Basic Flowchart

For gravure label printing, solvent-based inks were the top choice, garnering 66 percent usage. Not surprisingly, UV inks were the overwhelming choice for letterpress and screen label printers—with 100 percent opting for UV in each of these processes.

Label users stick with water-based

Water-based inks really showed their buoyancy when label printers' ink preferences were broken out by end use. Printers were asked to check off every type of ink used in the printing of labels for food and beverage, medical/pharmaceutical, health/beauty, industrial/automotive, wine/spirits, electronics, and general retail applications. In every single end-use category, water-based ink captured the top spot, with usage levels in the range of 80 percent, 90 percent, and even 100 percent, in the case of wine/spirits and general retail.