Staedtler Black

Hi folks! This is the other ink in the Staedtler line, generously provided by Corey at Staedtler. Thanks Corey!

Like Aurora, Staedtler is only running two inks at this point. I reviewed their Royal Blue ink a little while ago, and I really liked it. It's a little under-saturated, but it flows consistently, and it performs so well on copy paper that the lack of saturation is totally forgivable.

The black ink shares several of these qualities. It's a little under-saturated, but not to the point of appearing grey. It performs super well on copy paper, just like the blue does. Unfortunately, it's a little too dry. As I say in the written portion below, black inks can have a difficult time standing out. The space in that hue is much tighter than it is in the blue range. Black inks have to rely on their saturation and performance, alone. So, this ink is a bit of a mixed bag.

Written Review

Close-Ups!

Bottles and Such

You can get this ink in bottles or international cartridges.

The wind was really strong when I was taking these pictures, and it ripped this little card right out of my hand and into the lily "pond". The effects on this card don't bode well for its water-resistance.

Color Comparisons

Fortunately, I had a couple of my favorite black inks to compare to this one. Kiwa-Guro is my favorite black ink, and Dark Matter is one of my go-to inks even if it's not as well-loved as Aurora's black ink. Staedtler does have an edge on those two when it comes to performance on weak paper's, though.

Copy Paper Test

There's just a touch of bleed with this ink on Staples' 20lb copy paper, but we can probably chalk that up to a weak spot in the paper.

Chromatography

I'm always a little surprised by the complexity of a black ink.

Video Review and Water Drop Test

I like my black inks dark and saturated, so Staedtler's offering isn't really my style. I'm sure it's going to have plenty of fans, though. 


Thanks for sending this ink out for review, Corey!