Printing Industry Commentary & Analysis

Copresco Sees Opportunities in Digital Book Printing

Published October 24, 2018

Steve Johnson, President and CEO of Copresco, talks about the changing industry and the opportunities available in digital book printing.

Tortured Paper Tortures Finishing - Video

Published October 23, 2018

Mark Hunt of Standard Finishing talks about the many ways that inkjet printing poses challenges for finishing vendors and how those challenges can be overcome. Over drying, not dry enough, curl and static are just a few of the fun facts of high-speed inkjet printing.

OKI Pushes the Envelope

Published October 23, 2018

Arthur Verwey, Senior Product Marketing Manager for OKI Data Americas, discusses the company's newest digital envelope presses.

RISO's New Rollfed Inkjet Technology

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.

The Present and Future of SGIA

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.

Global Graphics On the New PDF 2.0

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.

Screen Printers 2010–2016

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.

Around the Web: A Cheesy Book. “Hello, Death.” Watching The Night Watch. Packaging Design Archive Online.

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.

UV-LED Curing Helps Bring Jobs Back to Offset

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.

HP’s Alon Bar-Shany on Trends in Labels and Flexible Packaging

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.

New RSA Releases Help Boost In-Plant Automation and Productivity

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.

CloudLab's Tailor-Made Web-to-Print Solutions

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.

New Near Infrared Dryer for SCREEN Truepress Jet 520HD Inkjet Web Press

Published October 16, 2018

SCREEN’s flagship, high-speed production, inkjet web press has made yet another leap toward becoming the preferred technology for printers looking to either augment or replace aging offset equipment. Yields higher print speeds on coated litho stocks, expands lightweight paper capabilities, fine-tunes drying performance across all substrates.

Highnote's Inkjet Journey - Video

Published October 16, 2018

Jennifer Eberle of Highnote discusses their recent conversion from toner to sheet-fed inkjet. Highnote produces a wide range of products including direct mail, brand collateral and signage. She has a great story to tell about how quickly the system was up and running, their ability to immediately convert volume to the device - they had added a second shift within the first few months - and the potential they see for moving into new markets. Spoiler alert, Jennifer is a big fan of Canon and the VarioStream 1300.

Colter and Peterson Announces New Saber Cutting Line

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.

Total Cost of Paper - TCP

Published October 15, 2018

Inkjet Tip of the Week: Understand Total Cost of Paper to compare TCO TCP=Cost per carton weight (delivered) + cost of priming or spot treatment + excess ink usage+ excess drying energy. Papers not formulated for inkjet often use more ink and require additional drying energy. Measure TCP to fully understand TCO - every machine/ink/paper combination is different.

Producing High-Value Print Applications with Scodix's Ultra2 Pro

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.

SGIA Acquires Graphics of the Americas

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.

Around the Web: Know Your Flower Colors. The Mummy Sells! Self-Destructing Art. Unraveling the CVS Receipt. Mac & Cheese Candy Canes.

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.

Dead Heat: August 2018 Printing Shipments

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.

New Horizons for Standard Finishing Systems

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.

How Xerox Grows Inkjet Pages - Video

Published October 10, 2018

Steve Welkley discusses the approach that Xerox has taken to help customers utilize and optimize the capacity of their production inkjet devices and grow inkjet pages.

Inkjet Software and Services - Ed Jansen - Video

Published October 9, 2018

Ed Jansen discusses customer requirements, professional services, software and support needs of inkjet installations. The goal? "Repeatable results, fewest possible human touches and operational efficiency." Sponsored content.

Ricoh Unveils New Workflow and Data Analytics Solutions

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.

Stop the (Ink) Bleeding

Published October 8, 2018

Stop the (Ink) Bleeding. Check primed or inkjet coated print for color-to-color bleed/coalescence. Run test images w/ varying solid, single process & combined colors which touch or overlap. Create color areas > 4”x4” to see how ink volume of one image will spread or react to the primed/coated stock when touching another. If only printing pretty bitmap images, bleed effects can be hidden leaving print clarity surprises with solids and touching colors with hard edges.

Tour the Canon Applications Gallery at PRINT 18

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.

Commercial Printers—2016

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.

Around the Web: Apparel Manufacturing of the Future. Death by Selfie. Memory-Enhancing Font. Ditching Facebook. Fake News. Next-Gen WiFi.

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.

Creative Labels Transitions to Digital

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.

Monitor Cross-Process Variance

Published October 4, 2018

Monitor Cross-Process Variance. Run a weekly test print showing solid color bars across the web. Include 100, 75 and 30% individual process color bars of at least 3” depth across the entire web width. Testing will show how well your paper path is controlled and identify any jet or head variation causing solid area defects.

Seamless Cloud-Based Mailing Solutions

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.

Xante Makes an Impact at PRINT 18

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.

Inkjet and Offset Magazine at PRINT '18

Published October 2, 2018

In this video Elizabeth Gooding shows the event magazine developed by WhatTheyThink and Printing News and the trend toward inkjet compatibility with offset grades.

Eric Hawkinson on @PRINT18 Magazine

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.

A Tight Paper Market Demands a Disciplined Sourcing Strategy

Published October 1, 2018

Karen Weil, Director of Procurement for IWCO Direct, shares her impressions of Inkjet Insight’s market research on paper supply and her approach to securing paper for her client’s projects.

Kicking Off PRINT 18

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.

Book Printers—2016

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.

Around the Web: Manipulating Buybacks. The Ugliest Color. New Words for Scrabble Fans. Lithophones. How Not to Catch a Plane. 3D Printed Dog Skulls.

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.

Finish Inkjet Better

Published September 26, 2018

Many finishing lines are “old fashioned” relative to inkjet devices. Get creative and optimize your physical workflow for speed, flexibility and dependability.

The Changing Book Printing Market

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.

Sanford Health Uses Production Inkjet to Streamline Workflow

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.

Albert Munsell his Color Space Accomplishments

Published September 22, 2018

John Seymour shares a humorous post on the accomplishments of Albert Munsell and his contributions to the field of color management. Provides an overview of the leading sources of color management theory and an approachable way to understand three-dimensional color space.

Guy Broadhurst on Paper Handling Considerations

Published September 21, 2018

Guy Broadhurst, Vice President Technology and Client Solutions with Canon Solutions Americas provides an OEM and device-independent discussion of trade-offs roll-fed and sheet-fed inkjet options.

RISO to Launch RISO T2 for Color Output at 320 Cut Sheet PPM at PRINT18

Published September 21, 2018

RISO, Inc. will be launching the T2 twin-engine cut sheet production inkjet platform at Chicago’s PRINT18. This printer is designed for the transactional, direct mail and the short run book publishing markets and can produce up to 320 color impressions per minute.

The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2023 – Highlights

Published September 21, 2018

Highlights from the latest Smithers Pira report: The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2023 project that the value of the global inkjet market will rise at 9.4% over the next five years. As the global print market transforms, shifts in buyer demands—short runs, versioned and personalized products—and higher quality are aligning with the capabilities of inkjet. This is making it a key focus for technology developers. This analysis shows that inkjet will grow by deepening its penetration into existing markets and exploiting new emergent market opportunities through 2023.

July 2018 Printing Shipments: We Have Some Good News and Some Bad News

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.

Around the Web: Odor Eating Fabric. Times Newer Roman. Rest in Personalization. Robot Rumpus. Modeling Movement. In Praise of Luddites. Pen Packaging Put-On.

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.

Konica Minolta and Memjet Form Strategic Partnership

Published September 20, 2018

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) today announced a strategic partnership with Memjet. Combining Memjet’s printing technology with the hardware expertise of Konica Minolta has resulted in the creation of digital inkjet print and labeling solutions that deliver the speed, quality and affordable cost of ownership that print and label providers need to succeed in today’s changing markets.

United Mail Invests in a Canon i300

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.

Inkjet Growth Continues to Make an Impact on the Market

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.

Measuring the Capacity of Your Inkjet Workflow – Part 2

Published September 18, 2018

Managing your workflow resources, understanding potential bottlenecks and the corresponding job attributes that will trigger them is essential to meeting SLA performance expectations in an inkjet environment. Tim Cooper of NCP Solutions, an OSG Company, provides expert insight on identifying constraints and measuring for success.

Core Publishing Solutions Switch to Production Inkjet for Book Publishing

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.

Around the Web: Ancient Art. Avian Economists. Insect Imaging. Deterring Drivers. Planetary Palaver.

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.

Book Printers—2010–2016

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.

Are User Groups More Important Than Trade Shows? - Video

Published September 13, 2018

Marco Boer of I.T. Strategies provides and overview of the 2018 thINK conference and his thoughts on the importance of user communities for production inkjet users.

PRINT 18 Is Just Weeks Away

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.

Mike Dietz on Communicating with Designers

Published September 11, 2018

Mike Dietz, Executive Creative Director with IWCO Direct discusses best practices in designing for digital and approaches to customer education on the wonders of production inkjet.

Embracing the Changing Workforce

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.

We’re Back! Designer’s Guide 2.0 - Video

Published September 10, 2018

The 2nd Edition of The Designer’s Guide to Inkjet was released at thINKforum 2018 and the authors were there to talk about why educating designers is more important than ever and what is new in the updated guide.

Manage Profiles to Manage Ink

Published September 8, 2018

Create multiple profiles for the same paper to manage ink use for your client's range of acceptable color levels. Make the profile name part of your job definition.

Around the Web: 3D Printing and Disruption – New Piezo Printing Process – The New Corporate Font – High-Viscosity Printing – Truth in Stock Market Reporting – This Week in Printing History

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.

Words of the Profits

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.

Frank Celebrates 50 Years of PRINT

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.

Designer's Guide to Inkjet, 2nd Edition Released at thINK 2018

Published September 6, 2018

thINK, an independent community of Canon Solutions America production print customers, today announced that thINK and Canon Solutions America have teamed up with Elizabeth Gooding and Mary Schilling of Inkjet Insight to produce a second edition of the Designers Guide to Inkjet, which was originally published in 2014 by Canon Solutions America.

thINK Forum 2018 Kicks Off

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.

Understanding Your Workflow Capacity - Part 1

Published September 5, 2018

Tim Cooper, Chief Enterprise Architect from Harland Clarke Holdings Company shares insights in a two-part series on defining, measuring and modelling workflow capacity for production inkjet printing. This article is focused on understanding the components of workflow and how it may impact capacity.

Paper Options Drive Press Choices - Video

Published September 4, 2018

Crit Driessen, Vice President Strategy and Alliances with Océ talks about the fundamental questions to ask when selecting a press.

Around the Web: Shopping for Preferences – Ancient Gripes – The Kids Are Offline – Chinese Typewriters – Earnings Reports: A Modest Proposal – The E-Horse – This Week in Printing History

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.

Mid-Size Establishments—2010–2016

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.

Canadian Newsprint Exports Not Subject to U.S. Tariffs

Published August 29, 2018

Today's unanimous ruling of no injury by the USITC follows the U.S. Department of Commerce's determination on August 2, 2018, that imposed a combined countervailing and antidumping duty of 20.26 per cent on Catalyst. Due to the negative injury determination, these duties no longer apply after the USITC publishes its final determination at the end of September, and the cash deposits collected to date will be refunded to the company. While the lone petitioner, NORPAC, can appeal today's ruling, the company is optimistic they will accept the judgement of the USITC.

A Wealth of Activities and Programs at Upcoming PRINT 18

Published August 29, 2018

Julie Shaffer talks about the speakers and activities scheduled for PRINT 18 in Chicago, Sept. 30-Oct. 2.

Komori Corporation Announces Plans to Field Test Ground-Breaking Impremia NS40

Published August 28, 2018

Komori Corporation announced plans today to initiate field testing of its new Impremia NS40, a 40-inch sheetfed Nanographic Printing® System, during the spring of 2019.

Delphax Rising

Published August 28, 2018

Delphax Solutions Inc. (DSI), was created in August, 2017 by Air T to design, manufacture, and sell printing equipment starting with the elan product line. The company shared news of the new organization and strategic direction.

What Designer's Don't Know Can Hurt You

Published August 27, 2018

Don't make designers guess about color matching or papers that work well with your press. Create tools to give designers and print buyers an objective understanding of your press quality on different media.

Canadian Printing Shipments

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.

Around the Web: 3M Wraps Itself. Cool Caps. Trillions of Dollars. Fur-Ternity Leave. Tor Nada. This Week in Printing History.

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.

Print Providers Speak Out About Paper Trends

Published August 22, 2018

The Inkjet Insight team has dedicated a lot of its recent editorial activity towards understanding the impact of mill closures and paper supply issues on the production inkjet market. In addition to interviewing print service providers, equipment manufacturers, mills, and paper merchants, we also sent out a survey to our audience in order to validate what we were learning.

Digital Productivity for Labels - Video

Published August 21, 2018

Inkjet is a complement to toner and flexo in the label market according to Marco Boer of I.T. Strategies. Marco discusses the relative productivity, ownership cost and simplicity of inkjet for labels and takes a skeptical look at label personalization. When it comes to justifying inkjet for labels, think “burst volumes.”

Paper Dust and Downtime

Published August 20, 2018

Dust and Downtime Uncoated papers with uneven surface formation can generate dust. Dust can buildup on paper transports and print heads causing jet-outs, reduced print quality, increased maintenance costs and downtime. If dust concentration is very high, it can have health consequences for workers – more downtime!

Brands Need to Get Personal

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.

Around the Web: Small Business Optimism – Action Towels – What’s an Ad Worth? – Dumbing Phones – Cheese of the Pharaohs – This Week in Printing History

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.

Consolidation Among Large Print Businesses: 2010–2016

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.

Developing a Testing Process for Inkjet Adoption

Published August 16, 2018

In the past, when new graphic arts technology has been introduced, the first response has often been, “It will never be good enough to replace ‘X.’” It was said that offset printing would never be good enough to replace letterpress. Web offset would never be good enough to replace sheetfed. Toner-based digital print would never be good enough to replace offset. The introduction of production inkjet was no different.

The Success of Roll-Fed Inkjet and Importance of Finishing

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.

You Can Do More with Sheet-Fed

Published August 14, 2018

Sheet-fed presses have traditionally addressed high image quality requirements, short runs, substrate flexibility, larger format applications such as folder or posters, expanded color gamut, and value-added enhancements. This article discusses the market opportunity for sheet-fed inkjet presses, a range of devices, and opportunities.

Evaluating Inkjet and Finishing

Published August 14, 2018

Mark Hunt of Standard Finishing encourages companies evaluating inkjet presses to look at the full process from back to front to ensure compatibility.

Test Gloss Carefully

Published August 13, 2018

More inkjet presses can now print on offset gloss – but test carefully. The ink may adhere just fine, but gloss stocks can slip more easily (especially roll-fed) so check registration of fine images and rich blacks.

The Ups and Downs in the Future of Print

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.

Printing Shipments Head Into the Dog Days of Summer

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.

Around the Web: A Book of Wood – A Felt Supermarket – Amish Uber – Robot Coworkers – Cookie War – This Week in Printing History

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.

Frank Looks Back at—and Ahead to—Printing News

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.

Making Inkjet Accessible - Video

Published August 9, 2018

Steve Welkley discusses the approach that Xerox has taken to make production inkjet accessible to a wider range of companies.

Zanders: price increase in the US for Zanjet as of September 1, 2018

Published August 9, 2018

Inkjet in label printing – part 2

Published August 7, 2018

Chris Lynn continues his packaging series with a look at what has held inkjet back in the label market and, by extension, what has caused even slower adoption in the rest of the packaging market – and how these limitations are being overcome.

Check the Fine Print

Published August 5, 2018

Most aqueous inkjet devices will have plugging and registration issues with rich black text at 9pt or smaller. If you need fine print, test the density of plain K ink and minimize the use of CM&Y. Some OEMs offer high density black.

Around the Web: PPI Executive Director Jules VanSant Steps Down – Ambigrams and Lipograms – Customized Cars – Mad Men No More – This Week in Printing History

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.

WhatTheyThink Launches New Industry Establishment Data Series

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.