NEW YORK, NY, January 14, 2026 (EZ Newswire) -- Printing is at an inflection point, and the industry has yet to wake up to it. Many printing companies are struggling with the new reality. Digital printing alone is already a $14.9 billion market, and it is projected to account for more than half of all print volume in 2025.
This is no longer a transition. It is the new normal, and traditional offset print simply cannot keep up without long lead times, overhead inventory costs while you wait for delivery, plus lost opportunities in-store.
Nowadays, businesses don't print “just in case;” they print exactly what they need, when they need it. Many print companies, including HelloPrint, have already become more flexible and are working in partnership with brands to ensure they can move quickly without biting off more than they can chew on the budget or timeline.
What Digital Printing Actually Is (And Why It’s Not New)
Unlike offset printing, which requires plates, films, and various processes to set up, digital printing sends files directly from the computer to the press. This means you can send a piece of work electronically without preparing an entire print run.
The difference, really, is this. You need 500 logo folders by Friday. With offset printing, you’d have a minimum wait of 2 to 3 weeks and spend over $3,000 on plate setup and press adjustments alone. And with digital printing, there are no setup fees, and the order arrives by Friday. Same folder, same look, but production speeds are five times faster and costs are much lower for small to medium runs.
Since 2018, the claim that digital equals low quality has ceased to be true. Nowadays, digital presses can achieve up to 2,400 DPI resolution and are comparable in quality to offset printing for most businesses (except in the most specialized applications).
Market Reality: $14.9 Billion and Growing
What businesses are buying marks a seismic shift in how they think about where and how long print inventory is stored, as well as the timing of campaigns. Their inventory costs go down by 80% when companies buy 250 rather than 5,000. Storage costs disappear. The risk of inventory sitting in unsold quantities on a warehouse floor falls away.
As businesses have begun to learn that flexibility and speed are more valuable than volume discounts increasingly, we believe digital will capture over 50% of total print volume in the long term. Average order size fell by 60% over three years according to HelloPrint customer data, while order frequency went up by 140%. Companies aren't printing less. They're printing smarter.
Digital printing eliminates the generation of inventory that offset introduced. It drove businesses to exorbitant print runs in order to recoup the setup costs, resulting in warehouses filled with material that would often become obsolete before even being used.
Why E-Commerce Is Leading the Shift
Digital printing is adopted quickly by e-commerce companies because they are fast changing to embrace the shift. Packaging forms the foundation of an unboxing experience that elicits social shares and drives repeat purchases. However, this experience needs to remain new and meaningful, and to stay that way, packaging designs must adapt to seasonal campaigns, new releases, and continual testing within the market.
With digital printing, an eCommerce brand can create three variants of packaging, each having 200 units, gauge customer reaction to these packaging designs, and scale the winning design.
Product labels and marketing inserts require regular updates. Ingredient changes, regulatory changes, and promotions are put on a weekly basis. Many of the ways digital printing keeps up with e-commerce operations, offset printing just cannot.
Speed is not as important as risk reduction. With 500 units, the entire launch strategy changes because you do not have to blindly commit to 5,000 units you can test the market with just 500 units.
Debunking Outdated Perceptions on Quality
It is a myth that digital printing is of poor quality, and this thinking needs to end. With modern digital presses, you can get high-quality prints for up to 10,000 runs. Most new models use high-end CMYK or extended-gamut processes to deliver stunning detail and color. In many cases, there is no difference in quality between digital and offset printing.
For extremely high volumes, offset printing still makes sense when the initial investment is distributed across many prints, or under certain conditions, namely Pantone matching on uncoated paper. But this is increasingly rare as shorter and more flexible print runs grow in demand.
New digital presses can print at 2,400 DPI, with color remaining consistent from the first sheet to the last. The easiest way to get an idea of the quality is simply to compare side by side with some samples of offset prints. The difference is much less than one might think in many cases and can even be indistinguishable at times.
Why Speed Matters More Than You Think
Speed isn’t just a matter of convenience, as it gives you a big competitive advantage. An order comes Monday morning, and custom packaging arrives on Wednesday, and it's fulfilled by Thursday. That kind of turnaround lets businesses respond quickly to the market, capitalize on viral moments, and optimize campaigns with real-time performance data.
A slow printing process can wreck the whole campaign. A retail promo linked to a holiday weekend that shows up three days too late has already missed its opportunity. This is not a problem with digital printing which is typically produced on the day of order. That speed lets brands make their launch windows, instead of standing by and watching them whiz by.
Speed also lowers the overall project cost by eliminating project management overhead, expediting fees, and emergency shipping costs. By offering standard turnaround in 3 to 5 business days, HelloPrint puts an end to rush Fees and overnight shipping costs that make printing prices higher than the cost of the printing itself.
Making the Switch: What Businesses Should Consider
There are three questions you should ask yourself to determine whether digital printing is right for you. So, for example, what percentage of your orders are under 2,000 units? This needs to be higher than 70% because if digital is too low, you are likely saving money only today. Secondly, how much of an issue are timing constraints with your current printing setup? Third, how much additional value does customization or versioning add to your business?
There is also no need for companies to completely abandon offset. The brilliant tactics deploy each strategy to where its strength resides. Offset economics still favor massive catalog runs. With digital production, everything else, starting with packaging, marketing collateral, and point-of-sale materials, is progressively more sensible.
Total cost of ownership is what matters, not per-unit pricing, when making a decision.
The Market Has Spoken
The massive change in the printing world is not the result of hype. The reason it happened is that digital printing solves real problems. It reduces initial costs, lets printers run smaller and more intelligent print runs, simplifies inventory control, and mitigates the risk of wasted stock.
So we already know that digital printing is the future. Now the question you need to ask yourself is: if your current printing process is costing you money in the form of having stock on the shelf, missing deadlines, or a lack of flexibility. It is not the largest print-run that is winning in this market. They are the ones who can respond the quickest.
Media Contact
Martijn van der Pas
martijn@backlink.nl
###
