TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The inorganic thin film is deposited on the substrate by atomic layer deposition. The first step involves depositing a uniform layer of the composition comprising the deposition inhibitor material; or depositing a pattern of the composition comprising the deposition inhibitor material. The composition comprising the deposition inhibitor material is deposited by inkjet printing, gravure, flexography, donor transfer, micro-contact printing, or offset lithography. The inorganic thin film is deposited using spatially dependant ALD by providing a series of gas channels, each in contact with a discrete separate region of a substrate, and each gas channel having a gas composition, the gas composition comprising, in order, at least a first reactive gaseous material, an inert purge gas, and a second reactive gaseous material, and optionally repeating this sequence several times, moving the substrate relative to the gas channels so that a portion of the substrate comes into contact sequentially with at least two gas zones, where the first reactive gaseous material is capable of reacting with a substrate surface that has been treated with the second reactive gaseous material to form the inorganic thin film. A given area of the substrate is exposed to a gas flow in an elongated opening for less than 100 milliseconds. The relative movement of the substrate to a deposition device is at a speed of at least 0.1 cm/sec. Preferred Components: The inorganic thin film is either a metal or a metal containing compound. The metal-containing compound contains a group V or group VI anion, or it is an oxide, nitride, sulfide and/or phosphide. The inorganic thin film contains zinc oxide; or zinc, aluminum, hafnium, zirconium and/or indium; copper, tungsten, aluminum, nickel, ruthenium or rhodium. The second reactive gaseous material is a non-metallic compound. The substrate or a support for the substrate comprises a moving web.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Components: The hydrophilic polymer has a degree of hydrolysis of less than 90 (preferably 50-85)%; and satisfies both of the following tests: a) it is soluble to at least 1 wt.% in a solution containing at least 50 wt.% water as measured at 40 degrees C, and b) it provides an inhibition power of at least 200 Angstrom to deposition of zinc oxide by an ALD process.