Features

343 print companies involved in digital inkjet wide-format production from across the UK and Ireland completed this year’s survey, making it the biggest poll yet of the sector’s domestic players. Here are the key findings.

The data is in and the report is out. Widthwise 2014 is an analysis of the information provided by grassroots large-format print producers, the seventh consecutive year Image Reports has conducted such research. Get your hands on it and you’ll get a true insight into the shape of the UK and Ireland market – where the growth is, where the investment is going etc. The full Widthwise Report is available for free download, but here’s a heads-up on the key findings.

Image Reports speaks to Greg Craigen, director, SignAway.

The half-yearly survey from the Shop and Display Equipment Association (SDEA) reveals that there is tangible evidence of a positive upwards climb within the retail display industry.

Users tell of how this unit provides a relatively cheap way of printing to fabrics for everything from banners to tablecloths.

There are a lot of advantages to printing to fabric for so- called soft signage but textile printing can also open up new markets for wide-format print providers, such as interior décor and even clothing.

Two Sides is doing a great job in challenging the assumption that digital is more environmentally friendly than paper-based print. But can you do more to help spread the word?

In February, The Guardian newspaper ran an article ‘Is digital really greener than paper?’ in response to the print industry’s challenge for the world at large to rethink this wide held belief. As the piece acknowledged: “We've all received statements from our banks, telecommunication and utilities companies with a simple message at the bottom urging us to ‘Go paperless, save trees’.” The implicit message is that print is damaging to the planet.

Nessan Cleary flags up key areas of pre-investment discussion as trade show season gets underway.

There’s a number of trade shows over the coming few weeks, which of course we'll report on, and where there will undoubtedly be a lot of new/updated kit. But before we become too involved in looking at the new devices and their must-have features, we thought it time to consider the questions you should be asking before the 2014 investment cycle starts gathering momentum.

We’re doing well, but we can do better according to Fespa Global Summit speakers. Here’s the upshot of the two-day event.

Technology is driving convergence. And so is customer expectation. If there was one key takeaway from the recent Fespa Global Summit, it was that what we fear should be what we embrace. That we’ve got to get beyond the mindset of being a ‘printer’ and think about how we can become specialists in visual communication, whatever that might entail.

You cannot ignore the opportunities provided by social media marketing for connecting with prospects and customers. If done well it will not only help you reach these people, but help them reach you. With the average age of print buyers getting younger, engaging these digital natives via social media is as important for your business as it is completely instinctive for them.

How do printers need to talk to marketers and creatives to build better business opportunities? That's the question I put to Charlotte Graham-Cumming, director of Ice Blue Sky, a fast-growing B2B marketing communications agency. In her own words, the company “acts as a conduit between the printer and their customers”, so she’s well placed to share some valuable insights.

In this series of reports on what vendors are doing to help educate creative and other potential users of wide-format print we talk to Martin Johns, Market Development Manager, Prographics, Epson UK.

Promoting the many creative applications of digital large-format printing technology to creative and interior designers - as well as the general public - is a major element of Epson’s PR and marketing activities. The intention is not only to generate demand for digitally produced print but to inspire creatives to consider buying their own large-format print equipment.

Will you be heading to Birmingham for sign and digital UK this year? If so, here’s what you can expect to see and hear.

Nessan Cleary tests the latest Colorpainter, a production machine that delivers good image quality at reasonably fast speeds.

The ColorPainter M-64S, developed by Seiko InfoTech, was launched at last summer's Fespa show in London but only started shipping in the UK from the end of 2013. The M- series fills out the ColorPainter range nicely, sitting just below the top of the range H2 series but being faster than the entry-level W-series.