2020
Digital Print
Trend Report
WHAT’S INSIDE
Introduction..........................................................................................................1
Summary...............................................................................................................3
Trends Overview................................................................................................7
Innovations in Printing & Packaging................................................... 13
Print Design Trends for 2020.................................................................... 15
All About Textile............................................................................................... 16
Workflow Solutions........................................................................................ 17
Exploring Inkjet................................................................................................ 19
New Finishing Options................................................................................ 21
Recap.................................................................................................................... 23
About the Authors......................................................................................... 25
SumnerOne Production & Large Format Options...................... 27
“To be successful
in their industry, today’s
printers understand they’re
facing pressure to deliver a
broader range of services
to their customers.”
INTRODUCTION
The competitive landscape for commercial printing
is expanding while customer and in-house demands
are increasing.
To be successful in this industry, today’s printers need to understand
how to deliver a broader range of services to their customers, along with
advanced finishing options, and faster turnaround times.
1
To keep up with demands, it is critical that printers stay current with
the latest industry trends and printing solutions to keep pace with their
competition—and even get ahead of the game. All of these enhancements
need to come in conjunction with finding a way to lower costs. It’s a tall
order for any business, and in the end, businesses must find ways to run
an efficient, reliable printing operation while delivering top-notch quality
and service to their customer base.
To help printers stay on top of new solutions and strategies while
expanding their print services and creating new internal efficiencies,
we’ve created a guide that outlines the 2020 print production trends
your business needs to know. By looking ahead to the innovations
and technologies shaping the future of commercial printing, you can
develop business strategies that solidify your place in the market, deliver
greater value to your customers, and build a more sustainable, efficient
production workflow that supports these business goals, as well as your
overall profitability.
2
SUMMARY
Commercial printing is a mature, competitive
market that has experienced steady growth.
Sales in the U.S. commercial print industry have
increased 9.1 percent since 2011, rising to $84
billion as of January 2018.1
As competition for this business rises,
organizations face a growing need to
differentiate themselves from the competition.
This push to innovate can be characterized
through a few different trends dominating the
commercial print landscape.
3
INCREASED CONVERGENCE,
EXPANDED DIGITAL PRINT
Convergence is at the top of industry-shaping trends. In a recent survey, 95
percent of print companies cited convergence—which is the expansion of core
services to diversify their print-service offerings—as a promising business
opportunity to pursue. Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said they expect
this convergence trend to accelerate over the next five years.2
Though convergence includes ancillary print services, such as bindery,
fulfillment, mailing, and special effects printing, it is also characterized by a
more fundamental expansion of value-added services, especially to support
digital printing capabilities. The market for digital print production is expected
to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.76 percent between
2019 and 2026, which will have implications on the market for traditional offset
printing.3
81% 95%
Eighty-one percent of those Nintey-five percent of print
surveyed said they expect this companies cited convergence—
convergence trend to accelerate which is the expansion of core
over the next five years. services to diversify their print
service offerings—as a promising
business opportunity to pursue.
4
Profits from digital production print are
rising as offset print profits are falling.
This profit margin benefits from the reduced mechanical steps
required in digital print production, decreasing the equipment
needed to produce an end product, which cuts down on
equipment acquisition and maintenance costs to create a larger
profit margin than offset printing can offer.
This creates clear advantages to adding a digital printer to
commercial print or in-plant printing facilities. By diversifying
your print service offerings, you’re able to meet a broader range
of customer needs, improving customer satisfaction and
keeping your customer base aligned with the leading
trends in print-based marketing. These customer-
side benefits can be delivered while simplifying
production operations, lowering the cost
of print production and increasing
your earnings potential.
5
“By diversifying your print
service offerings, you’re able
to meet a broader range of
customer needs.”
6
TRENDS
As commercial and in-plant printers
look ahead to 2020 and beyond, here
are the trends most likely to affect
your business operations, as well as
your ability to drive sustained
revenue growth.
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The Rise of Digital Print Continues
Although it has evolved dramatically over time, offset
printing has been around since the late 1800s. For
printers, it offers more familiarity—but it also brings
limitations that digital printing can solve. For example,
while the cost per unit is lower when comparing offset
costs to digital, those lower per-unit costs are offset by
the equipment setup costs, maintenance needs, and
longer turnaround time resulting from slower print
processes.
Traditional offset printing still offers value, but its use
cases are more limited. For example, if you’re creating
many copies of a single resource—fliers to pass out
at a large event or direct mailings going out to a large
community—then offset printing can still offer value
through its efficiencies of handling volume.
Offset printing is also great for printing on a variety of
media, including thicker print paper and larger media
formats. Coloring can be more accurate with offset
printing, in part because the rubber blanket of this
printing equipment is able to conform to textured
surfaces, resulting in sharper images and type. Pantone
colors can be rendered exactly, unlike with digital
printing, which reproduces Pantone using CMYK.
8
There are distinct disadvantages to offset
printing, including:
A lack of personalization for print products,
which can limit the value of print marketing
materials for your customers
An inability to produce short printing runs, due
in part to the time requirements of setting up
the print press for these orders
Chemical oxidation of equipment, which can
cause printing errors and reduce quality when
production plates aren’t properly cared for
An overall lack of flexibility that creates friction
with modern print marketing strategies
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Contrast this performance to the strengths and weaknesses offered by
digital printing. Although early versions of digital printing were developed
in the early 1900s, and laser printing was first invented in the late 1960s,
digital print production first hit the mainstream in the early 1990s.
Today, digital printing is the technology you’ll find in the average
consumer’s home, as well as a growing production method at the
commercial level because of its speed and the ability to produce short
printing runs that today’s customers increasingly seek.
The advantages of digital printing include:
Shorter turnaround times for print orders, including less setup
time for commercial and in-plant operations
Ideal production services for small runs, such as personalized
content and high-resolution digital photos
Variable data printing/personalization capabilities, which allow
for one-to-one customization on print mailings and other
content, enhancing relevance and engagement with recipients
10
Digital printing technology hasn’t replaced offset
printing in every situation.
The best print setups will still use both of these methods, so choose the right
approach based on the characteristics of each project. If you’re currently
limited to offset printing options, digital is a high-value, cost-friendly option
to greatly expand your services and position your business for greater long-
term revenue growth.
11
Most digital print shops will include a large format
option as well.
This is smart, considering the large-format market is growing at a rate
of 10 to 12 percent annually. This far outpaces the rest of the print
market, creating a lucrative long-term opportunity for forward-thinking
commercial printers.4 With the added versitility of a large format printer,
a print shop can provide a wide-range of new services to their customers,
including banners, posters, outdoor signage, and more.
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Welcome to the one place where everything works.
INNOVATIONS IN
PRINTING & PACKAGING
Digital Print Capabilities
The quality of print production can’t be overlooked when evaluating
trends for the future. Increased market competition, combined with
expanded print service options, create a buyer’s market when it comes
to making decisions based not only on price, but quality as well.
Today’s print customers are keenly aware of the importance of excellent
design and packaging, whether they’re promoting their business via
direct mail or producing packaging for retail consumer goods. High-
quality, full-color prints offer significant ROI for your customers,
boosting marketing response rates by as much as 500 percent.5
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Quality and distinctiveness is an important
differentiating factor for your customers.
A survey of commercial printers found that the ability to position
value propositions and differentiate products and services from other
businesses was a moderate or critical challenge for 50 percent of
respondents.6 By providing best-in-class print and packaging, you can
deliver the distinctive design, eye-popping finishes, and customizations
that your customers are looking for.
As digital print technologies evolve, your customers will have
heightened expectations for the quality and professional print options
they receive. To stay ahead of the curve, these innovations will need to
become part of your company’s core offerings.
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PRINT DESIGN TRENDS FOR 2020
Among the big print production trends reshaping the landscape of the entire print
industry, there are other print trends that should still be considered when looking to
expand your print services for 2020 and beyond. Here’s a look at some of this year’s
popular print design trends and emerging services.
Foil Stamping Specialty Colors
Foil is an easy way to add a little sparkle Printers should also be aware of the
to an otherwise mundane printed growing availability of specialty colors, which
material. Foil stamping offers a colorful, create new capabilities that customers will
shiny finish that also improves the be more likely to seek out in the future.
durability of your print materials, which Print production solutions like the Xerox
can extend their lifespan and, depending Iridesse Production Press combine four-
on their intended purpose, their value. color printing with metallic gold, silver, clear,
Foil stamping has several different and white specialty inks that can create a
visual effects to offer print customers. number of specialty effects. These effects
Today’s foils can be clear, glossy, matte, include metallic gradients and texturing
fluorescent, or even holographic. This that enhance quality—a popular service
design element is best used with thick for wedding invitations, mailings, and other
print materials capable of supporting a orders typically handled by digital print
foil stamp. production.
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All About Textile
The ability to make digital prints in textile
surfaces greatly expands the services a
printer is able to provide its customers.
It also gives your business a presence
in a fast-growing market: The global
marketplace for textile printing is expected
to reach $5.4 billion by 2023, representing a
CAGR of 11.6 percent.7 Potential use cases
for textile printing into direct-to-garment
printing, in which custom garment orders
can be produced on -demand by printing a
custom image to a T-shirt or other textiles.
Augmented Ink Solutions like HP’ ‘s latex printers can print
logos, images, and other design elements
As augmented reality becomes a more on a wide range of textiles, including a wide
common medium for delivering content range of products customers may wish to
and experiences to people, augmented brand with their business name, logo, and
ink is seeing increased demand. This other information.
specialized ink is viewable by AR-enabled
devices, and it is used to trigger augmented Given the projected growth of textile
points of engagement that appear in printing, the future value of digital printing
an AR environment, including pop-ups services will be tied to textiles and other
and interactive experiences. Customers types of production capabilities now made
using AR for marketing purposes may more accessible by these innovations in
want augmented ink as an option to print technology.
turn traditional print materials into an
engagement point for any AR experience
they may want to provide.
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WORKFLOW SOLUTIONS IMPROVE
THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
The digital era has made today’s customers less patient than ever
before. From print-on-demand to same-day shipping and other forms
of instant fulfillment, customers have a growing expectation for fast,
accurate service. The print industry is no exception.
To expedite service in ways that improve customer satisfaction, printers
have a growing need for workflow solutions that can automate certain
steps in the print production process, accelerating production timelines
to meet rising customer expectations. These workflow solutions fall into
four general categories.
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Web-to-Print
Web-to-Print workflow solutions use automation technology to streamline print production
orders coming from online sources. Whether these orders originate from uploaded files to
your business website or uploads from the cloud, your business can implement software
that automatically starts production, placing these orders into a workflow and making them
ready for customer receipt faster.
Job Management
Workflow solutions to manage print jobs allow organizations to optimize their print priorities
and order management to simplify printing and reduce turnaround time. Different jobs
can easily be given different levels of priority, and businesses can have full control over the
order in which jobs are completed by establishing workflow rules, especially when it comes
to repetitive print jobs.
Color Management
Color quality has a huge role in any print company’s quality assurance. Your business needs
a color management tool that can ensure color accuracy, giving you greater control over
color quality to reduce print waste and improve customer satisfaction. Seek out a color
management solution with a wide range of controls, giving you the greatest degree of
influence over the end result of your print production.
Variable Data Printing
Creating personalized print products is a great way to increase value for printed
marketing materials. But personalization doesn’t have to increase the amount
of time workers spend on these projects. Variable data printing makes it
easy to integrate spreadsheets and collections of information to fuel
personalization in the print process, while still enabling workflow
automation to occur.
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EXPLORING INKJET
PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
The popularity of Inkjet printing is on the rise—moving
beyond the home hoffice. In the past few years,
companies have invested in the technology supporting
inkjet printing, and it has paid off in big ways. 50%
of digital pages are now produced via inkjet8, and
the capabilities of this underestimated workhorse
can do more to transform operations and overcome
manufacturing challenges.
What is Inkjet?
Inkjet printing is one of the oldest and most used forms
of printing. These printers range from inexpensive home
use to large industrial and wide-format machines, can
use a wide-range of inks, pastes, substrates, or crystals to
produce digital images, and create images using different
methods—continuous inkjet and drop-on-demand.
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HOW TO MAXIMIZE
AN INKJET INVESTMENT
When adopting any new technology, taking the time to evaluate existing
business operations is a good practice. Understanding ways to cut hidden
costs, increase workflow automation, increase productivity, and eliminate
waste are all benefits of reorganizing and reassessing print offerings.
Some of the ways injet production technology can
improve your business include:
• Removing pre-printed statement and invoice forms to maximize
and streamline mailings.
• Eliminating warehousing and storage by printing high volume
and quality on demand.
• Enabling production runs to optimize low-cost book media.
• Supporting smaller, comparable-to-offset quality of smaller
catalog runs.
• Unlocking opportunities at the commercial print level to reduce
waste and cost.
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NEW FINISHING OPTIONS
With every new year, industry leaders find new ways to delight
customers. Digital presses have increased the sheet sizes available to
include 30 and 50 inches, allowing users to create larger prints just as
quickly. Copiers are also offering new finishing capabilities including
square bound and improved paper folding. Coming soon to the world of
finishing innovations: 4-side trim, in-line cutting, scoring, and slitting.
As you wade through your workflow automation options, you’ll discover
that the best one for your business might be easier said than done.
21
Let SumnerOne’s experts work with
your business to build a custom
solution that maximizes productivity,
harnesses the power of automation,
and improves your overall customer
experience.
22
RECAP
Digital printing isn’t a replacement for offset
printing. But it greatly expands your print
capabilities, as well as the products and
services you’re able to offer your customers.
Customers benefit from value-added products,
increased accuracy in print coloring, faster
turnaround times, and an overall upgrade to
the customer experience. Meanwhile, your
print business can increase its productivity,
optimize print spending to maximize profit, and
build customer loyalty through better products
and better overall service.
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The future is coming fast.
IS YOUR BUSINESS READY?
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ABOUT
THE AUTHORS
Production Solutions Group
The SumnerOne Production Solutions Group works with
businesses to create customized answers to complex business
problems. The idea that every organization is different and
deserves a fresh approach to their printing strategy and
implementation is the cornerstone of the Production Solutions
Group’s philosophy—it is the lens through which they view every
opportunity and was their motivation for creating this document.
With over 50 years of combined experience, this group of talented
and thoughtful professionals is dedicated to building on their
ability to collaborate, assess, and guide others to creating and
maintaining the best print businesses possible.
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Robert McCarthy
Production Analyst
Robert has more than 20 years of
experience working in print production
and visual media.
John Fleming
Production Architect
John is a G7 Expert and G7 Process
Control Expert for Digital Print. He
previously worked as a business
development analyst for Canon USA.
Warren Doherty
Large Format Specialist
Warren has been working with large
format printing workflows since 2005.
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Welcome to the one place where everything works.
OUR LARGE FORMAT
PRODUCT LINE INCLUDES:
Latex Series
Bring your business to new horizons and reach
indoor spaces solvent can’t with the HP Latex
Print and Cut Solutions. This series is excellent
for a wide range of applications such as stickers,
customized clothing, or window graphics.
imagePROGRAF Series
Canon offers state-of-the-art large-format printing
solutions designed with exceptional speed,
flexibility, and quality. The line includes models
for photography, signage, posters, and technical
documents.
ColorWave Series
Having set the benchmarks in quality and
productivity with technical documents, the
Océ ColorWave line-up sets a new standard for
reliability in black-and-white large format devices.
27
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OUR PRODUCTION PRINT
PRODUCT LINE INCLUDES:
Iridesse Production Press
Designed to deliver the "wow" impact you need to
drive growth and differentiate yourself with up to
six inline dry ink stations for optional white, clear,
silver and gold specialty dry inks.
VarioPrint Titan Series
The Océ VarioPrint 6000 TITAN Series delivers
impressive print quality with the ability to meet
your business' productivity demands and to keep
up over time.
C6100
The AccurioPress C6100 Digital Color Press
delivers world-class image quality, ease of use,
and increased productivity—all at an affordable
cost.
This is a small selection of the full SumnerOne large format and production
portfolio. For a full list of offerings, please contact your local representative.
28
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Sources:
1. https://www.piworld.com/article/commercial-printing-
industry-redefined/
2. https://www.piworld.com/post/printing-industry-
convergence-where-find-new-market-opportunities/
3. https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/digital-printing-
market-is-projected-to-reach-usd-3349-billion-
by-2026-growing-at-a-cagr-of-576-from-2019-
to-2026-2019-04-22?mod=mw_quote_news
4. https://www.kodak.com/uploadedFiles/Prinergy-Workflow/
Landing_Pages/TOFU_Trends_EBook_Commercial.pdf
5. https://valtim.com/blog/digital-printing-means-increased-roi/
6. https://piworld.tradepub.com/free/w_sgia27/
7. https://www.printweek.com/print-week/news/1167630/
digitally-printed-textiles-market-to-reach-eur49bn-in-20238.
8. https://www.keypointintelligence.com/about-us company-
news/infotrends-tracks-the-growth-opportunity-in-value-
added-special-effects-for-production-print/
