Image source: EPSON.
While today’s business world is digitally driven, many industries continue to depend on paper for good reason — it is oftentimes the most straightforward and convenient way to record, communicate, and understand information. Print will always be a key part of business, even in the digital age, and should be utilized alongside digital processes to complement and enhance workflow.
From creating an impactful experience to maximizing productivity, there are several reasons why printing is still important for businesses.
Create a Memorable Experience
Wide-format printing offers a variety of benefits including the ability to communicate large amounts of visual and technical information both quickly and precisely. It can also be very effective at engaging clients and customers, providing more versatility beyond an e-mail in their inbox. Research has linked printed materials to better retention of information, finding that printed marketing materials tend to outperform digital when it comes to reading comprehension, recall, emotional impact, and persuasiveness.
Printing in color can also transform documents and make them easier to comprehend. Studies have shown that color outperforms standard communications in black and white, and materials printed in color are much more likely to be read. Findings also suggest that more readers prefer to engage with colorful messaging. Printing and bringing rich, tangible documents including colorful presentations, reports, blueprints, drawings, posters, and more can help leave a lasting impression on colleagues, clients, partners, and customers.
Wide-format printers can produce prints with outstanding clarity, sharpness and brilliant color, making an impact and providing reliability and professionalism to all projects.
Maximize Productivity and Focus on the Project at Hand
While many devices today provide all sorts of information at the touch of a button, reading and referencing printed materials can be more effective at drawing a reader’s full attention. It provides a space free of distractions, multitasking and other digital interruptions. With print, whether it’s a blueprint or a multi-page presentation, you are putting yourself at the forefront. Multiple colleagues can gather, review, and mark up documents together.
In addition, there are some work environments where tablets, mobile devices, or laptops are less accessible and less efficient. With printed materials, there’s no concern or need to find an outlet at a job site, or scramble to get a signal to continue the project. There is also less digital fatigue and eye strain when reading tangible, wide-format documents, compared to exclusively referencing project details on smaller devices. Instead of scrolling and zooming in on documents to view updated notes, businesses can maximize productivity and run much more efficiently with a wide-format printer that allows them to print what they need, when they need it.
Easily View and Deliver Intricate Details
Professionals working in architecture, engineering, construction, and design depend on precise definition and lines in quality blueprints, renderings, and documents to build to exact specifications. No matter the project you’re working on, it’s important to have the right printing technology to make your prints crisp, clear, and accurate.
Every tool and technique that is brought into a room, whether it’s a client presentation or vendor meeting, should serve to bring your ideas to life. Delivery matters, and many memorable meetings and proposals often include a printed element that goes beyond the digital display.
Presenters look more professional when referencing printed note cards instead of repeatedly looking at a device. Printing out presentations and documents allows diagrams, charts and images to be scaled, providing an up-close look at your work. This can help enhance the meeting experience and display professionalism and attention to detail — in person and on paper.
Collaborate with Team Members
Not every project is designed for full digital collaboration, especially for AEC professionals, graphic artists, and product designers who depend on wide-format, high-quality prints and resources to complete projects. Sometimes, project revisions, idea sharing, and team building can happen during conversations and over printed documents spread out on a table.
Project delays can potentially happen if teams outsource all print jobs and wait for them to complete and deliver, or solely work on digital files and accidentally overwrite or delete team members’ edits. With a robust wide-format printer in-house, print jobs can be much faster, streamlined and reliable, keeping you up and running.
In addition, collaboration across hybrid teams including on-site, off-site, remote employees, contractors, and more, no longer has to be a daunting task. Advanced printers with versatile functionality can help improve workflow across multiple departments and offices. Team members can receive and access documents from e-mails and network folders, print and make necessary edits and changes with colleagues, and then scan and send updates to all stakeholders – quickly and efficiently.
Essential Functionality
While some people may be more familiar with older, bulky office plotters that have a significant premium cost, today’s wide-format printers have evolved to become more compact, easy-to-use and cost-effective in the long run. Even in an increasingly digital world, business workflow is an essential combination of print and digital files.
Printing will continue to remain one of the key components to improving your business’ bottom line and delivering success.
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Viewpoint articles are tech-focused editorial written by experts from the CAD industry. This article was written by Jacob Hardin from Epson.
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