Harry Potter book in Siegwerk ink

Knowledge is power and reading remains the key to it.  In the seventh and final Harry Potter book, ink by the German printing ink producer Siegwerk ensures that the magic of wizardry finds its way to the printed page – and that millions of fans can discover how the saga ends. ‘We supply the printer with a special ink that renders the consistently deep black color of the letters possible,’ said Siegwerk technician Volker Schmid. So while ‘normal’ books present the alphabet in what is more or less dark grey, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ comes in letters that are evenly black as the night – and that’s no sorcery. 

Siegwerk’s UV ink Sicura Web provides optimal readability thanks to a special formula. Due to the special UV drying process, the paper does not get too hot, which would automatically lead to unwanted expansion of the print carrier. The black Siegwerk ink dries within seconds, even on the high-quality Harry Potter paper, so that the black tone really comes into its own. Schmidt says it’s a procedure that, ‘is asserting itself more and more for top class books and other publications or packaging with high quality demands.’

According to author Joanne K. Rowling, Book 7 is the last installment in the series. Released July 21, the British edition has 608 pages. 736 are planned for the German version. The first 250,000 copies of the British edition were printed with Siegwerk ink at GGP Media in Pssneck (Thuringia). Siegwerk ink was also used for the edition printed in Hong Kong. In the USA and Canada, an initial 12 million copies of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ were printed – a new record. Overall, 11 million copies were sold during the book’s 24 hours of release. Book 6 had started out with 10.8 million copies.