NEW YORK, NY -- June 19, 2002 -- TrendWatch Graphic Arts today released a special report on the growing impact of wide-format printing in the graphic communications industry. For many, wide-format technology is becoming a new source of income and a means of offering new services to existing clients. This is especially true among Commercial Photographers. According to the report, 11% of photographers plan to purchase wide-format printers in the next 12 months, though twice that many (22%) see printing wide format output as a sales opportunity. The report was released today and is available online. For more information, please visit the TWGA website (www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com). What is Wide-Format Printing... Digital wide-format printing was first introduced to the industry as an alternative to analog proofing methods in the late 80's. As the name suggests, wide-format refers to output that exceeds 2-up page sizes. With technology and output quality improved, the industry throughout the years have begun to accept wide-format as an alternative to conventional printing methods for very small print runs. Today, service providers use wide-format technology for several different applications including fine-art prints, large murals for outdoor and billboard ads, retail signage, point-of-purchase signs, posters, and internal proofing. Researcher's Quote... "The growth of wide-format printing in the creative markets is either a good or bad notion depending upon your viewpoint," noted Vince Naselli, Director, TrendWatch Graphic Arts. "If you're an equipment manufacturer, you couldn't be happier at this prospect. If you're a creative professional, every new sales opportunity is a blessing. But, if you're a print provider, you may not be thrilled about your clients and suppliers buying their own equipment. Look for finishing services to make up for some of this lost work. Finishing is one arena most would rather leave to the printers, so they may not be losing as much business as they thought." According to the report... -- SOURCES: The majority (57%) of commercial printers buy their large-format equipment direct from the manufacturer, while the majority (64%) of prepress firms buy it from a graphic arts dealer; -- USES: 22% of commercial printers use large-format output for proofing jobs, as opposed to 78% that sell it as large-format output; -- SALES OPPORTUNITY: 18% of design and production firms see designing large-format graphics as a sales opportunity, but only 10% view the actual printing of large-format output as a sales opportunity; -- NOT PUBLISHERS -- Planned investment in large-format output devices is down to 4% among publishers; -- RETAIL SIGNAGE BIG: More than half of all large-format output sold is for retail signage. Availability... The 98-page Special Report, titled, "Large Format Graphics: Super-Sizing the Market" is available for purchase by visiting the secure TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore online (www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com) or by phone (866-873-6310). The price for the report is $1295. TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.