The technological world is forever evolving, and the printing industry is no different.  The printing industry is evolving to keep up with the interest in e-publishing, as well as finding new ways to be environmentally friendly, and even to save lives.

 

E-readers and tablets are an unavoidable part of twenty first century life.  Increasing amounts of people are turning to them to read the latest books and newspapers.  This adds a level of competition to the printing industry, and it must therefore find new ways to minimise costs and try to be as environmentally friendly as its e-publishing counterpart.

 

E-publishing allows anyone with a computer to be able to publish something online.  This has thrown the literary world into disarray, but has also given it a new lease of life, encouraging people who never would have considered writing a book – or that could not get it published via traditional methods – to publish it online.  This eradicates the need for traditional printing all together, and is part of the reason books are gradually increasing in price.  However, there will always be people that prefer traditional print books, and around Christmas the sales of these can triple.

 

3D printers have been around for over a decade, but nobody ever thought that they could be of any use.  3D printers are slowly proving their sceptics wrong, as they become more accessible, and capable of producing things on both a grand and an intricate scale.  3D printers can print just about anything nowadays, and are being used by some surprising customers.  New technology is being developed that will allow hospitals to ‘print’ fully functioning limbs and organs for patients, which will change the transplant industry forever.

 

An invention that is becoming increasingly popular within the academic world is allowing people to send work to a printer, and have the printer only print it when that person activates the multifunction printer.  This activation can be done with a card, or even a fingerprint.  This saves time and makes it much easier to print multiple documents at once.  It also ensures that only the person who has chosen to print the document can obtain it.

 

Cloud printing operates on a similar basis.  The document is uploaded to the cloud, then it can be printed wherever, whenever it is needed.  This saves on waste, offers a greater level of flexibility, and adds a level of security that cannot be maintained if you are carrying confidential documents around with you.  Cloud printing gives you the chance to travel, and print when you arrive at your destination, ensuring that documents do not get creased or marked on your journey.

 

Digital printing allows a user to create an image on a computer or tablet, then send it directly to a printer.  This saves on waste and the image can also be sent to other digital products with ease.  Digital printing is more expensive than traditional offset printing, but requires less steps and has a faster turnaround.  Digital printing is also far more popular than offset printing these days, as it allows companies to do a larger amount of jobs over the same period of time.

 

The print industry is over a thousand years old, and has been evolving ever since the Chinese first introduced it.  It affects our everyday lives, often without us realising it, and will continue to do so.  It will continue to change and grow as its users demand more, coming up with solutions to make life easier for us all, giving businesses the opportunity to save time and money, and that can only be a good thing.