Abstract: A transparent, coated, heat-shrinkable film having controlled shrinkability which includes a biaxially oriented substrate having a polypropylene blend core layer and a water based coating. The shrink during the application on packaging machines is achieved through the balanced MD-TD (machine direction and transverse direction) film retraction in and near the sealed areas. The substrate can also include outer layers of a propylene-ethylene-butylene terpolymer disposed on either side of the polypropylene core layer or on either side of additional intermediate layers that may be disposed between the outer layers and the core layer. The invention also includes a process for making this coated heat-shrinkable film. The coated film is formed under controlled temperature and tension conditions to produce a packaging film having shrinkage within a controlled shrinkability range.