An image forming apparatus includes a liquid discharge head, an irradiation unit, a carriage, and a moving unit. The liquid discharge head discharges a liquid onto a recording medium. The liquid includes a metallic ink and a color ink. The irradiation unit irradiates the liquid on the recording medium with light. The liquid discharge head and the irradiation unit are mounted on the carriage. The moving unit alternately perform a main scanning movement and a sub-scanning movement. The liquid discharge head discharges the metallic ink in a region of the recording medium in a former main scanning movement and discharges the color ink in the region in which the metallic ink has been discharged, in a latter main scanning movement after the former main scanning movement. The irradiation unit irradiates the region in which the color ink has been discharged with the light.

A white ink jet ink composition including hollow resin particles, resin particles, and water, in which a glass transition temperature of the hollow resin particles is 120° C. or higher, and a glass transition temperature of the resin particles is 5° C. or lower.

A system for applying a coating composition to a substrate utilizing a high transfer efficiency applicator is provided herein. The system includes a storage device for storing instructions for performing a matching protocol, and one or more data processors configured to execute the instructions to, receive, by one or more data processors, target image data of a target coating, the target image data generated by an electronic imaging device, and apply the target image data to a matching protocol to generate application instructions. The system further includes a high transfer efficiency applicator defining a nozzle orifice. The high transfer efficiency applicator is configured to expel the coating composition through the nozzle orifice to the substrate to form a coating layer. The high transfer efficiency applicator is configured expel the coating composition based on the application instructions.

Methods for product authentication, which include: providing an article having a substrate with an analyte encoded composition; obtaining a sample of the composition; applying the sample to a test device to obtain test results, analyzing test results from the test device using an electronic device communicatively connected to an authentication authority, wherein the electronic device transmits the test device code and the test results to the authentication authority and confirms or denies authentication after comparison to an authentication database of authentic test results.

A dye ink composition includes. a phthalocyanine compound represented by the General Formula (I), in which, in the General Formula (I), X.sub.1, X.sub.2, X.sub.3, and X.sub.4 each independently represent —N═N—Cp; Cp represents an organic group; Y.sub.1, Y.sub.2, Y.sub.3, and Y.sub.4 each independently represent a substituent; at least one of X.sub.1, X.sub.2, X.sub.3, X.sub.4, Y.sub.1, Y.sub.2, Y.sub.3, or Y.sub.4 contains an ionic hydrophilic group; a1, a2, a3, a4, b1, b2, b3, and b4 each independently represent an integer of 0 to 4; a1 +b1, a2+b2, a3+b3, and a4+b4 are each independently an integer of 0 to 4; all of a1, a2, a3, and a4 are not 0 at the same time; and M represents a hydrogen atom, a metal element, a metal oxide, a metal hydroxide, or a metal halide.

An ink jet recording method performs recording on a recording medium using a white ink composition, a non-white ink composition, and a treatment liquid containing an aggregating agent, the method including: a treatment liquid adhesion step of adhering the treatment liquid to the recording medium to form a treatment liquid layer; a non-white ink adhesion step of adhering the non-white ink composition to the recording medium by ejection thereof from an ink jet head to form a non-white ink layer; and a white ink adhesion step of adhering the white ink composition to the recording medium by ejection thereof from an ink jet head to form a white ink layer. The recording medium has a region in which the non-white ink layer, the white ink layer, and the treatment liquid layer are overlapped with each other, at least one of the ink compositions contains resin particles and a water-soluble resin, and the water-soluble resin has a glass transition temperature higher than that of a resin of the resin particles.

A recording method is for performing recording by ejecting, onto a recording medium, ink and a reaction solution including a flocculating agent that flocculates a substance contained in the ink, and the recording method includes ejecting the reaction solution as a droplet onto the recording medium, and ejecting the ink as a droplet onto the recording medium. A relationship of Op1≥Op2 is satisfied when an ejection amount of the reaction solution during ejecting the reaction solution in a first recording mode is indicated with Op1, and an ejection amount of the reaction solution during ejecting the reaction solution in a second recording mode is indicated with Op2, the second recording mode having a recording speed lower than the first recording mode.

An ink contains an anionic compound, water, a photoacid generator, and one or more organic solvents containing at least one organic solvent having a solubility parameter of from 9 to 11.8 (J/cm.sup.3).sup.1/2.

An ink jet ink composition contains a dye having an azo group, water, and a hindered amine compound having a radical. The dissolved nitrogen concentration of the ink composition is 10 ppm or less.

Provided is a metallic image forming method by which a metallic image that assumes sufficient metallic feeling can be acquired. The metallic image forming method is a method of forming a metallic image on a recording medium through use of an ink containing metal particles and includes an ink application step of applying an ink onto a recording medium having an underlayer formed thereon such that the ink overlaps at least a part of the underlayer, the underlayer having a black color or an opposite color with respect to diffusion light of the ink.