Widening Options

You have to consider the printer and ink combination, whether the application is indoor or outdoor, how color-saturated the print will be, the quality you want, how long the print needs to last, and if it will be laminated, hung or put on a floor.

About 70 percent of wide-format ink-jet applications will use bond papers, either coated or uncoated, according to Doug Von Dollen, large format product manager at Rittenhouse, which recently conducted a market survey. Another 15 to 20 percent of the market is for photo-based papers, a rapidly expanding category with the advent of more accurate ink-jet color, says Von Dollen, who markets both bond and photo-based papers for Champion. Specialty media—canvas, Tyvek, films, adhesives—are usually the most expensive and comprise 10-15 percent of the market.