THE CURRENT STATE OF ART of several aspects of water-based coatings and printing processes is presented in this volume. It documents the proceedings of the International Symposium on Surface Pneumonia and Fine Particles in Water-Based Coatings and Printing Technology sponsored by the Fine Particle Society (FPS). This meeting was held in Boston, Massachusetts, August 21-25, 1989. The symposium upon which this volume is based was organized in six sessions emphasizing various basic and applied areas of research on water-based technology. Major topics discussed involve surface phenomena in coatings, printing defects and their remedies, surface tension effects in water-based coatings and printing inks, surface energies of polymer substrates, wettability, aqueous polymeric film coating of pharmaceuticals, flexographic and gravure printing processes, characterization of coating materials, pigment dispersion, wax emulsions for surface modifications, and the role of polymer in particle/surface deposition. This edition includes the twenty four selected papers presented in the symposium. These papers are divided in three broad categories: (1) Water-Based Inks and Coatings, (2) Emulsions and Adhesion in Coatings, and (3) Characterization of Coating and Printing Materials. Several types of coating and printing on different substrates using water-based formulations with special reference to surface phenomena and particle technology are described in these sections. This proceedings volume includes discussions of various processes occurring at molecular, microscopic, and macroscopic levels in water-based coatings and printing processes.