The digital printing market in France

Printing is defined first of all as the action of reproducing characters or images on a medium.

It is important to distinguish between digital and offset printing:

Digital printing differs from traditional offset printing in that it is initiated from a computer processing This is done directly from a computer. Offset printing involves several steps: it requires a plate, then a blanket which will finally come into contact with the support to deposit the ink. It is therefore a printing by "reportage during which the steps are repeated to superimpose the different layers of ink and establish the final result. This technique is often used for large volumes since it requires a longer execution process to be implemented, and the intervention of several operators.

On the other hand, digital printing does not have any intermediate steps, it is a process that offers a lot of reactivity since it represents a greater flexibility and speed of execution . There are different techniques in digital printing, as follows:

Electrography

Magnetography

Ionography

Inkjet

These techniques differ from each other in the process of fixing the ink to the substrate. Digital printing is often the preferred choice for small volumes Whether it is for flyers, business cards, leaflets, announcements, or even maps...

In digital printing, there are jet printers and laser printers The difference lies in the process, which uses liquid ink cartridges for the former and powdered ink for the latter. The main digitally printed products are packaging and traditional stationery according to the formats, or even textiles .

Overall, the printing market is facing an increasingly digital world, but this does not prevent demand for digital printing from continuing Despite the dematerialization of media, many sectors remain attached to printing (especially for reading, advertising, working documents ...).

On a global scale, the digital printing market has been growing strongly for several years, with a CAGR of over 6.5% in recent years .

The French digital printing market is also a growing segment of the overall printing market, although the latter has been losing momentum for several years, being a very fragmented market with many small players. Digital printing therefore appears to be the only resilient segment of the printing industry with digital printer sales continue to grow (3.1%) in 2019, while all other segments are down.