A study of the interaction of commercial black ink with a UV-curable polyurethane acrylate (PUA) is presented. Diffusivity and solubility in PUA cured using different UV dosages, and subjected to different post-UV curing conditions, were studied, as was the swelling produced by such sorption. Experiments were also conducted using water, to serve as a benchmark and compare with the effect of ink. The percentage ink absorption was found to decrease with higher degree of cure. In addition, through desorption measurements, ink induced swelling of PUA processed under different conditions was determined. The degree of swelling per unit solvent uptake was observed to increase with the degree of cure. PUA was determined to be more prone to moisture rather than solvent uptake. However, the coefficient of moisture expansion (CME) was found to be similar to 35% lower than the coefficient of ink expansion (CIE) for a fully cured PUA. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.