A property of printing inks that describes the ability of the dry ink film to resist bleeding, discoloring, fading, etc., upon exposure to moisture. An ink's wettability is an important consideration in packaging and other printing applications that involve exposure to weather. Frequently, inks are formulated with vehicles utilizing varnishes, or printed pieces are coated with a layer of varnish to increase the printed ink's water resistance.
The term wettability also refers to the ease with which an ink pigment can be completely wet by the vehicle.