Pastel Ink

One of my customers wants to make cards with pastel ink. He suggested mixing one part white and one part a color we already have. I’ve never mixed ink, so was just wondering if this would work? Also, it might be worth it to note that the inks we have are ones we bought premixed. Thanks :-)

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Piece of cake. However you should start with a dramatically larger portion of opaque white and add only small increments of the other colors until you reach the desired shade. To test the color people often use their finger to tap out a sample of the ink onto the sheet they are printing. I prefer the eraser on the end of a pencil. Either way it gives you a good idea of how it will look on press. For an even more subtle effect you can use transparent (Pantone) white ink.

For pastels you’ll be better off with opaque white as well instead of transparent white. Also it takes VERY LITTLE color. For a knife full of white I will literally touch the corner of the ink knife to the color to add to the white. I mean a pencil tip of color added to a couple of tablespoon size blob of white is dramatic. It is always easier to make a color darker than it is to make it lighter so don’t fear going to slow or to little when adding the color.