ZINK™ (or Zero Ink™) technology is one of the most promising inventions in the photo printing market. Most media today extol the virtues of “inkless” technology as the future of printing, but only one of the various types of inkless tech will likely survive. The question is, what makes ZINK™ an attractive choice for survival?
ZINK™ is a product of the genius at ZINK Imaging, Inc., a Massachusetts based company with a manufacturing facility in North Carolina (to manufacture the special ZINK™ paper). Founded in 2005, the company is a mish-mash of digital imaging experts, scientists, and business professionals, with the goal of getting their new technology in to as many consumer homes as possible. Through a network of partnerships, ZINK™ has become a well known inkless alternative in the imaging community.
The key to ZINK™ is in the paper. Manufactured in house, ZINK™ paper contains all the elements needed to produce lush, inkless photos. By all appearances, the ZINK™ paper looks like any other photo paper. Only when activated by a ZINK™ enabled printing device, through a heating process, does the difference become readily apparent. Zink Amorphochromic™ Dye Crystals, embedded within the ZINK™ paper, activate during a special heating process. This brings the cyan, magenta, and yellow colors alive. . . along with a special polymer coating. The process is similar to the dye sublimation process, except that there are no special layers, or panels, required to produce color. All that is needed is stored safely within the ZINK™ paper. The heating process uses highly specific heat “pulses” to determine which color of the rainbow that each crystal will produce. It’s a truly remarkable process that’s taken years for the team at ZINK™ to develop.
Current partnerships with Tomy, Polaroid, Dell, and others have made it possible for ZINK Imaging, Inc. to get several models of ZINK™ enabled products to the market. Pricing for these products is very reasonable, as one can pick up a ZINK™ enabled device for around $100 pretty easily.
As with dye sublimation printing, the downside to printing with ZINK™ is the limit on paper selection. ZINK™ paper is a bit expensive, though the cost per print may be on par with many inkjet printers depending on the costs of the cartridges. The biggest issue is the size limitation, which currently resides at 4 x 6. There are also 2 x 3 and 3 x 4 sizes, but 4 x 6 is the maximum size at this point. Still, there is always the possibility of larger paper sizes if manufacturers of ZINK™ enabled printing devices decide that there is a market for it.
Overall, ZINK™ is an exciting development in the photo printing community. Whether or not it becomes the dominant form of photo printing in the future remains to be seen, but it gives us a clear indication that new and better tech will eventually get us away from cartridges permanently.