Abstract: Pigments are disclosed comprising zinc sulfide as a host containing in solid solution at least a sufficient amount of a metal sulfide additive or dopant to alter the color of the zinc sulfide. The dopant may comprise one or more certain metal sulfides but normally is present as a unitary sulfide, such as lithium sulfide, or preferably as a multiple sulfide, such as lithium indium sulfide and copper indium sulfide. Optionally, a binary metal compound dopant can include a metal oxide. The pigments may be prepared by encapsulating the host and dopant metal sulfides in vacuum to prevent introduction of oxides and then heating to an equilibrium temperature.