There are at least three components in electronic inks that give them the ability to rearrange upon command consisting of millions of tiny microcapsules or cavities, an ink or oily substance filling the microcapsules or cavities and the pigmented chips or balls with a negative charge floating inside the microcapsules.

Electronic ink is expected to be a revolutionary technology that could replace paper. It is a proprietary material that is processed into a film for integration into electronic displays. The chips will either rise to the top or be pulled to the bottom when an electrical charge is applied to microcapsules. The capsules look white when pushed to the top while the viewer can only see dark ink when the same capsules are pulled to the bottom. Words and sentences can be created from the patterns of white and dark.