Coates Inks

By Susan Friedman packagePRINTING devoted a separate survey to the ink usage trends among wide-web, flexible packaging printers. The majority of respondents reported printing flexo (75 percent), and revealed about a half and half split between solvent ink (60 percent) and water-based ink (55 percent) usage. The general ink characteristic that carries the most weight with the wide-web segment, according to 55 percent of respondents, is compatibility with a wide range of substrates. "Everyone would like one ink to work on all substrates," says Len Walle, marketing director at Flint Ink, "but a universal ink is not available that will provide quality performance on