Beyond Paper: Opportunities in Specialty Printing

Similarly, Iverson says, “A case of glass weighs a lot more than standard materials — almost as much as most metals. So, you have to figure out, ‘Can I put that on my machine?’ There’s a whole bunch of those variants you’ve really got to be careful about and look at before you start just diving in.”

A Learning Curve

When entering the specialty printing market, the experts would unanimously agree it’s a learning process, and not an overnight miracle. “Don’t overestimate what you’re going to be able to print on; understand that there’s a learning curve to adhesion,” says Copeland. It’s also understanding how many types of a particular substrate there are (i.e. aluminum versus anodized aluminum), and how they are treated. “It’s really cool, but it’s not magic,” he says. “If there’s something you feel like you’re going to do, make sure you get it sampled, or that you do enough research to know it works.”