Key Insights from Printing United Expo 2025: What Printers Really Want in Web-to-Print

Blog Summary: Printers reveal their biggest challenges, emerging industry trends, and what they truly expect from modern Web-to-Print solutions. This summary captures the conversations at Printing United Expo 2025 that shaped our understanding of the industry’s rapidly evolving needs.

The Printing United Expo 2025, hosted by the PRINTING United Alliance, brought together a record-breaking 30,000+ attendees and 800+ exhibitors at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, creating one of the most energetic and insight-rich gatherings the print industry has seen.

From commercial and packaging to apparel, wide-format, and in-plant, every segment buzzed with innovation and candid conversations about real workflow challenges. Through these discussions, one message stood out clearly: printers are urgently seeking simpler, smarter, and more connected Web-to-Print solutions.

This blog uncovers the key insights gathered from those conversations by team OnPrintShop at the Print Expo Orlando 2025.

So, let’s dive deep.

How Did Conversations at Printing United Expo 2025 Shape Our Experience?

The discussions helped us map out the key pain points that continue to limit print business growth, analyze the ongoing trends that are already redefining the future of the print industry, and figure out what actually do the print service providers actually want to scale their business, be relevant in the market with modern technology, and stay profitable.

From small to mid-sized print shops to enterprise-level franchises, nearly every attendee we met at the Printing United 2025 Orlando had one common theme: time has become the most precious resource.

Printers told us they want fewer systems to handle, fewer bottlenecks, fewer manual steps, and more automation, more integration, and more visibility.

So, let’s isolate the pivotal takeaways into pain points, current trends, and wants of the printing industry based on the conversations we had at the expo.

The Biggest Pain Points Printers Shared with Us

Starting with the friction points that surfaced for the print business owners in 2025.

Not Having Online Storefronts and B2B Portals

Many printers admitted that they still operate with basic upload order forms or rely on email-based ordering. This has several drawbacks, inefficiency being the biggest one. As modern consumers prefer online shopping, where they do not need to speak to a person to place an order, print businesses cannot sustain their growth without an online print shop, period.

The solution is robust, branded online storefronts and B2B portals that reduce manual communication and allow customers to self-serve.

Manual Workflows Still Slow Businesses Down

Manual quoting, order entry, proofing, and job approvals continue to eat up hours of staff time each week, especially in complex customized orders. Almost every printer had the same story. They started off with a denial of investing in a web-to-print system and relied on the conventional pen and paper methods, believing it to be way simpler and cost-effective. But their beliefs were shaken when all of a sudden it started to take hours to track down a quote from even a couple of months ago.

The desire for simple, MIS-free workflow automation tools was stronger than ever.

Difficulty in Integrating Legacy Systems

Legacy systems have molded the workflow of the present printing business operations, but with modern technology like web-to-print, there are new workflow designs that are more efficient. However, several printers face the latest print workflows solution adaptability challenges. Challenges like integrating the leading legacy solutions into a modern workflow.

Therefore, printers are seeking integration-ready platforms that eliminate data duplication and provide a seamless user experience.

Laborious Vendor Support and Training

Once you have digitalized your printing business, support and training play a crucial role. You have to train your employees and stay updated with all the advancements as you scale your business. Thus, considering the personalized support and training aspect is one of the critical steps for choosing the right web-to-print for your business.

Poor Reporting and Dashboard Visibility

Lack of clear insights into orders, sales, and stocks keeps many shops in a reactive state. To run a profitable print shop, you must have a clear idea of your business numbers. But tracking multiple factors manually can be a daunting task. And the attendees of the expo were looking for a solution that makes reporting and analytics simpler.

The solution we provide is reporting automation. It lets you record and stay updated to the last decimal in real time.

Proofing and Job Ticketing Bottlenecks in Wide-Format Printing

Several print shops explained that wide-format jobs often go through multiple email loops, causing production delays. They want automated proofing and standardized job tickets that are easy for customers and internal teams to use. Due to the bottlenecks, they run into a variety of issues like repeated proofing cycles, unclear job specifications, missing artwork, inconsistent job ticket formats across customers, and miscommunication between design and production teams.

Trends Redefining the Future of Print Businesses

Emerging patterns at the expo revealed powerful trends reshaping print. From shifting priorities to evolving business models, these developments show how printers are adapting and what they expect from technology going forward.

Time Saving Over Features: A Shift in Priorities

A strong shift was evident across all conversations: printers no longer evaluate solutions based on the length of the feature list. Instead, they ask a simpler question:

“How much time will this save my team?”

Whether it’s order entry, job ticketing, artwork processing, or approvals, time is now the metric that defines value. At the 2025 Printing United Expo, many printers expressed that they would rather adopt a simpler order management system that saves them hours each week than a feature-rich platform that requires months of setup.

Integration-Ready Solutions in High Demand

With shops juggling multiple systems, an integration-ready W2P platform has become non-negotiable. Printers want tools that connect seamlessly with MIS, prepress automation, accounting systems, and shipping tools.

Many attendees specifically mentioned that they evaluate solutions based on how easily they connect with Fiery JobFlow, PressWise, and other automation tools.

Industry is now moving in the direction of workflow unification instead of software accumulation.

Simplifying Tech Stacks: MIS + Web-to-Print

One of the most significant trends we observed is the desire to simplify. Instead of having separate systems for storefronts, job tickets, proofs, production workflows, and reporting, printers want fewer tools that do more and do it well.

The industry is moving toward Web-to-Print platforms that act as the central nervous system of the print business, bridging MIS, prepress, production, and shipping. This consolidation reduces costs, complexity, and errors while improving efficiency.

Apparel and Trade Segments Showing Fastest Adoption

Apparel decorators, DTF/DTG printers, and promotional product businesses have been rapid adopters of Web-to-Print. Their reasons are practical: high order volume, personalization requirements, and the need for visual proofs make online ordering nearly essential.

Trade printers, on the other hand, are adopting Web-to-Print to manage reseller relationships, streamline order intake, and maintain accuracy across large customer networks. These groups were some of the most enthusiastic visitors at the Printing United Expo 2025.

B2B Portals and Franchise Models on the Rise

Multi-location brands and franchise networks expressed a clear need for centralized yet flexible ordering experiences. Corporate teams want to standardize products, pricing, and brand assets while allowing individual locations to manage their own ordering and fulfillment.

This centralized-decentralized hybrid model is becoming one of the fastest-growing Web-to-Print use cases we’ve seen.

Printers and Marketers Collaborating: Reseller Model Growth

More marketers, agencies, and print brokers are partnering with print manufacturers to offer end-to-end services. Printers want systems that support this reseller structure, giving partners the ability to place orders through dedicated portals while maintaining transparency and control.

This shift signals a new business model for print, one driven by collaboration rather than competition.

What Printers Really Want in Web-to-Print

The conversations made it clear that printers have evolved expectations from their Web-to-Print platforms. Their priorities now center on ease, automation, flexibility, and long-term scalability, not simply software features.

AI-enhanced Workflows and Automation

AI was one of the most frequently discussed topics at the Printing United Expo. Printers are increasingly curious about how AI can enhance customer experience, eliminate bottlenecks, and reduce manual work.

They want AI tools that generate product descriptions, enhance images, analyze artwork, predict next steps, and help customers make decisions faster. The excitement around AI shows that printers are ready to embrace the next evolution of automation, as long as it integrates naturally into their workflow.

Ease of Setup and Responsive Support Valued Over Customization

It became clear that printers no longer want heavily customized systems that take months to implement. Instead, they want platforms that work out of the box, with flexible configuration options but without deep development.

More importantly, they want a support team that understands printing, responds quickly, and guides them through every step of the journey. The desire for a strong partnership was louder than the desire for endless customization.

Larger Printers Asked for API Flexibility and Scalability

Enterprise-level printers approached us with a different set of expectations: scalable infrastructure, robust APIs, secure user permissions, and flexible workflows that adapt to the needs of multiple departments or locations.

They want Web-to-Print systems that can grow with them, not force them to redesign processes every time they expand.

Interest in Training Resources and Onboarding Materials

A large number of printers emphasized that training is just as important as technology. They want structured onboarding programs, video walkthroughs, documentation, and ongoing learning opportunities.

The message was clear: technology adoption becomes successful when customers feel supported long after go-live.

Need for Multi-Location and User Management Tools

Franchises, in-plants, government agencies, and enterprise networks need a centralized way to manage users, locations, catalogs, pricing, permissions, and reporting.

This use case is rapidly expanding and highlights the growing importance of Web-to-Print in enterprise environments.

Scalable and Simple Workflow Automation without MIS Complexity

Perhaps the single most powerful theme was the desire for workflow automation that doesn’t require the complexity of traditional MIS systems. Printers want automation that is easy to set up, intuitive to manage, and scalable as the business grows.

The era of overly complex MIS-driven automation is giving way to intelligent, accessible, Web-to-Print-led workflows.

The Path Ahead for Print Businesses

The insights from the Printing United Expo 2025 Orlando confirm that print businesses across all segments are ready for a new phase of digital transformation. They want an intuitive web-to-print solution with fewer systems, more automation, better integration, and partners who support them, not just software they have to figure out on their own.

For us at OnPrintShop, these conversations reaffirm our commitment to:

• simplifying Web-to-Print adoption,
• elevating workflow automation with AI,
• expanding integration capabilities,
• empowering multi-location and B2B workflows, and
• delivering world-class onboarding and customer support.

“Every conversation at the Printing United Alliance Expo strengthened our mission: to build Web-to-Print solutions that make print businesses faster, smarter, and more connected.”

OnPrintShop TeamSo, if you are looking for a one-stop web2print solution, book your free demo with OnPrintShop and witness the true potential of your custom print business.