"The exciting thing is that the new ink is compatible with existing hardware," said Duncan Jefferies, marketing manager for UK Mimaki distributor Hybrid Services. "It’s another tool for our customers to add to their creative arsenals without having to make additional investments in new hardware."

Jefferies added that Mimaki dealers had warmly welcomed the availability of the retro-fittable metallic ink.

The ink is compatible with the firm's JV33 and CJV machines, spanning a range of widths from 60cm all the way up to 2.6m-wide.

Although full details have yet to be released he added that the metallic ink could replace one of the two white channels in machines running CMYK, light cyan, light magenta and two whites across eight channels.

Unlike the rival metallic machine from Roland DG, Jefferies said there was no sign that the Mimaki metallics needed a pump to keep the particles in suspension.

"The fact the ink runs on existing machines suggests it won’t need a pump," he said. "With the white inks, which themselves have large particles, we recommend you agitate the cartridge once per day, and that’s been successful for many years."