Think Big

"Inks are either light-fast or water-fast and [in the past] did not run a wide gamut," notes Crowley. "Now, more brilliant colors are available, and the fact that [the industry] is going to eight colors has been a tremendous advancement."

The capability to take a pigmented ink and give it a die-based quality gives it a better image, says McMahon. "Previous inks were not archival, meaning they could fade in a week or a month, and you couldn't hang them outside where direct sunlight would be."