What are the differences between process black, Pantone® neutral black and dense black?
A.: Sheetfed process black inks are made to print as part of a process set. The tack is normally quite high, as most process printing is done with dark-to-light color sequence on multi-color sheetfed presses. A fourth-down black is also made for certain jobs where it must overprint an opaque or metallic color. The color is also balanced to the requirements for process work; not too blue nor too yellow. Pantone neutral or mixing black is made to a specific color and strength so grays will match correctly when the formula calls for a large percentage of white. Again, not too red, yellow or blue. Sheetfed dense black ink is formulated to print a deep, bluetone black, and is made with a greater pigment load as well as perhaps 5% of a blue similar to reflex blue. The blue overpowers the natural brown cast of the black pigment and appears blacker to our eyes. It can be used as a process ink if no grays or tans that must be matched appear in the pictures in the process job. Some printers add
