The use of digital printing continues to expand, growing in markets it is already is being used in as well as opening up new doors into applications. Two of the key markets – packaging and textiles – will be covered in July 2025 and October 2025, respectively. Meanwhile, other segments are thriving.

Nazdar president and CEO Richard Bowles observed that Nazdar continues to see significant growth in the digital printing market.

“We are seeing excellent growth across most digital print segments, highlighted by significant growth in the UV LED inks, DTG/DTF, and industrial segments, as more applications, equipment and inks are available,” Bowles noted. “Direct-to-film was our fastest growing digital segment in 2024. Direct-to-garment (DTG) and direct-to-film (DTF) have been major advancements for Nazdar over the last couple of years, as signified by our recent announcement of partnership with OEM M&R to manufacture their DTG and DTF inks. We continue to expect digital printing to grow in all market for the foreseeable future.”

David Lopez, product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, Inc., said that the wide-format inkjet ink market in the U.S. saw steady growth in 2024, with strong demand coming from industries like signage, packaging and textiles.

“Businesses across sectors continued to turn to wide-format printing for high-quality, custom solutions, driving growth,” Lopez said. “While there were challenges, such as supply chain disruptions and rising prices, the market remained resilient overall with technological advances, especially in extended gamut inks and highly productive printers, that kept the market moving forward.

“Looking ahead at 2025, the outlook is optimistic,” Lopez added. “The U.S. market is expected to continue its growth, particularly in areas like retail, packaging, and commercial printing. As new applications for wide-format printing emerge, the market is headed for a strong year.”

Christine Russell, VP commercial – USA for FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group, reported that the inkjet market has stabilized, although materials and global issues continue to have an impact.

“Demand for UV inkjet ink technology is strong in its established applications,” Russell observed. “Demand for water-based ink technology is growing due to system developments in new application areas.”

Paul Edwards, VP of the Digital Division of INX International Ink Co. said that the inkjet ink market continued to expand in 2024, pointing out that there is significant growth that outpaces that of the economy in general and the overall print market.

“The secular trends that drive the implementation of digital print continue to be strong and lead to lower average lengths of a print production run in many product areas,” Edwards said. “There are a variety of application areas within the inkjet ink market, and these can be very different in their level of maturity and degree of implementation of digital print. However, the key drivers are generally similar and related to macro changes such as personalization, fast delivery expectations, interactive features such as QR codes, and sustainability being some key examples.”

Dave Hawkes, Roland DGA product manager – media and market research, reported that the overall markets remain strong. Hawkes added that the “post-COVID” era has introduced a number of market growth opportunities.

“The spike in tourism has created a higher demand for signage,” said Hawkes. “That demand is not only reflected in tourist destinations but also coast-to-coast as consumers look for affordable travel options beyond their towns and borders.

“As always, the industry continues to push the envelope of innovation,” added Hawkes. “This results in new market opportunities that allow PSPs to provide applications that had never been considered previously. I love to hear the stories of how a simple request for lawn signs for a 5K race also resulted in a huge order for T-shirts, stickers, and trophies. The application expansion due to technology innovation will continue to keep the market growing.”

Randy Vandagriff, Kodak’s SVP print, observed that the inkjet segment is expanding.

“In 2024, we saw remarkable growth in the inkjet market, especially within the continuous-feed segment,” said Vandagriff. “This surge was fueled by high print volumes and exceptional performance in the high-end and graphic arts sectors. The move towards value-added printing, particularly in direct mail and specialty applications, played a significant role in this upward trend.”

Simon Daplyn, product and marketing manager, Sun Chemical, said that generally, the inkjet market performed well in 2024.

“Despite ongoing geopolitical instability in Europe and the Middle East as well as inflation and global cost of living increases, a number of market segments have seen strong performance,” said Daplyn. “Printed graphics, for example – one of the more mature inkjet market segments – experienced a very strong year, propelled by demand from major sporting events like the Olympics and the UEFA Euro 2024 football championships and by major elections in the U.S., UK and France. Other markets like printed textiles have been more stagnant, especially in Asia, due to rising costs and cutbacks in consumer spending. However, with the return of the drupa exhibition in 2024 after an eight-year pause, the market focus shifted to inkjet technology and showed progression in markets like packaging, where new technology was launched to support industrial adoption of digital printing.”

Daplyn said that the general outlook for digital printing is strong.

“The technology now has wide adoption across many markets with industrially robust production solutions. The technological developments of inks, printheads and hardware have reached a level where digital print is trusted, runs at high speeds and provides significant value at an affordable price,” said Daplyn. “The chemistry of inkjet is evolving with a number of industrial solutions now running with water-based inks on diverse substrates from wallcoverings, to textiles, to flexible packaging. The rise of water-based inks has come with a pull from the market for sustainable solutions that comply with strict regulatory standards.”

Growth Markets

There are plenty of opportunities for new applications. Hawkes observed that the two fastest-growing markets are wallcoverings and direct-to-film (DTF).

“Though these two markets are completely different, they share some basic benefits: new printer, media, and ink technology provide output that was not previously possible, and the improved technology also simplifies the application process,” Hawkes pointed out.

Hawkes said that the demand in the wallcoverings market is related in part to increased demand for home improvement in general. However, the advanced digital printing options now available to consumers and commercial decorators has opened up a new world of interior design and décor possibilities.

“DTF didn’t happen overnight, but it sure seems like it did,” he continued. “DTF dramatically reduces textile labor while still allowing for high-quality detailed graphics. As an example, a T-shirt design that uses a paint-splattered graphic would be a nightmare to weed using a heat-transfer material. The direct-to-film process makes transferring detailed graphics and text – even complex designs and smaller lettering – quick, easy, and cost-effective, allowing PSPs to maximize both productivity and profitability.

“And, we should not forget UV DTF, as that represents a huge new segment of this market,” Hawkes added. “UV DTF simplifies the printing process and increases production, while at the same time minimizing maintenance. Once printed, UV DTF transfer graphics can be easily applied to a wide range of substrates and objects – even items that are difficult or impossible to print on directly with a UV flatbed device.”

“The DTF segment is experiencing significant growth, driven by the ongoing trend towards personalization and short-run printing of textiles and promotional items, as well as customized apparel graphics,” said Vandagriff. “This trend is evident in the increasing sales of our KODACOLOR Fabric Inks and the KODACOLOR Film-to-Fabric (FTF) Print System.”

Vandagriff said that Kodak is witnessing a significant surge in demand for print-on-demand (POD) across commercial printing, educational, publishing, and packaging sectors.

“This shift is driven by several factors: the trend towards shorter print runs, the need for faster delivery times, the goal of reducing inventories, the rise of hyperpersonalization through programmatic printing, and importantly, the push for greater sustainability and resource conservation in our industry,” Vandagriff observed.

“We see this trend moving faster each year, as we continue working with commercial printing partners to develop UV LED inkjet inks for their specific needs,” Bowles said.

“The hot growth areas are mainly related to packaging, and the level of interest certainly stems from customers and the suppliers of digital printing products themselves,” Edwards said. “The growth in digital label printing coincides with many of the similar drivers for printing directly to packaging products.

“Direct-to-object applications, such as the decoration of glass, is growing,” Edwards said. “It is based upon the benefits of digital print and the way the product can differentiate itself from the competition. Printing direct to 2-piece cans is a very hot market, not only as it relates to craft brewers but also due to the increasing range of products being sold in cans for sustainability purposes, such as the use of plastic containers.

“The corrugated printing market continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace than previously as many of the earlier adopters have purchased equipment, but use of the equipment is increasing. Newer segments such as 3-piece cans and flexible packaging gained a lot of interest in 2024, and will grow quickly from a low starting point. Industrial applications where print is a part of the manufacturing process are also showing growth in both interest and application as digital technology develops and matures in a suitable way.”

“The direct-to-film space continues to grow rapidly at a rate depending upon geographics,” Edwards said. “There are many printer options now available and most can be seen at industry trade shows. Developments in inks and the polymer powders are occurring to solve some issues that have arisen. With all of the products available, there is a lot of competition and price pressure. Based on the pace of implementation and the rate of product development and availability, it would seem this is a market which will mature quite quickly over the coming years.”

Russell noted that inkjet in packaging is growing in several areas.

“Label printing is established and continuing to grow, corrugated printing is becoming well established, folding carton is gaining momentum and flexible packaging is now viable,” Russell said. “Aqueous pigment technology for textiles is growing steadily but remains in low volumes. UV technology for sign and display applications continues to show steady growth.

“Direct-to-shape printing with inkjet is highly suitable for short-run packaging,” Russell pointed out. “It has the potential to become an attractive, complementary process to analog, but is unlikely to dominate or compete with analog for long runs. A limitation to adoption is from digitally printed self-adhesive labels, but brands are exploring label-free products to improve recyclability.”

Sun Chemical’s Daplyn said that DTF printing is one of the big success stories of 2024, adding that adoption rate has steadily increased with thousands of printers installed globally, leading to wide format and direct-to-garment OEMs releasing DTF systems.

“Investments have increased in Europe and the U.S. to develop industrially reliable ink solutions with high opacity white inks and high density colors that maintain consistent performance,” Daplyn noted. “These new technologies are particularly appealing because of their comparatively low investment and set-up costs and similarities to screen print transfer processes that are already well understood, making the technology simple to adopt. While challenges to ensure compliance with sustainability requirements remain, this segment continues to grow.”

Lopez said that Epson America is seeing rapid growth in the UV market, with it emerging as one of the biggest opportunities due to its versatility.

“With UV technology, print shops can print on nearly any material and its instant curing process enhances efficiency, reduces turnaround times and opens the door to increased profitability,” said Lopez. “Additionally, UV ink offers excellent white opacity, making it ideal for signage applications. Epson’s SureColor V7000 UV printer features an extended color gamut to deliver vibrant, high-quality results.

“Due to these advancements, UV printers produce exceptional prints, providing opportunities for print shops to expand their services and meet the increasing demand for premium, versatile printing solutions,” Lopez added.

Daplyn observed that while growth is often segment- and regional-specific, some of the strongest growth during 2024 was in areas where digital adoption began to produce efficiency benefits for converters.

“For example, the digitally printed labels segment continued to grow through technological advances to reach high speeds with the added flexibility of short runs and variable data printing,” Daplyn concluded. “Other areas of packaging have also shown strong progress, particularly in corrugated, carton board and direct-to-shape printing. Inkjet products for flexible packaging have emerged as viable production solutions, including hybrid systems offering the best of both flexo and inkjet printing in a single process.”