The use of ink-jet printing systems have grown dramatically in recent years. This growth may be attributed to substantial improvements in print resolution and overall print quality coupled with appreciable reduction in cost. Today's ink-jet printers offer acceptable print quality for many commercial, business, and household applications at costs fully an order of magnitude lower than comparable products available just a few years ago. Notwithstanding their recent success, intensive research and development efforts continue toward improving ink-jet print quality. A surge in interest in ink-jet printing has resulted in the need to produce high quality prints at a reasonable cost. The challenge remains to further improve the print quality and lightfastness of ink-jet prints. The use of large format ink-jet prints for point-of-purchase displays, posters and signage, requires high-resolution images that are durable.
Color ink-jet printers typically use three inks of differing hues: magenta, yellow, and cyan, and optionally black. The particular set of colorants, e.g., dyes, used to make the inks is called a "primary dye set." A spectrum of colors, e.g., secondary colors, can be generated using differing combinations of the primary dye set. Magenta dyes currently used in ink-jet printing typically have exhibited a high level of lightfade when exposed to direct sun light as well as office light. Thus, challenge remains to further improve the lightfastness of the magenta dyes utilized in ink-jet printing.