Basic Flowchart

The simultaneous challenge, Wishart says, is achieving resistance to the real-world elements a package typically encounters. On wet or frozen packaging, for example, the ink can fail or separate from the substrate. "With water-based formulations, cure times are longer than those required for solvents, and maximum resistance is usually realized nearly 24 hours after printing," he elaborates. "But the more resistant a water-based ink is made, the harder the job is to clean, if left to dry on-press."