Widening Options

"As color has become more sophisticated, there's more and more little niche applications," Von Dollen notes—short-run posters, point-of-sale displays, trade show booths, courtroom graphics, corporate presentations, billboards and bus wraps, to name a few.

"The problem is, there's a fair amount of variation even within products from the same brand," he says. This can lead to issues with dot control, smearing and dry time. "It's been a frustration in the past, but manufacturers have made big strides to get standardization and repeatability," Von Dollen says.