From The Editor: Tools to Thrive (Not Just Survive)

Of the wide-format companies that I’ve seen thriving across the last couple of decades, one key commonality is the ability to shift– either in subtle ways by carefully meeting changing industry conditions, or through profound change driven by opportunity or inspiration. In our technology-driven segment of the printing industry, changes in technology and materials, or the shifts in customer preferences, regularly offer us options to pivot, refocus, or redefine. Some companies follow these opportunities. Others do not. How about your company?

This issue of Wide-format Impressions features our annual profiles of industry innovators: companies that have grasped opportunity and serve their vertical markets and their customers in ways that surprise, impress, and perhaps even inspire. These companies are led by executives and teams that have taken seeds of opportunity and grown them into fruitful gardens. What does innovation mean to your company, and how have the changes you’ve witnessed externally influenced what happens inside your business?

This issue also highlights two key industry events, the annual Wide-format Summit, which took place in July in Miami, Florida, and the annual PRINTING United Expo. Our summary of the Wide-format Summit provides a valuable handful of key takeaways from that event: ideas and inspirations that may help you adjust the trajectory of your business. We also preview some of the many new products that will either be introduced, or will have their North American debut at the event. Knowing the new tools that are available to you can help you understand where your business may go, or how your processes may improve.

We also present two technology-focused articles to help keep your production up to date: a description of recent developments in wide-format prepress and color management, and a discussion of how UV-curable inkjet printing has, and will continue to, change the trajectory of the wide-format segment.

Finally, the Wide-format Impressions team looks forward to seeing you at the PRINTING United Expo, Sept 10-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is one of the world’s largest printing-focused events, featuring more than 800 exhibitors, a wide range of educational opportunities across the printing spectrum, the widest view of what print is today, and myriad sources of ideas, inspiration, and choices for your path ahead. See you there!