Earlier this month, WhatTheyThink released the second in our “Primer” series of reports—Inkjet Printing Primer: A WhatTheyThink Overview of Inkjet Printing in the Commercial Printing Industry, of which I am proud to have been the author. The purpose of our Primer reports is to get interested parties up to speed on a particular topic quickly, clearly, and in as jargon-free a manner as possible. The first title in this series is Printing Goes Green: WhatTheyThink Primer on Environmental Sustainability in the Commercial Printing Industry.

Inkjet printing as a technology dates from the 19th century—and in some ways is the oldest new technology in printing today. We have heard hype and hoopla about new systems and applications pre- and post-DRUPA, and our Inkjet Printing Primer aims to distill all the issues revolving around inkjet printing today into a 56-page “executive summary” that provides detailed overviews of:

• the various inkjet technologies—piezo vs. thermal vs. continuous,


• the manufacturers who are currently active in inkjet printing, as well as systems currently on the market,


• the applications for which inkjet systems are being developed and utilized, and


• over-the-horizon technologies and systems currently in development, such as MEMS-based inkjet printing systems.

We also provide some conclusions and recommendations for graphic communications professionals in the industry. Should shops buy now? Wait and see? Or what? The idea is to provide a list of talking points that can be taken to Graph Expo and beyond, and give people a good jumping off point for asking further questions and making informed decisions. The report can be opurcahsed from WhatTheyThink’s online store here.  

WhatTheyThink will be releasing more reports in our Primer series. If you have any particular topic(s) you’d like to see covered, you are welcome to leave a comment or contact myself directly.