About

PRINTVERGENCE chronicles how printing is being reinvented to serve the changing requirements of the modern world. I coined the term to describe the convergence of different types of analog 2D printing into giant, interconnected, automated digital workflows.

As digital printing continues to replace offset, screen, and flexographic presses, fewer print businesses identify themselves by the type of printing processes they use.

And, some companies that do a lot of printing no longer promote themselves as printing companies. Many young newcomers to the printing business don’t even know how printing businesses operated before digital printing.

Looking ahead, it’s clear that printing businesses will continue to converge with other forms of communications and manufacturing, such as interactive media and 3D printing.

This PRINTVERGENCE blog will be an outlet for interesting news and ideas I gather at trade shows and in freelance assignments for printing-related publications. A lot of the information will be based on news releases. But the content will be edited to clarify jargon and features that might be new to printing start-up companies or investors.

I will also write about trends in other industries that might impact how printing businesses operate and succeed.

Change Happens Quickly

When I started covering the large-format digital printing business in the mid-1990s, it was impossible to imagine that the development of large-format, professional-grade inkjet printers was just one element of the much larger transformation of all types of printing.

At the Seybold Electronic Publishing conferences in the mid-1990s, it was clear that desktop publishing and Photoshop had already started shaking up the status quo. But I didn’t fully understand the commercial printing and publishing business at that time or how it ultimately would be affected by the rise of electronic publishing, the worldwide web, and the development of high-production inkjet printers.

It’s all clear in hindsight. Having seen how rapidly changes can be introduced, resisted, and eventually adopted, I have some insights about how technologies and trends discussed today might continue to unfold and disrupt.

Over the past three years, I have written a variety of feature articles about printing-related technologies and markets, including: large-format 3D printing; retail window design trends; textile printing; fast fashion; creative services agencies; Print MIS and web-to-print software; package printing; single-pass inkjets for decor; dye sublimation on rigid substrates; the rise of old-school screen printing; printed electronics for smart clothing; custom wallcoverings; marketing automation software; digital asset management; sustainable supply chains; garment-decorating technologies; and small-format UV-LED printers for product decoration.

My files are full of tidbits of information and stories that print-business owners and creative technologists should be aware of.

Contribute

I welcome your story ideas, news, and insights. Send news and guest post ideas to editor@printvergence.com

Eileen Fritsch