Yesterday, the much-anticipated PRINTING United Digital Experience kicked off with a day’s worth of sessions and product demos surrounding the world of Graphics and Wide Format: Hardware & Consumables.

The day comprised four editorial sessions and seven product demos, opening the morning with two sessions that looked at the past, present, and potential future of wide-format printing and display graphics. The basic theme of both sessions was that the COVID-19 crisis accelerated a number of trends that had been impacting the industry before the pandemic hit, and while wide-format print providers were hit dramatically in the early days of the pandemic, they had begun to climb out of the hole by summer, largely by pivoting to new applications and opportunities engendered by the pandemic. And while the future is plagued with uncertainty, many in the industry remain hopeful.

Lisa Cross, principal analyst for NAPCO Research, got the day going with a general overview of the major trends impacting the industry, pre- and post-COVID, which included the ability to print on a wide variety of materials (“Every surface is a canvas,” said Cross), marketers using an increasing number of media to convey messages, increasing use of embellishments and other effects to enhance printed graphics, the growing “Amazon effect” of home delivery/curbside pickup, and of course the new applications that were spawned in the wake of the virus—social distancing and safety signage, and, said Cross with amusement, printed cutouts of people to fill the stands at sporting events.