The wide-format printing industry is poised to see significant growth in 2016 and beyond. Late last year, the International Sign Association's (ISA's) quarterly economic forecast report predicted most sectors of the industry will enjoy positive trending this year. Most of the good news is due to new developments in printing technology, which continue to drive innovation. At the same time, however, changes in customer demand have also ‘pushed the envelope’ with regard to the customization of print services, with new types of output hitting the market on a continuous basis.
宽幅打印行业有望在2016年及未来会有一个平稳持续的重大发展。就在去年，ISA的季度经济预测报道预测，行业内很多部门都非常乐见今年这种积极的趋势。大多数的好消息都来自于打印行业，能够持续带来创新的发展与进步。但是，与此同时，随着新型的输出持续不断的冲击市场，客户需求的变化也会推动打印领域客户定制化服务的完善。
Inkjet-intensive
加强版喷墨打印机
The growth of inkjet printing has paralleled the earlier rise of offset technology in the production printing industry. And today, it is still one of the fastest-growing methods of printing. According to InfoTrends, a market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and documents industry, inkjet will account for more than 59 per cent of the total production volume of all digital colour printing by 2018.
在印刷生产行业中，喷墨打印的发展已经逐渐和早期平板胶印技术的发展平行了。而且，今天，这种也是发展最快的打印方式之一。根据InfoTrends,数码影像和文档行业一家市场调查、战略咨询公司分析发现。预计到2018年，喷墨打印将会将整个数码彩色印刷行业总生产量提升59%.
Advances in inkjet printhead technology have moved the industry forward, in large part due to demand from manufacturers of wide-format printers. As new printheads are introduced, the industry continues to see increased nozzle density, higher print resolutions, more grey-scale capabilities and faster production times year after year.
喷墨打印喷头技术上的改进已经进一步推动了行业发展，大部分还是由于宽幅打印机生产商的需求。随着新型打印喷头问世，行业已经能持续看到各方面的进步，打印喷嘴密集度的增加，更高的打印分辨率，灰色色度的辨别能力增强，生产频率逐年加快。
Inkjet printheads have also become more versatile, supporting a full gamut of inks. Today, these may include ultraviolet-curable (UV-curable), solvent-based, durable aqueous ‘latex’ and dye sublimation inks.
喷墨打印喷头已经变得越来越通用了，可以支持各种类的墨水打印。这些包括UV固化墨水，可溶解墨水，持久型水性乳胶墨水，热升华墨水。
A grand-format printer may take up less space within a production facility than two wide-format printers side-by-side.
大幅面打印机在占地空间上会比两台并排的宽幅打印机少
Platforms for growth
平板打印的发展
Speaking of versatility, some manufacturers have specialized in building ‘platform’ printers. These are machines designed to grow along with the sign shops that use them. They are usually reasonably priced at the outset and then may be upgraded over time.
说到通用性，一些生产厂商有专门生产平板打印机。这些机器设备是伴随着标识店铺的使用而设计出来的。一开始价格可能比较合理，之后随着时间就会逐渐增加。
A shop might buy a wide-format press with one set of printheads at a low, entry-level price, for example, then grow its business and market share over the course of a year before ordering a second array of printheads and doubling the machine's speed. Another year later, the shop may even add a third array of printheads to further increase productivity.
举个例子，店铺可能会用一套低价，入门级的打印喷头去换购一个宽幅打印的喷嘴，然后在订购第二批打印喷头和加倍设备速度之前，要先在一年内扩大自己的业务和市场份额。再过一年，店铺可能就会增加第三批打印喷头，希望长久的增加生产量。
This is an exciting new trend for the wide-format printing industry, as it offers high-quality results in a cost-effective fashion. It is otherwise very expensive to buy and continue to outgrow printers within a short period, not to mention the associated inconveniences of selling old equipment and the learning curve for each new model.
这是宽幅打印行业一项令人激动的新趋势，因为这个能在成本效益的基础上创造高质量的成果。否则买新设备就非常昂贵了，在短期内要持续保持生产作业，却很少考虑到买一台旧设备和学习一种新打印模式的便利之处。
Providing more services
提供更多服务
While many print service providers (PSPs) are enjoying the upswing in the wide-format graphics market, they also must formulate their own business strategies to gain a competitive edge while answering increasing customer demand for shorter runs, personalized designs and more vibrant colours. With continued improvements in digital technology allowing the industry to shift from mass production to customization, PSPs need to become more focused on individual clients' needs, if they are to deliver greater value than their competitors.
当很多PSPs正在为宽幅打印市场的扩大而欣喜时，他们还必须制定好他们自己业务策略，这样在满足客户日益渐增的需求方面，才能有竞争力，例如短期经营的、个性化设计的、更多有活力的色彩等等。数码印刷行业的持续发展促进了行业从批量生产到客户定制化的转变，PSPs需要更多地关注个体客户的需求，他们能比同行提供更大的价值。
As a consequence, the industry is seeing more and more integration of other services like marketing, graphic design, branding, finishing and project management into existing print shops.
因此，行业内能看到越来越多的打印商家整合了许多其他服务，像营销、图像设计、品牌推广、制作和项目管理等。
Framing systems have been specially designed for backlit fabric graphics.
背光式织物图像还有特定的框架设计系统
Efficient finishing
高效的加工
Finishing equipment ranges from cutters, fabric steamers and heat presses to industrial sewing systems, sergers (i.e. overlock sewing machines that cut the edges of the fabrics fed through them), welders and seamers. In the long run, in-house finishing is more cost-effective than outsourcing the work.
后整理设备包括：数字切割机、织布烘干机、工业剪裁系统热压设备、锁边机（即切割织物边缘的锁边折边机）。从长远来看，内部加工成本会比外包更低一点。
It also serves as a value-added component of a print shop's graphic production workflow. Many of today's customers are looking for the convenience and expediency of‘everything under one roof' with one-stop shopping.
它也充当了印刷店铺图像生产流程中一个增值的元素。如今很多客户都在寻找便利和方便，一站式购物。
One of the more significant recent advances in finishing technology has been the automation of cutting. A single flatbed digital cutter can outpace—and achieve higher accuracy than—four employees using knives to cut graphics by hand. Given the running costs of cutting tables versus manual labour, a return on investment (ROI) may well be seen within the term of a five-year lease.
在加工技术中，最新一项比较重要的提升就是数字切割机的自动化操作技术。和四个工人手工用刀切割图形相对比，平板数码切割设备速度得到大幅度提升的同时，精准度也更高。
The soft touch
软性织物打印
InfoTrends predicts inkjet technology will account for more than 59 percent of all digital colour printing by 2018.
InfoTrends 预测：到2018年，喷墨技术会占据整个数码彩色印刷行业的59%，甚至更多。
Another area of rapid innovation has been fabric printing in general, where InfoTrends predicts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39 per cent for the next few years.
另外一个快速创新的领域就是纺织印刷，InfoTrends 预测在接下来的几年可能会有39%的整体年度增长比率。
One of the primary factors influencing how textile graphics are used is the arrival of more European retailers in the North American market. Fabric point-of-purchase (POP) displays have increasingly become the industry standard in Europe over most of the last decade due to their beauty, elegance and sophistication and now there is a similar trend hitting Canada and the U.S. Large, backlit fabric displays have proven particularly impressive and eye-catching for merchandising purposes. Perhaps not surprisingly, fabric graphics have had a tremendous impact on the trade show exhibitry market. Other opportunities in growing markets include the digital printing of garments, interior décor and industrial textiles.
影响纺织印刷图形使用的最基本的一个因素就是，北美市场中有越来越多的欧洲零售商。近几十年在欧洲，由于POP展览展具的美观，优雅好看，纺织POP展览展具已经逐渐的变成了行业标准，现在在加拿大和美国也有相类似的一种趋势。大型的背光纺织展览已经证实了对于营销手段来说是很好的，比较醒目美观，吸引人眼球。可能一点也不奇怪，纺织图像在贸易展会展览市场还是很有大的影响力的。发展中的市场中其他的一些机遇还包括服装类数码印刷，内部装饰品和工业纺织品。
With the dramatic growth of digital textile printing in North America has come an increased demand for dye sublimation technology in the wide-format graphics industry, from apparel to soft signage. As more customers recognize the advantages of superior dye-sub output, more PSPs are adopting the print production equipment behind it.
随着数码纺织印刷在北美市场的良好的增长，宽幅打印图像行业的热升华技术的需求已经在日益增加了，从服装到织物软标识。随着越来越多的客户意识到高级热升华技术输出的优势，越来越多的PSPs紧跟其后，开始使用打印生产设备。
One of the primary advantages of dye sub is how it allows fabric to maintain its feel or ‘hand.’ When the ink is sublimated onto the substrate, it is infused into the fibres—as opposed to pigmented inks, which are only deposited onto a fabric's surface—to achieve a deeper level of saturation and, thus, richer colours, adding to the ‘high-end’ look of the final product, which remains as soft as before printing.
热升华技术最基本的一个优势就是能保持纺织品的真实触感和手感。当基板上的墨水升华了，就能够渗透到纤维里面，染色墨水则相反，只能堆积在纺织物的表面，为了实现色彩饱和度更深，色彩更丰富，能够给成品更好的外观，能看起来和印刷前一样柔软真实。
Another important benefit of the ink being infused directly into the fabric is image permanence without needing any additional surface protection. The image cannot be washed away, rubbed off or otherwise removed from the fabric, in contrast to textile graphics printed using solvent-based, UV-curable or latex inks.
墨水能直接渗透到纺织物里，另外一项重要的优势就是图形图像能够永久保存，不需要任何其他的表面防护。这种图像不会被水洗掉，擦掉或者其他方式去除，相反，纺织图形印刷用的是溶剂型油墨，UV固化墨水或者乳胶油墨。
In Europe, given the high market demand for fabric-based retail graphics, it is not uncommon for sign shops to operate both dye-sub and UV printers, so they can choose the right technology for each application. In North America, approximately one in eight facilities use both of these technologies, but the number is rising as the printed textile market continues to become stronger.
在欧洲，以织物为打印基材的零售图像的市场需求很高，标识店铺同时使用热升华和UV打印机这种情况不是很常见，所以他们会为每种应用选择正确合适的技术。在北美，大约有1/8的公共设施上用的都是这些技术，但是随着纺织印刷市场日益强壮，这个数量一直在上升。
Wide to grand
从宽幅到大幅
This raises another challenging question for today's PSPs to face: when is it best to operate (a) two wide-format printers side-by-side or (b) a single grand-format printer?
如今PSPs面临的另一个严峻的问题就是：什么时候能够并排操作两台宽幅打印机或者操作单一一台大幅面打印机？
Arguments can certainly be made for both options and the ultimate choice will come down to the sign shop owner’s preference, but there are significant advantages enjoyed today with grand-format printers, particularly in terms of streamlining a business.
两种选择的争论都有，而且最终的选择还是根据标识制作商家的喜好，但是现在大幅面打印机还有比较大的优势，特别是在简化业务方面。
For one thing, industrial grand-format printers—i.e. 2.5 m (100 in.) and wider—are faster. A single grand-format printer will generally produce output 30 to 50 per cent faster than the cumulative efforts of two standard wide-format printers that are running side-by-side instead.
一方面，工业大幅面打印机速度更快-例如2.5m(100英寸)或者更宽的。一台单程大幅面打印机一般输出速率比两台并排式的宽幅打印机同时输出快30-50%。
For another, there is the question of footprint. A grand-format printer may actually take up less space in a production facility than two wide-format printers, given the need for adjacent allowances for loading and maintenance.
另外一方面，还存在一个问题。大幅面打印机比两台宽幅打印机占用的空间少点，这样也能满足就近装载和维修的需求。
Finally, there are issues of productivity. Besides the speed and size differences, an industrial printer is built to run 24-7, whereas many commercial-grade wide-format printers are only intended to run six to eight hours a day. Some grand-format presses offer dual-roll printing, enabling two completely separate jobs to be printed on two different substrates at the same time, faster than could be achieved with two wide-format machines. And with a single printer comes more consistent ink placement from job to job, rather than worrying about ink batch differences between two side-by-side wide-format printers.
最后，还有一些生产率方面的问题。除了速度和大小的不同，一台工业打印机一般是能运行24-7，相反很多商务级的宽幅打印机却只能一天运行6-8个小时。一些大幅面打印机会提供双滚轴打印，这样两种不同的项目就能在不同的材料上同时进行打印，速率也比两台宽幅打印机打印的快。而且用一台打印机打印，在操作运行时墨水的转换也比较好把握，不用担心两台宽幅打印机运行时，墨水要分批处理的问题。
Of course, all of these factors must be weighed against each other on a shop-by-shop basis, taking into consideration the types of applications to be handled, the production workflow space and the electrical requirements of each machine, not to mention long-range budgeting and business goals.
当然，所有因素都要权衡轻重，要考虑到各种类型的应用程序处理，生产流程的所需空间和每台设备的电力需求，先不用说长期预算和业务指标。
Whatever stage of business a PSP is at, though, it will be important to keep abreast of ever-changing technologies and trends and be willing to make updates as new demands arise. Only companies taking this approach will reach and remain at the forefront of the industry, enjoying growth in their success and profitability.
无论PSP在哪个业务阶段，然而，了解不断变化的新技术和新趋势，能够随着需求的增长去不断更新自己，这些都是很重要的。公司只有采取这种方法，才能始终保持在行业的前沿，获得成功和盈利。
