Colours from Black ink.....

[Reginald]

If one were to print using black ink on say, a fairly porous paper soaked in a suitable solvent, would I be right in saying that the ink would effectively separate out into various colours around the printed areas (these colours being the other tints within the black ink), I'm thinking in the same way as a (albeit very very rudimantary) Chromatograph?

 

[richardm]

Yep. Coffee filter paper is a good type to use.

 

[_Q_]

I've seen this done in chemistry labs with felt-tip pens - nice experiment/demonstration.

_Q_

 

[Captain_Snort]

It would depend on the actual pigments used in the black ink.

If the pigments used were actually Black, you would see nothing but black, but as in my experience, they are made up of a mixture of colours, yes.

What you could also do is get some coffee filter paper, apply a few dots of the ink and place it in vodka (or methalated spirits or nail varnish remover) for a hour or 2, placing the dots just above the water line.

If you have an older colour bubblejet printer that has no black ink, it will try and make black by use of the red blue and yellow inks, but that always seemed to have a greenish tint, or did with HP printers.,

Note - using vodka is good, if it is very strong stuff, as you can drink it afterwards.