I’m writing this blog post on New Year’s Day. Therefore, it seems fitting to discuss some new trends I’ve been reading about. It will be interesting to see how these come to fruition in the coming year.
Print Books Are Making a Comeback
A long-time associate and friend recently brought to my attention an article on the resurgence of print books. As a commercial printing broker, I was particularly glad to see it.
A 12/19/15 article published in Quartz (qz.com) and written by Amy X. Wang (entitled “Against all odds, print books are on the rise again in the US”) notes that “At least in the US, sales of physical books have experienced a renewed surge of interest, according to Nielsen BookScan, a data provider that collects data on roughly 85% of the print market.”
According to Wang, the Nielsen BookScan notes that in 2014 559 million print books were sold, and then in 2015 this number rose to 571 million. Apparently readers are buying print books by online celebrities, adult coloring books, and paperback and hardback copies of certain noteworthy titles that have already been released as e-books.
At the same time, according to Wang’s article (and supported by a PEW Research Center study), people are buying fewer e-readers (and therefore presumably fewer e-books).
What this means to me is that print books offer something e-books cannot replicate—a physical presence. Book-lovers have written on- and off-line for years that the tactile experience of the physical, print book makes a difference to the reader. I’ve wanted to believe this. I’ve believed it for myself based on my own preferences. Now it’s gratifying to see the love of the printed book reflected in both online and off-line surveys.
I don’t think e-books will disappear. Nor should they. There are things I prefer to read online, and there are other things I want to read on paper. Having access to both means being able to choose the appropriate medium for the occasion. I love books. It’s good to know I’m not alone.
Apple Enters the 3-D Printing Arena
The same friend and colleague sent me another article about Apple, entitled “Apple Patent Application Reveals 3-D Printer Plans” (12/29/15, from Print+Promo, and written by Brendan Menapace).
Apple is entering the 3-D printing arena (also called additive manufacturing), having submitted plans for a patent in May 2014.
According to Menapace’s article, “The proposed printer would use fused deposition modeling (FDM), which involves a thermoplastic filament heated to its melting point and pushed out layer by layer to create the 3-D object.”
(In simpler terms, this is akin to inkjet printing insofar as the printing substance comes out of a nozzle, but unlike inkjet printing, 3-D printing builds up multiple layers of plastic to create the finished product.)
What makes Apple’s proposed printer different is that it colors the extruded plastic as the three-dimensional product is printed. One print head dispenses the plastic to form the item, while the other print head adds coloration. Most other 3-D printers add color after the printing stage. (Apple has also submitted plans for this kind of 3-D printer.) According to Menapace’s article, “There are a few others that can produce multicolored products, such as the Cube Pro and Dreammaker Overlord, but coloring the item as it prints would be a new addition to the industry’s technology.”
Having read this, I now see two important trends reflected in Apple’s plans. First of all, Apple produces products for consumers. It’s target audience is “regular people,” not businesses. Moreover, Apple has built a reputation upon making technology user friendly. My guess is that Apple’s new printer will be expensive but not unaffordable. It will also be easy to use.
Moreover (unless the product is altered before coming to market), since Apple’s 3-D printer will produce the item in the actual final colors, this will be a giant leap beyond other 3-D printers that may use colored materials for extrusion but that may still need to add the final, precise coloration at the end of the process. Apple’s products will come out of the printer looking lifelike. This will be a game changer.
Textile Printing Will Be Big
I just read two predictions for 2016 by Andy Wilson, joint managing director of PressOn, as published in PrintWeek on 01/01/16.
First off, Wilson has seen a trend this year toward longer digital press runs. According to Wilson, “We’re chipping away more quickly and getting more of a market share using digital print against more traditional methods. For example, we’ve seen bigger jobs coming though here that would’ve gone screen printing before.”
In addition, when asked by PrintWeek, “What do you think will represent the single biggest opportunity for printers in 2016 and why?” he replied that “There is a lot of interesting new technology in that fabric printing market. I think that market is going to open up for a lot more of us that haven’t previously specialized in dye sub.”
My take-away from the first comment is that digital commercial printing is becoming efficient at longer runs (and offset, based on my reading elsewhere, is becoming cost-effective at shorter runs). This will provide a number of options to print buyers. In addition, sheet sizes for digital presses are getting larger, allowing more options in imposition (and the printing of larger-format projects).
My take-away from the second comment by Wilson is that textile printing will be a huge market. People want immediate printing, shorter press runs, and the kind of variety and personalization you can’t get with custom screen printing. Going forward, I think digital printing will gradually erode the screen printing base in textiles.
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