As you know, your printer lays down cyan (blue + green), magenta (red + blue), and yellow (red + green) ink plus black ink. This is the CMYK system. The K stands for “kicker”, an old printer’s term for the addition of black ink used to boost the contrast of color pictures. Factorial – CMY inks, when overlapped, should blend and create black. Sorry to report, they only create a weak black because the cyan and magenta dyes and pigments we use are slightly off-color so black ink is needed to augment.

Now dyes and pigments of the proper shades are typically sourced from organic compounds. These are chemicals found or extracted from animal or plant life. It is a fact that organic things exist in a narrow environmental range. We are talking, light, heat, cold, acids, alkalis, to name a few, will modify. As an example, egg white when heated, congeals and turns white. Change to pH of a dye or pigment and its color is likely altered.

A color print produced by the CMYK method is fine-looking as long as the dyes or pigments remain in intact. UV (ultraviolet} light is very energetic and thus it is capable of altering the shades of dyes and pigments. The paper that supports the ink or pigment has a chemical makeup as does the various coats atop the paper. Any of which could interact and cause rapid changes to color balance of a print.

While the major player’s research and market tested papers and inks, mistakes happen. Third party suppliers are less likely to have undergone such first-rate testing. You get what you pay for.

What makes a color print turn red? Should the cyan dye fade, the remaining magenta and yellow dye overpowered and the result in a red bias. It is possible but less likely, the paper base becomes tainted and shifts toward a warm hue.