A lot of research effort has gone into the design of inks and coatings for ink jet. Much of this has focused on producing digital photographs that have image properties close to those of silver halide. The most successful developments have involved the development of the ink and media in combination to produce a matched system.In order to achieve AgX levels of performance an ideal environment must be created in the coating, such that the dye can be fixed and also protected from the environmental fading mechanisms. The design of dyes for specific environments was a key feature of textile dye development. By changing the pigments, binders and additives in the coating, the image stability for dye-based ink systems, can be greatly influenced.Most of the water-based inks contain anionic dyes, which are most effectively fixed by a highly cationic surface coating. In addition, further interactions can take place via hydrogen bonding, dipole/dipole, Van der Waals etc. By careful selection of the optimum environment for the dyes, the image properties can be significantly influenced.The development of new dye structures and the optimisation of the media for these can produce a very durable image. Indeed there are some good examples, in the latest photoprinters, where the OEMs have achieved excellent image stability by developing the ink and photopaper in combination.