What do we mean when we say “wide format”? To what extent does the phrase have any substantial meaning any longer? Lately, in articles, presentations, books, and elsewhere, I have been increasingly qualifying the term by extending the phrase to “wide-format and specialty graphics.” At the same time, I also find it necessary to specifically define what wide-format application(s) I am talking about. A lot of the growing semantic confusion surrounding wide format is simply due to the evolution of printer technology—and indeed the advent of newer technologies that expand the range of what can be printed, and be printed on. Wide-format printing is no longer simply a 24- or 48-inch print unfurling from a printer. It is now a wide variety of products and surfaces. A printed garage door is very different from a point-of-purchase graphic, even though they can both be considered “wide format,” and maybe even printed on the same device.

Then there is the problem (although it’s really the opposite of a problem in practical terms) that the same device that can print a garage door and a POP graphic can also print smaller items. Not just smaller-size prints, but smaller objects as well, from golf balls to footballs. We sometimes lump these applications in the general wide format bucket, but is that accurate?

It’s not just a semantic discussion, or even a wholly technological one. These different “wide-format” applications are each a part of different ecosystems that may use the same basic print technology, but have different distribution schemes, supply chains, and customer bases. In today’s video with Rachel Nunziata of 4Walls, she talks in part about the distribution mechanism for digital wall coverings, which is quite different from the way we are used to selling commercial print, or even commercial wide-format print. As a result, businesses looking to tap into these new print applications will likely need to understand and navigate more than just new print technologies and substrates, but rather entire industries.