Photography Frames a Complex Picture

Digital photography is creating a fast-growing market for materials such as photographic ink and photo paper for home use. Consumer uptake of digital printing in the home and the huge popularity of digital photography are mainly responsible for the continued growth of the products. Printing inks are expected to be the largest and fastest growing market based on greater use of metallic pigments in packaging and promotional graphics, phosphorescent pigments in security, and digital ink pigments in computer printers. The industry has a sales volume of $2.8 billion, and counts chemical firms such as Sun Chemical, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Bayer, Clariant, and BASF as participants.