| FAQ's - Inks |
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What is the difference between dye ink and Archival
Ink™?
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Archival Ink™
is fade and water-resistant, dye-based ink. It dries on
all types of paper like a dye ink, however, unlike
water-based dye ink Archival Ink won’t smear when
brushed over with watercolors and water-based markers.
Stamp out a line image in Archival Inks and let it dry.
Use watercolors, a water brush, water-based markers or
Cut n’ Dry Nibs
with any of our water based ink (Adirondack,
Distress,
Nick
Bantock) to color in without fear of ‘the
smear’. Archival Inks are the perfect choice for
journals, scrapbooks or any stamped image that needs
permanence. Remember to choose your paper with care
making sure it is acid-free. Archival Inks™ and Ranger’s
Gloss Paper™ are the perfect match of beauty and
function. They provide the color you want with the
archival qualities your artwork deserves. They also work
well on glass, dominoes (and other game pieces),
plastic, fabric, metal, leather and polymer clay. |
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What is the difference between dye ink and pigment ink? |
Pigment
inks
are thick and opaque while dye inks are thinner in
consistency and transparent. This means that Pigment
inks appear similar in the stamp pad to the color they
stamp out.
Dye inks
thinner consistency makes them more concentrated so they
appear darker in the stamp pad bearing no resemblance to
the color the ink will stamp out . Dyes dissolve in
solution and blend well while pigments do not dissolve,
making them easier to clean off of hands and stamps.
Pigments are more light and heat stable than most dyes,
which makes pigment inks a good choice when your
finished art will be displayed. Pigment Inks take longer
to dry and are a good choice to use as an embossing ink.
Water based, pigment inks do not dry on coated paper or
non-porous surfaces. Dye Inks dry quickly on all types
of paper making them easier to work with and a favorite
of many crafters. |
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Can
I emboss with dye ink? |
Yes, as long as the dye ink is wet enough to accept the
embossing powder you can emboss it. With a wet enough
stamping, paper that is not overly absorptive, a quick
dusting of the wet stamping with
embossing powder and
the use of a gentle heat tool you can emboss dye inks.
In fact, Ranger started using embossing powder many
years ago when rubber stampers only used dye inks. For
best results use the Ranger
Heatit craft tool or heat from below so the
powder does not blow off of the stamping. The Heat it
Craft tool is an excellent choice for this application
because it delivers heat without excessive blowing (this
also makes it perfect for fine detail embossing
powders). It’s quiet too, so you can talk while
embossing!
Distress Inks emboss well and Ranger's
Distress
Embossing Powders are especially striking when
embossed in the
"double distress"
method originated by Tim Holtz. |
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I
stamped my card with pigment ink and the ink isn’t
drying – why? |
If the paper has a glossy surface, the pigment ink will
never dry. The solution is to emboss the image with
Clear
Embossing Powder and heat set it with the Ranger
Heat It
Craft Tool. |
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I stamped my card with dye ink and when I colored in the
image with markers, the ink smeared – what happened? |
If the dye ink used is not permanent, dye ink markers
will smear the original stamped image when the colors
touch. To avoid smearing the image and contaminating the
tips of your markers, be sure to use a permanent ink
like Ranger Archival
Ink
to stamp images that will be colored with markers,
watercolor pencils and watercolor crayons. |
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I used the Washable 4 Stamps ink on my baby’s hands and
feet for a memory book, and I can’t seem to get all of
the ink off. What should I use? |
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The
Washable
4 Stamps ink is non-toxic and child-safe. But
remember it is a dye ink and dye inks can temporarily
stain skin. It should come off inky fingers that have
used a stamp pad for regular stamping by washing with
soap and water. However, when using a great deal of ink
directly to skin to get a full hand or footprint, we
recommend first putting some hand lotion on the skin as
a barrier before inking, then washing off with shampoo
and water. Most of the ink will then come off in the
first washing. |
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Which Stamp Pads can be refreshed with Perfect Ink
Refresher? |
All
water-based dye stamp pads
including Adirondack™, Sea Brights™, Sea Shells™, Stamp
it™, Color it™ non-metallic Pads, Ranger Pigment™ Pads,
Ranger Basic™ Stamp Pads, Ink it™ & Pigment, Ink it™ Dye
Pads, Nick Bantock Pads™, Vintage Ink Pads™, Washables 4
Kids™ Pads and Big & Juicy™ Solids. Use it for water
based markers too! |
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Which stamp pads should not be used with Perfect Ink
Refresher? |
Archival Ink
Pads contain waterproof ink that is not compatible.
Perfect Ink Refresher is not recommended for
rainbow pads. It will cause the colors to run together
and ‘muddy’ the surface. Tip: To keep pads juicy store
them upside down and level, never on their side. This is
particularly important with rainbow pads. |
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Is there any difference between the ink in Adirondack®
Pens and in the Adirondack® Pads? |
Yes.
Adirondack Pads contain acid-free, dye inks for
use in paper crafting.
Adirondack Pens contain a unique, permanent,
pigment ink that can be used on a variety of surfaces
including fabric, wood, metal, shrink plastic, vellum,
glossy and coated paper, acetate and polymer clay. The
archival quality, acid-free inks along with the
flexible, fine bullet nibs make them the perfect tool
for memory crafters and altered book artists. |
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What is the difference between the Ranger Rainbow Pads
and other rainbow pads and how can I keep them fresh? |
The rainbow effect achieved by our
Adirondack and
Big & Juicy Rainbow pads provides a smooth
transition from one color to the next, not those
dreaded, unattractive stripes. Besides stamping with
them, these rainbows are great for
brayering onto
glossy paper for use as backgrounds.
Scrappers love the Big & Juicy rainbows for brayering
color right onto jumbo frame stamps.
Our hand-made rainbows are very popular with the most
savvy of stampers. The dye inks are applied in vertical
stripes onto the felt pads with no sectioning between
colors. The blending of the inks at the point where they
touch provides an easy progression from color to color.
Please know that our blended rainbows do not always
appear to have distinct color separations even when
fresh. This is normal and this is the beauty of these
rainbows. Also, note that the felt insert has a cloth
cover laminated to the top of the pad. Dyes tend to run
across this cloth covering much more quickly than they
blend in the felt below. Always stamp or brayer the
rainbow before making a judgement and you will be
pleasantly surprised.
Some color combinations do blend more quickly than
others, especially if they contain a lighter color next
to a darker tone. Lighter colors are always overtaken by
darker tones. Purchase a reinker of the lighter colors
in your rainbows so that you can refresh them regularly
and you will keep your rainbows beautiful. |
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I’ve stamped Gloss Paper with pigment ink and it isn’t
drying. Why not? |
Pigment ink alone will never dry on glossy cardstock.
You must apply embossing powder and heat emboss the
image on the cardstock. |
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How should stamp pads be stored? |
A good rule of thumb is to always store all types of ink pads
flat. Dye ink pads should be stored flat so that the ink does
not run to one side of the pad and cause uneven inking. This is
especially important with Big and Juicy™ Rainbow pads so that
the rainbow stripes of ink colors do not contaminate each other.
Dye ink pads can be stored right side up (case top up), or some
crafters prefer to store dye pads face down (case top down) to
keep the most concentration of ink on the top of the pad when
inking. If an ink formulation is very wet, such as Distress
Inks, it is not necessary to store them face down.
Pigment inks should be stored face up to avoid any potential
pigment ink leakage from the foam pad. |
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