# Extender (ink)

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Extender_(ink)
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Extender_(ink).md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extender_(ink)
> Source revision: 1212270676
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Transparent material added to printing inks}}
An '''extender''', also known as a '''filler''',<ref name=Chatfield>

{{Citation
 | last = Chatfield
 | first = H. W.
 | contribution = Extenders
 | year = 1962
 | title = The Science of Surface Coatings
 | editor-last = Chatfield
 | editor-first = H. W.
 | pages = 201–226
 | place = London
 | publisher = Ernest Benn Limited
 }}</ref> in [printing ink](/source/printing_ink) technology is a white transparent, or semi-transparent, component whose purpose is to reduce the cost of the ink, by increasing the area covered by a given weight of [pigment](/source/pigment).<ref name=Apps>
{{cite book
 | last = Apps
 | first = E. A.
 | title = Printing Ink Technology
 | publisher = Leonard Hill Books ltd
 | year = 1958
 | location = London
 | url =https://archive.org/details/printinginktechn00apps
 | url-access = registration
 }}

</ref> They generally have little colouring power.

==Composition and properties==

Extenders are typically white inorganic solids.<ref name=Apps/> Their transparency in inks is frequently due to their [refractive indices](/source/refractive_index) being similar to the ink,<ref name=Apps/> as opposed to opaque pigments, which are generally substantially higher.<ref name=Chatfield/>

==Use==

Extenders primarily serve to reduce the cost of the ink, but can also impart useful properties to it. They can reduce the colour strength of the ink without adding any white colour to it, which is useful if the pigment in the ink is very tinctorially strong.<ref name=Apps/> Extenders can also be used to adjust the ink's consistency and viscosity.<ref name=Apps/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Inks

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Extender (ink)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extender_(ink)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extender_(ink)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.