PRINTING United Expo Media Day Provides Industry, Technology Preview

For printing industry press, the third annual PRINTING United Expo Media Day, held the day before the opening of the massive PRINTING United Expo, provided insight on industry conditions, AI, and a sneak peak into new solutions from some of the industry’s leading OEMs. In addition to presentations from Expo sponsors, members of the press were also able to interview OEM reps directly in a series of short, scheduled “speed dating” meetings.

For the wide-format segment, presentations by Adobe, Agfa, Canon USA, Durst, Fujifilm, Mimaki, and TVF provided a glimpse into technologies and solutions driving innovation and opportunity.

Highlighting Research and Trends

Alliance Insights: “Two forces are having a greater effect on the industry than anything else; they are deeply affecting every corner of the industry,” Andy Paparozzi, chief economist at Alliance Insights, said on Tuesday morning at the annual PRINTING United Expo media day. “Uncertainty, the most since COVID-19, and operating cost inflation, substrates, materials, energy, transportation, labor, overhead, and operating cost inflation created by war and erratic tariff policies. The second force is the fourth great industrial revolution driven by AI, big data, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, quantum computing, and smart robotics.”

Andy Paparozzi, chief economist at Alliance Insights

During the opening Research Breakfast on PRINTING United Expo’s media day, Paparozzi and Amy Servi-Bonner, VP of Printing AI, took the stage to share “The Forces Reshaping Print: Where the Industry Is Headed Next.”

Throughout the presentation, Paparozzi referenced the Alliance Insights State of the Industry (SOI) reports, sponsored by Canon USA, and described an industry squeezed by rising costs, and urged printers to pursue "ruthless efficiency” and higher-value growth. Servi-Bonner followed with a candid look at the state of the printing industry and the impact AI can have on knowledge sovereignty.

Paparozzi opened with first-half 2026 results. Sales rose 4.1%, but real sales rose just 0.5%. Operating cost inflation reached 5.7% against price increases of 3.6%, and 73.7% of SOI participants reported profitability that was flat or lower.

Andy Paparozzi, chief economist at Alliance Insights, opened media day at PRINTING United Expo sharing results from the annual State of the Industry reports, sponsored by Canon USA.

The presentation projected the next six months, "and probably longer," would be "as challenging as the last six."

In terms of challenges, the SOI panel reported some of their biggest concerns moving into the second half of 2026 to be the economy and business conditions (56.2%), maintaining profitability (52.1%), and rising transportation costs (49.7%), with other concerns including increasing sales, rising substrate costs, and tariffs.

“Even if the war ends very soon, and even if we get stable trade agreements very soon … it's going to take time for those benefits to work through the economy,” he noted. “If we don't get those treaties and the end of the war, the problems are only going to deepen, and the majority of the participants in our research recognize this.”

Paparozzi shared what sets the profit leaders of the future apart from the competition. These leaders are ruthlessly efficient; creators of profitable growth; agile, innovative, and receptive to change; and AI-empowered. AI is moving rapidly, with Paparozzi noting that the industry is building a workforce for the AI era. In fact, 37.7% of the SOI panel participants expect AI skills to be "very important/essential" over the next 2 to 3 years, yet 47.2% do not offer AI training and do not plan to over the next two years.

“The profit leader of the future will be willing to move ahead during periods of extreme uncertainty, and we've got a lot more uncertainty ahead of us,” he said. “The natural tendency, during periods of extreme uncertainty, is to sit tight until there's some clarity. The opportunity, however, is to create clarity by moving ahead with capital investment plans, workforce development, diversification plans, and the other foundations of sustained profitability.”

Ashley Roberts

AI Adoption Outpaces Readiness

PRINTING AI: Before turning over the mic to Servi-Bonner, Paparozzi shared a link to Alliance Insight’s latest AI study, marking the segue to the next portion of the session looking at the status of AI adoption. [LINK: https://tinyurl.com/bpatsk8b]

Amy Servi-Bonner, VP of Printing AI

Servi-Bonner then stepped up to the mic and shared a statistic as a backdrop to the conversation about AI.

“The average commercial inkjet operator in this country is 48 years old, so roughly 17 to 20 years away from retirement,” she said. “That sounds like a very long time, but if you think about it, as that window starts to close, how fast, or at all are people even trying to get that information out of those folks' heads? … If their knowledge walks out the door with them, your company doesn't just lose an employee, it loses part of its operating system.”

Caption: Amy Servi-Bonner, VP of PRINTING AI, noted that the biggest opportunity for AI is in what she describes as “Knowledge Sovereignty.”

She noted that 80% of critical production knowledge "Lives in people. Not systems," and the cost of losing one person at $80,000 to $200,000 per exit. What does that mean, and how can AI mitigate some of the risks associated with the loss of human intel.

“It's the single biggest AI opportunity in this industry right now, ahead of automation, predictive maintenance, and generative content,” she said.

The answer, she shared, is in the concept of "Knowledge Sovereignty.”

“Knowledge Sovereignty is the state in which an operation's most critical institutional knowledge is owned, preserved, and deployed internally,” she said. “Not vendor dependent. Not platform dependent. Not person dependent. … This is the first step in applying AI to this industry, not the last. You cannot responsibly automate a decision, or hand any part of a workflow to AI, until you know what your best people actually know. Knowledge Sovereignty isn't a nice-to-have next to AI adoption. It's the prerequisite for doing AI adoption responsibly.”

Before closing, Servi-Bonner shared two examples of what PRINTING AI calls an “AI Employee,” a specific AI trained on a real operation’s actual knowledge, and the importance of this type of tool, before turning back to the benefits of using AI to address Knowledge Sovereignty.

"The question isn't whether you can afford to capture that knowledge,” she said. “It's whether you can afford not to.”

Ashley Roberts

Sponsor Presentations

Canon USA: As the title sponsor of PRINTING United Expo 2026, Canon USA took the stage first. Rolando Martinez, senior director of production print marketing, noted that Canon is not just asking “What’s next?”

Rolando Martinez, senior director of production print marketing

“We're building what's next,” he said. “Our strategy is focused on three core promises: continued technology innovation, purposeful portfolio expansion, and unwavering elevated customer support.”

He noted that Canon is the official imaging sponsor of Formula Drift, a motorsports series in which drivers slide cars sideways through turns. At its 9,600-sqft booth, Canon will display print applications featuring the photography of Larry Chen, official photographer for Formula Drift.

Martinez also noted that Canon equipment will be at several booths such as Duplo, Lexjet, Colex, and DigiTech. This is because, in the real world, Canon equipment does not operate in a silo. “We build technology designed to fit seamlessly into all these workflows,” he said.

At its booth, Canon will focus on what he called three game-changing solutions: the varioPRINT iX1700 B3+ sheetfed inkjet press; the new varioPRESS iV7 B2+ size inkjet press; and the Colorado XL series wide-format printer.

“They're not just incremental upgrades; they're game changers that are built to redefine productivity, quality, and production print overall.” Martinez said.

Richard Reamer, senior director of Large Format Product Planning and Strategy, noted that the Colorado XL series will be running at Canon's booth, printing up to 10-ft wide. Also at the booth will be the new 36" imagePROGRAF TM-610M, one of several additions to the TM series lineup. It’s Canon’s first printer with an integrated scanning solution.
The DigiTech Texas ST2/X1 4'x8' UV LED flatbed printer will also be on display, boasting speeds up to 2,024 sq. ft./hr. It accepts media up to 4x8’ and 6” thick, Reamer said. He also showed a video of a robotic arm flipping and moving substrates onto conveyor belts and said this will be demonstrated at the Expo.

“Automation is really the way of the future,” Reamer said.

Bob Neubauer

Adobe: Adobe (Booth N653) opened its Media Day 2026 presentation with a problem most print service providers know by heart: files are arriving faster, from more places, and in worse shape than prepress departments can handle by hand.

"The amount of online job ordering has exploded," said Mike Scrutton, Director of Print Evangelism and Customer Liaison, Adobe. "This is the norm now. It's not the exception."

Mike Scrutton, Director of Print Evangelism and Customer Liaison, Adobe.

Customers now upload files built in tools ranging from Adobe apps to Figma, order runs of dozens rather than thousands, and expect delivery within days. That leaves no room for manual intervention. "The truth that PSPs tell us is that if I have to open a file that's been uploaded by a customer once, I'm losing money on this job. There's not enough margin for me to be doing manual inspection [and] manual correction of files," Strutton said.

Embellishment adds another layer of pressure. Metallics, digital foiling, and spot UV command higher prices, but Strutton argued that the additional prep work can erase the gain — boosting the top line while dragging down the bottom line. Meanwhile, experienced prepress operators are retiring, and fewer graphic arts graduates are entering the print industry.

"We want our people in our print shops focusing on the relationships that they have with their customers," he said. "Making sure they're on brand, that they're understanding and delivering what the customers ask for, and not on the grunt work."

Adobe's answer is Adobe Print Services, which sits as an AI layer between document creation, whatever the application is, and the press room. “Adobe Print Service is there to make every file print-ready before it gets to a press room” Scrutton says. It has three components.

Adobe Print Ready corrects, enhances, and optimizes incoming PDFs. Its AI-powered Smart Select tool inspects each job, identifies issues, and hands the fixes to another agent in the system. Reports and previews let operators review changes before output. "We're always keeping humans in the loop. We're not just doing this blindly," Strutton said. Print Ready also borrows Photoshop filters for image scaling, targeting the smartphone photo that "looked fine on my phone. Why did it print blurry?"

Adobe Finish Ready handles what happens after printing: generating bleeds, including on non-rectangular signage files, creating cut paths for laser and flatbed cutters, and nesting jobs on press sheets.

Adobe Print Embellishment Ready translates embellishment data in a PDF into instructions for inline or offline finishing equipment. It can also suggest where spot UV might enhance a plain CMYK or RGB file, opening upsell opportunities. Print providers investing in high-end finishing, Strutton said, are "only going to make money from their high-end solutions if they can keep those devices fed with high-quality content."

"We're shipping it now," he said. As with Adobe's other print technologies, the suite is provided to partners as a software development kit.

Then came what Strutton called a California press conference tradition: one more thing. "The PDF print engine that you've known and loved for the last 20 years is now GPU ready," he said. He described it as "a simple drop-in for our partners."

Xerox, Konica Minolta and ECO3 are demonstrating partner products built on Adobe technology at PRINTING United Expo this week. Adobe will also appear in the Printing AI Pavilion, where Strutton speaks Wednesday at 10 am on what to trust AI to do.

Denise Gustavson

Agfa: “Automation for automation’s sake doesn’t always deliver what we expect.” That was the theme Deborah Hutcheson, director of business development, Agfa (Booths C1149, C1161), stressed during her Media Day presentation.

Deborah Hutcheson, director of business development, Agfa

She began her presentation with a closer look at how Agfa positions itself around innovation, productivity, efficiency, sustainability, and, of course, quality. And none of that happens in a vacuum — Hutcheson notes that many of the innovations in the presses they offer today have features and advances that come from conversations with customers.

She also highlighted the latest presses in the portfolio — especially the presses that will be running live at PRINTING United Expo, at booths C1149 and C1161. These include:

• The Jeti Tauro H3300 XUHS. One of the fastest presses in the lineup, this machine can run at speeds up to 13,778 sqft/hr, and comes in both four and seven-color configurations.
• The Onset Pathera FB3216. This flatbed press can produce up to 292 beds/hr, and is designed for both display and signage work, as well as packaging applications.
• The Bronco H3300 HS. This roll-fed system can operate in single or dual-roll configurations, and can run at speeds up to 4,844 sq/hr.
• The Anapurna Ciervo H3200. As Hutcheson said, “the herd grows.” This latest press in the portfolio has dual-roll capability and can run at speeds up to 192 sqm/hr.

Beyond the technology innovations, Hutcheson also highlighted the company’s sustainability focus "Deep behind each of these product developments is the core belief in sustainability,” she said. “We're focused on what we can do to improve the sustainability journey for our customers and for ourselves. Any way that we can reduce our total carbon footprint, we can reduce our impact on the market and on the environment."

That philosophy is illustrated in the company’s focus on innovating around LED curing, thin-ink technology, automation, and IoT-enabled diagnostics that help support lower energy use, reduced waste, lower ink consumption, and improve uptime.
“At the end of the day, we're trying to reduce the total cost of print manufacturing, we're trying to reduce touch points, we're trying to drive quality,” she stressed. Make sure to visit booths C1149 and C1161 to see how it all comes together.

Toni McQuilken 

Durst: Next up in the Media Day lineup was Durst (Booths C1614, C1514). Led by Becky McConnell, marketing manager for Durst Image Technology U.S. During her presentation, McConnell highlighted new printing technology from Vanguard, expanded software capabilities, and developments across the group as Durst celebrates 90 years of innovation.

Becky McConnell, marketing manager for Durst Image Technology U.S.

Perhaps one of the more notable points of the presentation was the media’s exclusive sneak peek at Vanguard’s brand new Cumberland flatbed printer, which McConnell described as “a major advancement in productivity.” Available with two or three rows of printheads, the Cumberland features a new printhead arrangement, larger ink tanks, and compatibility with automation that connects printing to cutting.

The Cumberland introduces linear drives on both axes to Vanguard’s lineup, alongside variable drops as small as four picoliters. Operator-focused features include a digitally controlled vacuum system, movable registration pins, foot pedal controls, and a nine-zone vacuum table.

“This goes back to the fact that as print service providers need to do more with less, we want to make it as easy to run these machines as possible,” McConnell said.

Making its North American debut, the P5 350 Core hybrid printer was positioned as an entry point into Durst’s P5 platform. Its configurable design supports up to 10 channels, rigid and flexible materials, and varying levels of automation. Businesses can adjust their configurations as production needs change, including adding color channels or expanding automation.

“It's a printing solution that evolves with PSPs,” McConnell said.

McConnell also emphasized operator accessibility as print providers contend with hiring and training challenges. Equipment that is easier to learn can help businesses reduce the burden associated with turnover while keeping production moving. The Core also offers an option for specialty applications alongside higher-volume equipment, allowing shops to pursue additional work without diverting their fastest machines.

Durst’s broader lineup includes the P5 350 HS hybrid printer and P5 350 HSR roll-to-roll printer. Features discussed included faster media changeovers, simultaneous job processing, double-sided printing, inline finishing, and media handling designed to support industrial production. Durst Workflow and Analytics rounded out the offering, helping users manage PDF workflows, visualize printer data, and make informed production decisions.

Maintaining output quality remained central to its development. McConnell said, “We have a great reputation for printing great output, and we needed to stay there even with raising the productivity level.”

Beyond printing equipment, McConnell covered digital cutting technology from Hassler Solutions (booth #C3204), a Durst Group Company, and the Open Software Initiative, which extends software capabilities beyond Durst systems. GMG Americas was announced as a reseller of initiative products, expanding access to its portfolio.

Another focus was Kyveris, described as Durst’s strategic intelligence system for digital production. By bringing files, machines, software, and data together, the system aims to optimize production performance.

Across the presentation, the emphasis was consistent: connect equipment, software, and finishing capabilities to help print providers manage growing demands with greater efficiency and flexibility. The approach puts long-term adaptability at the center of investment.

Gabby Houck

Mimaki: At the beginning of his Media Day presentation, Josh Hope, director of marketing at Mimaki USA mentioned the company has much to cover at these types of events, and this year would be no different. He outlined a handful of new product releases, covering flatbed UV printers and a family of textile-focused solutions.

Josh Hope, director of marketing at Mimaki USA

Hope began with an overview of the new JFX220-2515, a UV flatbed that offers a bed size of 89’x59”, allowing room for a 4’x8’ board and then some. He highlighted new features including a new bed vacuum system offering ten-times the power, the addition of fluorescent pink and yellow inks, and long-throw printing that ensures accuracy at distance of up to 18.5mm from the print head. He shared the printer is 200% more productive – a development enabled by the addition of dual CMYK, as well as offering enhancements that save time and help ensure quality. Both hard and soft inks enable a wider variety of printed applications.

Also new at PRINTING United Expo is the UJF200 series of benchtop UV-LED flatbed printers. These new systems – one with a bed size of 16.5"x11.8", and the other coming in at 16.5"x24" – both now use a single printhead, allowing simpler maintenance; is able to print texture to a depth of up to 2.5mm as well as Braille. These systems also include fluorescent ink capability.

Strengthening Mimaki’s storied history in textile printing development, Hope briefly spoke of the the TxF330-800, well-equipped dye-sublimation printer offered at an entry-level price point

Mimaki’s releases at this year’s PRINTING United Expo are not limited to printers. He also announced the L-mecanica LAR-63, a 64” heat-assisted laminator manufactured by a company recently acquired by Mimaki.

Hope shared that Mimaki is currently taking orders for the systems mentioned above. Most will begin shipping in October.

Dan Marx

Fujifilm: In his Media Day presentation, Andrew Gunn, head of print-on-demand solutions at Fujifilm, highlighted the company’s portfolio of multi-platform production solutions ranging from back office and lighter volume machines to higher volume solutions. Several of these will be on display at booth N6042, including the ApeosPro family, the Revoria 285, the Revoria 2100, and the new Revoria Press PC2120. A virtual display of the J Press FP790 flexible packaging press will also be available.

From a broader perspective, Gunn recognized that PSPs are facing a range of pressures.

“We’re always talking about how the pressure to do more with less is really relentless,” he said. “So, there’s faster turnaround times that are required, smaller skilled labor forces, the rising material costs, constantly evolving standards, ever-increasing competition, and squeezed margins. That’s fancy speak for ‘I want it free, I want it yesterday, and it better be good.’ At Fujifilm, one of the things that we’re always trying to figure out is how to solve for those customer pain points.”

That motivation is evident in the Revoria line of presses. Gunn specifically highlighted five ways PSPs can make more with Revoria devices:

• Benchmark CMYK: Create more accurate, consistent print on tight deadlines.
• Media maximization: Produce jobs efficiently on more types and sizes of media.
• CMYK+ expansion: Enable inline digital CMYK+ embellishments to help boost impact and profits.
• Intelligent automation: Make more sellable prints per shift with smarter workflows.
• Consistent support: Get 360-degree support from the Fujifilm team.

Of note, Gunn pointed to the digital CMYK+ embellishment expansion as something that will grow in importance. So, Fujifilm has developed its Aspire program to help support PSPs as they design, price, market, and sell embellishments.

“The whole part of the Aspire program is helping our customers get to that next level, so when a customer says to you, ‘Well, nobody’s asking for embellishments,’ you are prepared,” Gunn explained. “… We need to kind of show the market how digital embellishments are going to be that [big] thing. And we need to make it easy for them, but easy in a way that’s repeatable and understandable.”

But, in Gunn’s eyes, embellishments alone won’t keep profits up.

“I always say the shiny stuff gets customers in the door, but it’s the automation that keeps them in the black — or the [Fujifilm] green, if you will,” he said.

Kalie VanDewater

Other sponsor presentations, from Muller-Martini and Stahls', highlighted new products and developments in the commercial printing and apparel decoration spaces.

See It for Yourself

As an industry journalist, I find the annual Media Day event insightful and informative, and building connections within the international printing industry press is always a pleasure. Having attended, I felt a bit like archeologist Howard Carter. When had asked if he could see anything as  what he had seen when he first peered in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, previewing the treasures it held. He replied, simply,  responded, "Yes. Wonderful things!"

Expo attendees will be able to see many wonderful things when the 2026 PRINTING United Expo opens it doors tomorrow, Wednesday, September 23, at 9:00 pm sharp. Be there!