · 🇵🇭 Philippines
Green
Malachite green
A synthetic green dye once common for silk, now controversial in aquacultureDye · 🇨🇳 China +3
Purple and violet
Logwood
A tree whose wood yields a dye once vital for textiles and scienceColour named from nature · 🇲🇽 Mexico +3
Black
Bone char
A deep black pigment and filter made by charring animal bonesPigment
#E49B0F
Gamboge
A strong yellow pigment tapped from Southeast Asian treesPigment · 🇰🇭 Cambodia +5
Red
Brazilin
A red dye from brazilwood and sappanwood, used in textiles and paints since the Middle AgesDye · 🇧🇷 Brazil +4
Red
Lacलाक्षा
A red resin secreted by insects and used as dye, varnish and shellacColour named from nature · 🇮🇳 India +5
White
Titanium dioxide
A brilliant white pigment made from titanium, used in paints, food and sunscreenPigment · 🇨🇳 China +5
Brown
Juglone
A plant compound that gives deep brown-orange colour to cloth, ink and foodPigment
Yellow
Strontium chromate
A yellow pigment and corrosion inhibitor made from strontium and chromium compoundsPigment
Black
Atramentum
A deep black ink or dye once used for writing, leather and painting in ancient RomePigment
Red
Sappanwood
A tropical Asian tree whose heartwood yields a red dye called brazilinColour named from nature · 🇳🇵 Nepal +4
Blue
Indigo carmine
A water-soluble blue dye made from indigo, used in food, medicine and sciencePigment · 🇺🇸 United States
Red
Erythrosine
A bright red-pink synthetic dye used in food, cosmetics, and industryDye · 🇺🇸 United States +4
Purple and violet
Murexide
A purple chemical once used as a dye and indicator in chemistryPigment · 🇩🇪 Germany +1
Black
Brilliant Black BN
A synthetic black dye used in foods and decorations, known as E151 in EuropeDye · 🇺🇸 United States +2
Red
Red 2G
A synthetic red azo dye once used in food and inks, now banned in many countriesDye · 🇦🇺 Australia +4
Pink and magenta
D&C Red 7
A synthetic red pigment widely used in printing and food colouringPigment
Purple and violet
Pigment Violet 29
A dark red-purple pigment used in paints, inks, and dyesPigment
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Gamboge: Maša Sinreih in Valentina Vivod, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Haematoxylin: Waughd, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lac: Jeffrey W. Lotz, CC BY 3.0, source
- Woad: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Logwood: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aniline: Smokefoot, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Strontium chromate: Quatrostein, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Carbon black: FK1954, Public domain, source
- Titanium dioxide: The original uploader was Walkerma at English Wikipedia ., Public domain, source
- Carmine: Stephhzz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bone char: Honza Groh ( Jagro ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tartrazine: Buli, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Methylene blue: Amanda Slater, Flickr user amandabhslater, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Crystal violet: Richard Masoner, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Sappanwood: Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Indigo carmine: -- メルビル ( talk ) 08:10, 28 January 2011 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Murexide: Shaddack, Public domain, source
- Pigment Violet 29: Smokefoot, Public domain, source