Label Printing in 100 Years
Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn. -Benjamin Franklin
I was with a group of friends/clients this past weekend, and the question “What will the world be like in 100 years?” came up. It made me think about label printing and what it would be like to be a label printer in 100 years. How would the print industry be different and would custom sticker and label printing even be around?
That line of thought lead me to wonder what one of our most famous printers, Benjamin Franklin, would have to say on the subject. I’m sure even he couldn’t have imagined that digital label printing would be such an amazing field, and that the ability to print custom labels and stickers in such fast turn around times and at such a low cost would be possible. The technology would likely be mind boggling to him. Then I put myself in his shoes.
When I started my print career with Quad/ Graphics, I had to call home and tell my parents that even though I’d gone to college, I was now a stripper. A stripper? Yes, I date myself, as one of my first jobs in pre-press was taking the 4 color films and ’stripping them’ to bring them into register. A far cry from digital label printing.
Very quickly, the industry began to change though, and the days of film are gone, and for digital label printers, the days of plates and make readies are gone as well. Would I have thought it possible that we’d change from flexo to digital label printing so quickly? No, but I’ve been more than happy to jump on board and become a digital label printer and leave the old technology behind.
So, 100 years from now, (as our friend the printer Ben Franklin would remind us) if we’re all willing to learn, who knows what digital label printing and the life of a custom sticker and label printer will be like. Moondance, anyone?
