Fact or Fiction: Green Printing According to Mercer Color

Most sheetfed offset inks are based on a solvent system and are made to run with a solventized two-step fountain solution. The solvent in the fountain solution helps to replace and maintain the solvency of the ink, keeping it from drying up. When you have inks that contain 5% or more solvent oils and eliminate the solvency of the fountain solution, the inks will tend to semi polymerize (dry up) and then you will get picking, piling, back trap mottle, slow drying on the substrate, chalking, and meter roller feed back, and just about all the anomalies associated with wet litho.