Disclosed is a patterning method by ink lithography. More particularly, the patterning method includes coating thin film-forming nanoparticles surrounded by the first ligand on a substrate to form a nanoparticle thin film; directly spraying a ligand-substituting ink to a selected region on the nanoparticle thin film to form a region in which the first ligand is substituted with the second ligand; and washing the nanoparticle thin film with a washing solvent so that the region substituted with the second ligand is patterned.