Wide Format Printing and the Myth of the Paperless Office

As I sat down to write this article, I came to the embarrassing epiphany that I’ve been working in the wide format industry for over 30 years. THAT’S A LONG TIME!!!

I’ve worked through the heyday of diazo reproduction and witnessed its decline and demise with the introduction of the first plain paper copiers which were analog at the time.  Then along came digital printing and plotting and things snowballed to where we are today.

But through it all, even back in the days of diazo contact printing, there was always the whisper and warning of the paperless office that threatened to eliminate in one fell swoop the need for printing. But remember, that was 30 years ago!

Welcome to 2023.  Sure, things have changed somewhat but not as much as you would have thought.   Seeing someone relaxing on the beach with a paperback novel is often replaced by the more familiar Kindle e‐reader or *gasp*, an audiobook.  Make an offer on a home or rent a car at the airport and more often than not, a digital signature is all that’s required to legally complete the transaction.  All this is to say that, in many ways, our lives have become more digital.

But the soothsayers and purveyors of the tools to go paperless have had obstacles with which to contend when trying to promote that paperless office.  Some adventurous enterprises have waded into the waters only to recoil at its limitations.

I worked with a company that was heavily specialized in mine engineering and we supplied all their Wide Format print devices. One day they told me that they were going to be supplying tablets to all their engineers working in the field and eliminate wide format printing altogether.  The initial rollout of the project resulted in a much higher than anticipated instance of tablets that met an untimely demise after falling to the mine floor.  Replacement expenses quickly mounted to the point that they returned to printing.

Another company I observed had their servers hacked and all their digitized engineering documents were held for ransom.  Fortunately, they still had printed output that they were able to rely on.  In the end, they got their documents back but only after paying a hefty price!

The myth of the paperless office is still in its infancy. Will it get there?  In time, I suspect yes but it's not going to be near term and until then, players in the AEC vertical will continue to rely on Wide Format Printing to a great extent.

If you’re looking for a Wide Format Plotter or Scanner, it might be well worth your time to give one of the print professionals here at Cansel a call to explore the possibilities.