Model studies on a dried ink particle suspension without fibres show that the kinetics of the ink agglomeration are totally dependant on the soap particle precipitation and formation. The calcium soap has to precipitate before the ink and soap particles can agglomerate. Calcium ions have two important effects on ink agglomeration: the precipitation of soap and the reduction of the surface potential on the ink particle surface. The importance of free fatty acid anions adsorbed onto the ink particle surface is negligible, since the fatty acid is almost completely precipitated as calcium soap.