The theme of convergence continues to remain strong in the printing industry, with more and more businesses exploring revenue opportunities beyond the basics. While many apparel decorators are expanding into areas such as wide-format printing and promotional products, we also see many other printers now bringing on apparel.

One such example is Ohio University Printing Services, a 12-employee in-plant operation that recently a direct-to-film (DTF) printer. Check out how this in-plant is capitalizing on apparel printing services in the article from our sister publication, In-plant Impressions.

Key Convergence Data Points

The following data points were taken from the 2023 Spring State of the Decorated Apparel (SODA) survey results; the 2024 Fall survey is currently open to all apparel decorators:

• Of those surveyed in the 2023 report, 86.7% have added promotional product printing/embellishment
• 55.6% added graphic and sign (wide format) production
• 26.7% added commercial printing