The invention relates to a method for preparing aqueous ink special for cartons, which comprises the following steps: adding 100 portions by weight of water into a stirring kettle and then heating the water, adding 2 portions by weight of
methanol into the water when the temperature of the water rises to 65 DEG C, then slowly adding 50 portions by weight of
rosin resin into the mixture under stirring, stirring the mixture again when the temperature of the water rises to 75 to 80 DEG C, adding 6 portions by weight of
ethanolamine into the mixture to be stirred, adding a mixture of 1 portion by weight of the
methanol and 6 portions by weight of
ammonia water into the mixture when the temperature is reduced to be below 70 DEG C, and continuously stirring the mixture to achieve the pH value of 8.5 to 9 and obtain
rosin oil; mixing 100 portions of the
rosin oil, 35 portions of
pigment, 10 to 15 portions of emulsifying oil, 1 portion of antifoaming agent and 100 to 300 portions of water by weight portion, and then
grinding the mixture into color paste; and adding 40 to 50 portions of the rosin oil, 3 portions of the emulsifying oil, 0.2 portion of the antifoaming agent, 0.5 portion of the
ethanolamine, 3 portions of
antimicrobial Nipagin esters and 10 to 100 portions of the water by weight portion into 100 portions by weight of the color paste, and mixing and stirring the mixture at normal temperature to obtain the aqueous ink. The preparation method has simple process; and the prepared aqueous ink has the advantages of
bacteria and
mildew resistance, good water resisting property, decoloring resistance and low cost, and can be widely applied to external packing cartons of food and the like.