There are 3 types of ink / colorants (waterbased dyes, waterbased pigments and solvent pigments) that are used today and each has it's unique benefits and drawbacks.

There are a lot of buzzwords that float around in the printing business that need to be understood in their proper context to understand their significance. There are 3 types of ink / colorants (waterbased dyes, waterbased pigments and solvent pigments) that are used today and each has it's unique benefits and drawbacks.
Waterbased pigments last much longer but require many more colors to achieve the range of color that dyes are capable of. The added advantage of the extra colors is that tonal gradations in greyscale images are smoother making it ideal for black and white prints. Our unit has 12 colors.
Solvent pigments are much like the oil paints an artist uses. They have the highest longevity and can have exotic metals like chromium giving the very vibrant colors. Artists know the advantages of using Cobalt Blue, Chromium Yellow and Cadmium Red. Our solvent printer uses 8 colors. 
At Nevada Art Printers we use all 3 types of technologies as we know all too well that there is no single magic bullet and use each technology where they are best.

Waterbased dye have the highest range of color saturation and vibrance and therefore need only the primary CMYK colors to achieve excellence however they are subject to pollutants in the air. They are outstanding for photographic prints that are laminated to acrylic or cotton paper under glass but a poor choice for an unprotected canvas. Our dye printer uses 6 colors.