The work aims to prepare a kind of water-borne gold ink which can be used for paper screen printing and has the effect of bronzing for improving printing effect of printing products. Water-borne gold ink for paper screen printing was prepared by different kinds of resins, dispersants and pigments and supplemented by regulator, wetting agent and defoamer. The influence of different formulations on the performance of ink was analyzed by measuring the drying speed, viscosity, particle size and gloss of ink. Different kinds of resins had different effects on the properties of gold ink. The gold ink prepared by water-borne acrylic resin C had low viscosity and better drying speed, viscosity and gloss. Compared with BYK198, BYK190 and BYK193 dispersant were suitable for preparing water-borne gold ink. With the increase of dispersant content, the ink's viscosity, dryness, gloss were improved. Finally, a water-based gold ink for screen printing of paper and the formula of the gold ink have been obtained, which can replace the traditional bronzing process and improve printing effect of printing products.