The printing industry has continued to change ever since it made the major shift to digital about a decade ago. With digital trends continuing to shape the printing industry, these rates of change have sped up as fast as the technology that pushes the industry’s boundaries. Printing speeds have gone up as the market has diversified to serve more specific niches while advancements such as the electro photographic engine and high-speed inkjet have made the industry a changed landscape from even a few short years ago.
Get the Latest Trends in Digital Printing
Keeping up with the latest trends in digital printing can be a bit daunting since everything changes at the speed of light. To keep you in the loop, we’ve put together this guide to the latest digital printing trends.
1. Sheet-fed Digital Printing. With vendors such as Fujifilm, HP, Screen, Delphax, Konica and Minolta talking so much about sheet-fed digital printing, it’s no wonder that we’ve already seen a number of new systems already hitting the shelves. Commercial printing companies are really going to benefit the most here, with the ability to print up B2 sheets poised to change the way companies do their printing business. From direct mailing and other print marketing to printing up books and booklets, the costs for digital printing are going down while the variety of format sizes is expanding.
2. Three Dimensional Printing. 3D printing isn’t only a trend, it’s also super-exciting in terms of the future of digital printing. Jetting technologies are the biggest topic of discussion this year, mainly focusing on the materials used for jetting rather than the inks themselves. While some analysts in the field are expecting 3D printing to reach a peak—if it hasn’t already—others are looking at the impact of 3D print technologies as a fresh new start. If the latter school of thought is true, the 3D printing trend is just taking hold. Look for this trend in digital printing to continue to skyrocket until every last resource is tapped out of it and there is no place to turn except for another avenue.
3. Jetted Materials and Substrates. With the printing industry seeing a large uptick in non-paper and plastic materials (not that there is any down spike in those two categories), it’s no wonder inkjet for foil, ceramic, textile, wood, metal and glass are trending. Non-document digital printing is expected to continue to spike sharply with many production announcements centered around packaging, corrugated boxes, ceramics, labels and cartons. On top of that, 3D printing is taking hold in the packaging industry, making design and printing a big part of getting the speed of the digital world out there into reality.
4. Inkjet. Inkjet is big right now and it’s not only going to remain so, it’s going to grow until it is absolutely monstrous. Inkjet systems have taken such a hold on the digital printing industry because they are not only high-speed, but ultra-reliable as well. On top of that, their options for use are scalable, meaning that you can expect inkjet to start to take over many other areas of technology as well. This has already started as inkjet has taken over label and color document printing and wide format graphics (both indoor and outdoor). Expect this trend to continue to push into the territories of publications such as newspapers and catalogs as well as commercial printing in general. The only thing to hold inkjet back from taking over the world is the high costs of substrate. If someone makes a breakthrough in getting those costs down to make inkjet more cost-effective in other settings, it should signal the funeral pyre for other forms of digital printing.
5. Customization. The digital printing industry is following in some of the same footsteps package printing already laid down in that some of the high costs of a high volume production are being outweighed by the selling potential of personalization in printing. This means you can expect a rise in on-demand book production, materials for marketing and merchandise for photography. Instead of mass production, the industry should see a shift towards mass customization.
Keeping Up with the Latest Trends in Digital Print
As you can see, there is a ton of opportunity in wide format and industrial applications. Inkjet is going to continue to make waves in the industry and the market is going to continue to get more personalized in general. With these changing tides, it’s important that you stay up on the latest digital printing trends as they occur.
About the author
This article is written by Eddie Tabrizian on behalf of Prism Photo Imaging, a trusted local photo lab and digital printing store in Los Angeles for over 10 years specializing in digital printing, photo printing, copy services etc. If you’re on the lookout for a local photo and digital printing lab in Los Angeles area, Prism Photo Imaging would indeed be the perfect choice.
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