Research

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What is Print? A Characterization of the Printing Industry in the United States

Area: Industry Definition and Strategic Analysis
Document # PIC-2007-A

Print touches our lives constantly in the form of product packaging, books, newspapers, magazines, mail, or any of the wide variety of printed items we use every day. We consume it without even thinking about it. To treat printing as a stand-alone product, service, or process is impossible. It is a manufacturing industry in the strictest sense, but it is also a service industry. There are a number of other industries and services intertwined with printing, such as paper manufacturing, ink manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, print finishing, graphic design, marketing, distribution, mailing, and fulfillment services.

This report will briefly touch on these ancillary industries as needed, but is not an exhaustive discussion of the relationships (be they financial, historical, or physical) between all of these and the printing industry. Instead, this report is intended to be an introduction to printing and its many facets. References, an appendix on the history of the industry, and a suggested reading list have been provided for further study.

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Tags: US printing industry reports

Author

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Printing Industry Center

Rochester Institute of Technology