Abstract: An ink set for ink-jet recording, which provides a vivid and sharp ink-jet recorded material with no bleeding, is composed of a plurality of pigment inks and configured such that the average particle diameter of a pigment contained in any ink precedently landing on a recording medium is less than that of a pigment contained in another ink subsequently landing on the recording medium, and such that at least two pigment inks are different in average particle diameter of the pigment contained therein to each other.

Abstract: An ink set for ink-jet recording includes a black ink containing a black pigment having an average particle size of from about 100 nm to about 150 nm, and color inks containing color pigments having an average particle size of from about 60 nm to about 90 nm. The dynamic surface tension of the black ink is from about 40 mN/m to about 45 mN/m, and the dynamic surface tension of each of the yellow ink, the magenta ink and the cyan ink is from about 35 mN/m to about 40 mN/m measured on the condition of 25° C. according to a maximum bubble pressure method at lifetime of 100 ms.

Abstract: An embodiment of the description relates to an ink-jet recording apparatus which includes an ink cartridge in which ink is stored in an ink chamber, and a mechanism that optically detects the amount of ink remaining in the ink chamber. The receding contact angle of the ink with respect to an inner wall surface of the ink chamber is about 200 or more.