Vertical Printing: A Different Orientation to Wide-Format

As the drive toward using wide-format printing for décor applications, either for branding purposes or to produce decorative elements, continues to grow, a new printing concept – vertical printing – is enabling direct UV wide-format printing onto walls and other permanent vertical surfaces. It is a low-cost-of-entry print solution that bridges the gap between residential and commercial applications.

Kylie and Lauren Barnes of Elevated Ink Works (and their kids)

Kyle Barnes, co-owner of Elevated Ink Works (Castle Rock, Colorado), says he and his wife, Lauren, invested in a German-manufactured Wall Pen vertical printing unit in September 2023 after seeing the technology online and viewing it as a business opportunity worth exploring. He also saw an angle in the fact that, “In Colorado, we have textured walls everywhere,” which makes adhesion of things like pressure-sensitive graphics difficult. In his pre-purchase research, he says, he looked at margins, cost of ink, and the prices the market would support. He also visited a company in Oregon using the same technology, which helped him gain a deeper understanding of the opportunity.

Asked to describe the “space” his company sells into, he begins with the statement that, at this point, their service area is all of Colorado, and that their initial vision of potential customers was “anyone with a wall.” Experience is helping them narrow the company’s focus. “After doing home shows,” Barnes says, “we found that commercial customers are the best,” because they are much more motivated than consumers, and because, “they have budgets.” These include, for instance, architectural firms and interior designers. Elevated Ink Works can work with them either as a subcontractor or directly with the client.

Barnes says one way his company's product is different from traditional wide-format approaches, which would generally use pressure-sensitive vinyl for wall treatments, is that it is a permanent solution that holds up well in high-traffic areas and won’t peel up. “Vinyl looks like a giant sticker to me,” he says. He adds that educating customers is a big part of gaining work – helping the customer see the possibility. For instance, while he says the possibilities for residential walls are huge, many customers immediately think of kid’s bedrooms, even though applications extend far beyond that.

The Wall Pen system prints effectively of textured wall surfaces. | Credit: Elevated Ink Works

One recent job that fit the unique capabilities of the printing system was a wall-print done for a running store in Boulder, Colorado that had walls with a textured “popcorn” finish. Barnes said his vertical printing system performed well on that difficult surface, and says the results of the job have led to some interesting leads.

In technical terms, the Wall Pen system used by Elevated Ink Works is a portable variation of a flatbed printer. It uses UV-curable ink and LED UV curing, and runs on a track system, which it uses to move along the wall. The system can print up to 13 feet tall with an unlimited print width. Limitations include a requirement for a 13” clearance at floor and ceiling and a 4” clearance at inside corners, where walls meet. Barnes says the largest print his company has done is 10 feet wide by 8 feet tall.

Seeking other possibilities that lend themselves to vertical printing, Barnes mentions working with local artists – one that uses sub-surface printing on glass and another that does decorative works in plaster – using the system to help bring their artistic visions to reality.