WhatTheyThink is the global printing industry's go-to information source with both print and digital offerings, including WhatTheyThink.com, WhatTheyThink Email Newsletters, and the WhatTheyThink magazine. Our mission is to inform, educate, and inspire the industry. We provide cogent news and analysis about trends, technologies, operations, and events in all the markets that comprise today's printing and sign industries including commercial, in-plant, mailing, finishing, sign, display, textile, industrial, finishing, labels, packaging, marketing technology, software and workflow.
Displaying 1000-1099 of 4703 articles
Published November 5, 2018
Richard Reamer, Senior Director of Large Format Solutions at Canon USA, talks about Canon's wide-format printer portfolio and the new TM (Technical Multipurpose) Series, targeted at architects, engineers, and contractors. The use of a new pigment ink also makes the new series printers suitable for posters and other display graphics.
Published November 5, 2018
Kevin Goeminne, CEO of CHILI Publish, talks about the CHILI Publisher universal graphics engine focused around "smart artwork"—a way of templating and automating the design and production of a variety of packaging and marketing materials.
Published November 2, 2018
In 2016, there were 5,150 total U.S. commercial screen printing establishments. As with most printing categories, the majority have under 10 employees, but screen shops tend to be smaller than other kinds of printing establishments.
Published November 2, 2018
Don’t spoil the ends of books...or else. Heidelberg heads to InPrint Milan with the Omnifire. A new meaning of the phrase “high on the hog.” Pantone and United Way develop a new color to raise awareness of social issues. Could you power your home with hamsters? All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published November 1, 2018
Ben Glazier, Director of Glazier Design, talks to Kelley Holmes about the new Xerox Iridesse press and the advantages of new digital technology, as well as Glazier Design's connection to the Stephen Hawking Foundation.
Published October 31, 2018
Jonathan Bowen, Product Specialist for PrintIQ, talks to Kelley Holmes about the importance of an MIS and what to look for when shopping for one.
Published October 30, 2018
Matt Kochanowski, Product Manager for Epson America, talks about the company's new SureColor printers, designed for the AEC (architecture/engineering/construction) print market.
Published October 30, 2018
Donna Covannon, Director of Marketing for North America, Xeikon, talks about the company's productive year and the new technology to come.
Published October 29, 2018
Brittany Whitestone, a junior at California University of Pennsylvania, is this year's national champion of Skills USA, an organization that creates technical standards for students to showcase what they've learned. To win the national competition, Whitestone had to operate offset and digital printing and finishing equipment, estimate jobs, and pass a job interview. She goes on to compete in the WorldSkills competition in Russia.
Published October 29, 2018
Christine Yardley, President of PrintPanther, talks about the advantages of being a member of PROKOM, Konica Minolta's user community, and how user groups are a great source of information, troubleshooting resources, and networking opportunities.
Published October 26, 2018
Overall printing employment dropped from August to September 2018, and on a year-over-year basis is down -1.5%. Non-production printing employment was up slightly, indicating that production staff are the hardest employees to find. PR employment is again the industry bright spot, employment-wise.
Published October 26, 2018
Get a customized reading list from the Brooklyn Public Library. A new process recycles textile waste into dyestuffs. Poor color management made The Hulk green. Shatner Claus? Thwarting the “retail apocalypse.” 200 years of Frankenstein. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published October 25, 2018
Tony Rouse, President of Carol Stream, Ill.'s Team Concept Printing, talks to Kelley Holmes about the company's purchase of a new MGI JETVarnish 3-D to offer customers more options and "spice up" print.
Published October 24, 2018
Steve Johnson, President and CEO of Copresco, talks about the changing industry and the opportunities available in digital book printing.
Published October 23, 2018
Arthur Verwey, Senior Product Marketing Manager for OKI Data Americas, discusses the company's newest digital envelope presses.
Published October 23, 2018
Andre D'Urbano, Director of Dealer Sales for RISO, talks about RISO's broad digital inkjet portfolio and introduces a new rollfed option.
Published October 22, 2018
Ford Bowers, President and CEO of SGIA, talks about this year's final SGIA Expo—as well as the future of the association and the expo, as both change with the industry.
Published October 22, 2018
Martin Bailey, CTO of Global Graphics, talks with Dave Zwang about the exciting new PDF 2.0 and what it means for the printing industry.
Published October 19, 2018
From 2010 to 2016, the number of U.S. commercial screen printing establishments increased from 4,454 to 5,150. Growth in screen printing establishments has been consistent from year to year. Chalk this up to the rise of specialty printing.
Published October 19, 2018
A new book is nothing but bound slices of cheese. A New Zealand vending machine has a grim message. The Rijksmuseum to livestream a Rembrandt painting restoration. The Museum of London offers a fascinating online archive of package design.
Published October 18, 2018
Chris Manley, President of Graphco, which represents RMGT in the U.S., talks about how the advantages of UV-LED curing are driving customers to "unplug" their digital presses and move more jobs to offset to increase profitability.
Published October 18, 2018
Dave Zwang talks to Alon Bar-Shany, General Manager for HP Indigo, HP Inc., about the growth he has been seeing in both the label and flexible packaging markets, as well as how the industry can learn from past commercial printing experience to avoid pitfalls in the future.
Published October 17, 2018
Vince Tutino, Senior Product Manager for Rochester Software Associates (RSA), discusses three updated products designed to increase productivity and automation for in-plants: WebCRD Web to print software, QDirect output manager, and RSA's Universal prepress suite, ReadyPrint.
Published October 17, 2018
Marc Horriar, CEO and Founder, talks about CloudLab, one of the largest web-to-print vendors in Europe, and whose U.S. branch opened in 2017. CloudLab has more than 200 customers in 25 countries. Some of the largest online print businesses in the world use CloudLab, which focuses on solutions tailored to each business rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Published October 16, 2018
Finishing products manufacturer Colter and Peterson has been in the industry for 100 years and continues to innovate the paper finishing business. President Bruce Peterson, grandson of the company's founder, talks with Kelley Holmes about C&P's new line of Saber cutters.
Published October 15, 2018
Mark Nixon, General Manager for Scodix, introduces the Ultra2 Pro at PRINT 18, able to cast and cure, a process that can create very high-value, digitally embossed applications, from holographics to foil.
Published October 15, 2018
Ford Bowers, President and CEO of SGIA, talks with Cary Sherburne about SGIA's recent acquisition of the Graphics of the Americas show.
Published October 12, 2018
A new book identifies flowers by color. An old movie poster to sell at auction for $1+ million. Closed captioning glasses for live theater. Christmas comestibles: mac and cheese candy canes and Christmas tree-flavored potato chips. Is the Internet of Things trouble waiting to happen? All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published October 12, 2018
Printing shipments for August 2018 came in at $6.89 billion. That’s essentially even with August 2017’s $6.88 billion on an inflation-adjusted basis.
Published October 11, 2018
Paul Steinke, National Sales Manager for Standard Finishing Systems, talks about two new Horizon finishing units on display at PRINT 18: the StitchLiner Mark III and BQ-480 perfect binder, both of which include new automation features.
Published October 9, 2018
Ryan Kiley, Director of Strategic Production Services for Ricoh USA, talks about Ricoh Communications Manager and Ricoh Supervisor, the company's new workflow automation and print shop management tools.
Published October 8, 2018
Join Jennifer Kolloczek, Director of Marketing for Canon Solutions America, on a tour of the #PRINTCANON Applications Gallery at PRINT 18 in Chicago. This fully immersive hotel experience highlights the many applications that customers can add to their own businesses with the help of Canon technology.
Published October 5, 2018
In 2016, there were 18,405 total commercial printing establishments (excluding screen and book printers). Half of them have fewer than 5 employees.
Published October 5, 2018
Print advertising success stories. Sans Forgetica, a font designed for memory retention. Young people are deleting their Facebook app. Social media users expect news to be inaccurate. WiFi 6 is coming; this may not be good news. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published October 5, 2018
Chris Martin, VP of Creative Labels, has been in the label business since 1980, and talks to Dave Zwang at Labelexpo about the steps he's taken over the years to transition into digital technologies.
Published October 4, 2018
Scott Eganhouse, Vice President of Business Development for TEC Mailing Solutions, talks about the importance of cloud-based mailing, and winning a Red Hot Technology Award at PRINT 18 for their mailing software.
Published October 3, 2018
Robert Ross, President of Xante, talks to Kelley Holmes about the company's successful PRINT 18, which featured their new, interactive classroom booth, as well as the excitement of bringing home three new technology awards.
Published October 2, 2018
Eric Hawkinson, VP of Marketing for Canon, talks about @PRINT18, the onsite guide to the Chicago conference, printed on the Canon Océ ProStream Series Production Inkjet Device.
Published October 1, 2018
Thayer Long, President of the Association for PRINT Technologies (APTech), talks with Kelley Holmes about PRINT 18's opening day and APTech's new membership option for print service providers.
Published September 28, 2018
In 2016, there were 421 total book printing establishments. The majority have under 10 employees. This is similar to what we find in general commercial printing—yet different.
Published September 28, 2018
Research has identified down to the Pantone number the least attractive color. Merriam-Webster adds 300 new words to the Official Scrabble Dictionary. A nine-year-old dachshund is helped by 3D printing. The pen is still mightier. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published September 26, 2018
Jim Clark, Director of Operations for McNaughton and Gunn, talks to Dave Zwang about the changing trends that the 42-year-old book printing business has been seeing. While offset is still the mainstay, digital is by far the fastest growing part of the business.
Published September 24, 2018
Lisa Stelter of Sanford Health discusses how the organization handles their in-house printing, their installation of a Canon Océ VarioPrint i300, and how the combination of their printing facilities has saved money and streamlined their workflow.
Published September 21, 2018
Printing shipments for July 2018 came in at $6.31 billion—that’s down -3.4% from June, but it’s up +2.3% from July 2017. We’ll take whatever victories we can.
Published September 21, 2018
New odor-capturing fabric finishes. Cheat on your homework with a variant of Times New Roman. New documentary on a prominent “coffin artist.” Turn any object into a robot. Turn 2D videos into 3D objects. The pen is mightier than the packaging. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published September 20, 2018
Casey Hendrick, President of Production for United Mail, talks about the company's offerings—predominantly in the health and financial industries—and the company's integration of the new Canon Océ VarioPrint i300.
Published September 19, 2018
Amy Machado of IDC Research talks about her recent inkjet forecast for the entire color market. Overall numbers show that the inkjet market is growing, thanks to quality improvements and the availability of more options.
Published September 17, 2018
Todd Roth, VP of Manufacturing and Distribution, Core Publishing Solutions, at Thomson Reuters, discusses the company's background in web press applications, their move into production inkjet, and their new venture selling book manufacturing for other publishers.
Published September 14, 2018
How to hurricane-proof your outdoor digital signage. The oldest human drawing. Do parrots know economics? New color from weevils. An optical illusion-based crosswalk thwarts speeders. New arguments for Pluto’s planethood. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published September 14, 2018
In 2010, there were 536 book printing establishments. In the ensuing six years, the establishment count would drop -21%. So says our Commercial Printing Establishments tracker.
Published September 12, 2018
Kelley Holmes of WhatTheyThink, talks with Thayer Long, President of the Association for PRINT Technologies, about what to expect at PRINT 18 just a few weeks away in Chicago.
Published September 11, 2018
Marco Boer, Vice President of IT Strategies, discusses the future of print manufacturing and how the industry will need to adjust to a growing millennial workforce.
Published September 7, 2018
A special fashion model inspires the design industry. A new font for brands encompasses all brands. A new printer technology can print very viscous liquids. An honest stock report. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published September 7, 2018
Looking at the most recent industry profits data that came out earlier this week, we continue to tell the “tale of two cities.” Low profitability of large printers is dragging down average industry profitability. For the industry as a whole, cracking—or re-cracking—$4 billion in profits is proving to be an elusive goal.
Published September 7, 2018
Frank commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first PRINT show. Held in June 1968 in Chicago, PRINT 68 was the first major industry event of the modern era, comprising 274,000 square feet and 400 exhibitors. It was the first show where hot metal typesetting was not on display (it was the dawning of the age of phototypesetting) and the first to have web offset presses running on the show floor. Attendees lined up around the block to get in.
Published September 6, 2018
WhatTheyThink's Kelley Holmes talks to Eric Hawkinson, VP of Marketing, Canon Solutions America, about the thINK Forum 2018 which started yesterday with an Inkjet 101 boot camp hosted at CSA's Customer Experience Center in Boca Raton, Fla. More than 600 people attended this year's event to share knowledge, network, and be inspired.
Published August 31, 2018
The world’s oldest customer complaint was etched in clay. A modern twist on the old “spend a penny.” Today’s teens are not as wired as we thought. Twice-yearly earnings reports? The case for daily earnings reports. Researchers use 3D-printed boxes to help search for new antibiotics. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published August 31, 2018
In 2010, there were 6,725 10–19-employee commercial printing establishments. Among this demographic category, there was the most precipitous drop from 2010 to 2011—the fallout from the Great Recession which started to take its toll after 2009. By 2012, the bleeding had been largely stanched, and the year-to-year declines were more modest. So says our recently launched Commercial Printing Establishments tracker.
Published August 29, 2018
Julie Shaffer talks about the speakers and activities scheduled for PRINT 18 in Chicago, Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
Published August 24, 2018
Looking at the 12-month moving average of Canada’s printing shipments, it may look like Canada’s printing industry has been holding steady, but the inflation-adjusted figures show a slight decline from a recent peak at the end of 2013.
Published August 24, 2018
3M wraps its own headquarters. UNITED CAPS develops bio-sourced plastics for its caps. How much paper would it take to print the Internet? Are library ebooks killing sales? All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published August 20, 2018
Doris Brown-McNally of HP Graphic Solutions, talks about the top three ways to engage millennials and Gen Zers with brands, from personalizing a brand message to the use of augmented reality.
Published August 17, 2018
The latest NFIB Small Business Optimism Index. Towels made of recycled bottles. Stopping “stalking ads.” Making phones just a little less smart. The world’s oldest cheese. Modern American prints from 1920-1948. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published August 17, 2018
In 2010, there were 2,124 establishments having 50 or more employees. By 2016, they had dropped to 1,851 (down -13%). So says our new Commercial Printing Establishments tracker, based on data from the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns, which presents—in spreadsheet form—U.S. commercial printing establishments from 2010 to 2016, broken down by six different print business classifications and nine employee-size breakdowns.
Published August 15, 2018
Mark Hunt, Director of Strategic Alliances for Standard Finishing Systems, discusses the reasons behind the surge of popularity in roll-fed inkjet, and the importance of finishing. He also discusses what to expect at Hunkeler Innovations Days 2019.
Published August 13, 2018
Kip Cassino, Executive Vice President of Borrell Associates, discusses the cross-generational evolution of print: what's expected to grow and what's expected to decline in the coming years.
Published August 10, 2018
The inflation-adjusted value of printing shipments for June 2018 were down from $6.9 billion in May to $6.5 billion in June. On the plus side, it’s not appreciably below the $6.6 billion reported in June 2017.
Published August 10, 2018
A book consisting entirely of pieces of wood. How to foil a car thief: drive a stick. The gig economy is surging...but only in Amish country. Survey says: workers are cool with robot coworkers. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published August 10, 2018
Frank traces the history of Printing News from its beginning in 1928, and its founder and editor, Leo Joachim. Few magazines have made it to 90 years and Frank is glad that the new relationship between WhatTheyThink and Printing News will see a printed magazine continue. Especially for the printing industry.
Published August 3, 2018
After 12 years of leadership, Jules VanSant is stepping down as PPI Executive Director. Unusual typography. Automakers look to digitally printed auto parts. Don Draper—and even Darrin Stephens—are ad men of the past. The semaphore origin of the peace symbol. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published August 3, 2018
Our new Commercial Printing Establishments tracker, based on data from the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns, presents—in spreadsheet form—U.S. commercial printing establishments from 2010 to 2016, broken down by six different print business classifications and nine employee-size breakdowns.
Published July 27, 2018
Overall, printing employment ticked up from May to June 2018, but on a year-over-year basis is down -1.8% from June 2017. Among the creative markets, PR is the place to be.
Published July 27, 2018
Forbes columnist suggests replacing public libraries with Amazon stores, for some reason. The economic costs of comma misuse. Built-in sun protection for garments. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published July 23, 2018
WhatTheyThink today announced that the Printing News Group is joining the organization to strengthen the industry’s most extensive independent news and analysis platform with both print and digital media covering commercial printing, wide format, labels, packaging, signage, specialty graphics, textiles and other industrial applications of print technology.
Published July 20, 2018
Try on clothes virtually. As bad as flying is, it used to be worse. World’s first biobased, circular car has been successfully designed and built. Men’s boxer shorts turned into a knife. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published July 13, 2018
Printing shipments for May 2018 came in at $6.77 billion, up +3.1% from April. However, on an inflation-adjusted basis, May 2018 came in below the $6.92 billion reported in May 2017, and is well below the recent high of $7.46 billion back in May 2016.
Published July 13, 2018
A new technology can remove pet allergens from textiles (and that’s nothing to sneeze at). The retail transformation heats up. Scientists find the oldest (1.1 billion years) colors. ColorZenith uses Massivit technology to 3D print a classic car for Milan’s La Scala opera house. The Morgan Library & Museum in NYC is exhibiting a unique autograph collection. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published July 11, 2018
Chuck Slingerland, Vice President of Sales and Digital Operations for Abbott-Action, takes us through the digital journey for a traditional corrugated converter.
Published July 6, 2018
A new process reduces the environmental impact of water-repellent textiles. Harvard Business Review looks at new possibilities for 3D printing. New health benefits of coffee. The best streaming service may just be your public library. RIP Harlan Ellison. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published June 29, 2018
A "historical culinary event" featured a 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian recipe carved on a cuneiform tablet. Modern air conditioning was originally invented for a Brooklyn commercial print shop. Amazon beats out Google for product searches. The World Cup gives a lift to streaming services. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published June 28, 2018
John Hume, President of Hume Media Inc., talks about the history of his company and the upgrades he's made to his printing equipment over the years, first with the Xerox iGen and now Brenva HD production inkjet press.
Published June 22, 2018
Australian researchers have found a way to minimize unsightly pilling and help garments look better longer. HyperCard, the first application for creating interactive documents, was inspired by an acid trip. Fad Fashion? Micro Moments? Learn the new textile lexicon. Rats break into an ATM and eat $17K in cash. A random slide from Mary Meeker’s “Internet Trends Report.” Amazon’s Alexa will soon be sharing your hotel room. A keyboard that can fit in your pocket. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published June 15, 2018
A library in Portugal uses a colony of bats to help preserve old books and documents. The UK is confounded by the name change from “Salad Cream” to “Sandwich Cream.” The new heroes of our age: Country Time Lemonade and Domino’s Pizza? A random slide from Mary Meeker’s “Internet Trends Report.” Uncovering lost “data” from ancient manuscripts. What happened this week in printing and publishing history. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published June 14, 2018
Mark Sunderland, Textile Engineer and Strategist at Thomas Jefferson University, discusses high-performance apparel and products, including new and emerging trends in moisture management and "wearables."
Published June 13, 2018
At this year's IPMA Conference, Howie Fenton addresses one of the perennial challenges that in-plant printing departments face: their parent company outsourcing print and other related work. He offers some suggestions for bringing that work back in-house.
Published June 12, 2018
Mike Loyd, Executive Director of the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA), talks about the major trends affecting in-plant printing departments, the challenges faced by in-plant operations managers, and the value of the annual IPMA Conference.
Published June 8, 2018
Government Attic discovered a load of NSA workplace posters from the 50s, 60s, and 70s—you can even get them on a T shirt. A 3D printer outputs custom-designed pancakes. Don’t call it “dope”: hemp used for intelligent textiles. A random slide from Mary Meeker’s “Internet Trends Report.” What happened this week in printing and publishing history. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published June 8, 2018
Giorgio Sala of EFI Reggiani talks about the company's new pigment-based ink for the FLEXY textile printer. The new ink contains a binder that eliminates the need for post-treatment, such as washing or steaming of the fabric, after printing.
Published June 8, 2018
There are about 8,000 spoken languages left on this planet and they are disappearing at one language every two weeks. Some have fewer than 1,000 speakers left. Frank opines in what we think is English.
Published June 7, 2018
Bert Benckhuysen, Senior Product Manager, EMEA, for Mimaki, introduces the new Tiger textile printing system, capable of both direct-to-fabric and transfer-based dye sublimation. Mimaki has also incorporated Tiger into its own microfactory concept for fast fashion and other textile-based applications.
Published June 7, 2018
Scott Schinlever, President of Automation Services for Gerber Technology, discusses the similarities and differences between digital and analog, as well as his move from EFI to Gerber.
Published June 6, 2018
Fabio Gromo, Global Sales Manager of Textile Printing for durst, describes the durst line of textile printers and capabilities as well as the company's strategies with respect to the digital textile printing industry.
Published June 6, 2018
Marcus Timson, Co-Founder of the InPrint Industrial Inkjet Conference, discusses the reasons for the growing popularity of industrial printing, including the plateauing of traditional print markets, the maturity of digital inkjet and its advantages in industrial applications, and changing consumer behaviors.
Published June 4, 2018
Annette Plummer, Director of Marketing for SAi, a developer of software for the signmaking industry, discusses the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in signmaking.
Published June 4, 2018
Nir Waiskopf, Ph.D., of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, attended the RadTech UV+EB 2018 Conference as part of RadLaunch, an "idea accelerator" for start-ups, students, and innovators. Dr. Waiskopf chose the RadTech conference for its educational and networking opportunities, seeking potential collaborators and partners for some of the projects he is helping develop.
Published June 1, 2018
California experiments with E Ink-based license plates. Mary Meeker’s hotly anticipated annual Internet trends presentation has arrived. The first “cyberattack” took place nearly 200 years ago. A beautiful and brilliant collection of crowdsourced letter and number designs. ANA Acquires DMA. What happened this week in printing and publishing history. All that and more in WhatTheyThink's weekly miscellany.
Published June 1, 2018
At FESPA Berlin, Gillian Montanaro, Head of Marketing for EMEA Roland, talks about the launch of the Roland Hero Campaign, in which Roland collects and presents their customers' inspiring stories. (For more information, visit www.rolandhero.com.)
Published June 1, 2018
A visitor to the Museum of Printing donated an old, handheld rotary letterpress device for marking boxes and cartons. Frank dates it back to the early 20th century, and contrasts it with a modern, handheld digital inkjet box-marking printer.
Published May 31, 2018
At FESPA 2018, EFI sold its 100th roll-to-roll device to Belgium's Dacar Digital Printing. Dacar's Dennis van der Lingen talks about his wide-format printing company that serves the Benelux region, talks about the kind of print work the company does, and the opportunities that are enabled by EFI products.
Published May 31, 2018
Frederic Gaillard, VP of Product Marketing for Lectra, talks to Cary Sherburne about Cutting 4.0, Lectra's new smart cutter for textile cutting that interfaces with Lectra Digital Cutting, a new cloud-based cutting platform. The machine receives orders and executes them, and sends back data so the entire process can be controlled in real time. The platform is designed to address the new challenges the company sees in the market, such as small runs and customization. The new platform also includes a fabric library.
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