The aim of this event is to inspire ideas and emerging businesses based on the re-evolution of graphic and visual communication, sectors in the midst of transformation affected by technological change, the economic crisis and the obligation to provide a response to new users who demand tailor-made graphic products. Around thirty experts from various countries will identify the areas in which printing and imaging have great growth potential.  

The Image & Print World Congress will be divided into seven sessions: Overview Global Printing Industry; Full Colour Process Management; Multiple media printing; Social Media: New Business Opportunities; Digital Publishing; How to innovate: Interactive Image and Printing, Web-to-Print; and Shoot and Create.

The list of speakers includes Nick Waite, Head of Market Research at Smithers Pira; David Preskett, European Professional Print Director at Canon; Claudio Marconato, expert in digital imaging; Hugo Rodríguez, Professor of photography techniques; Chris Bondy, from the School of Media Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology; Raúl Suárez, CEO of Zinio International; Tony Hodgson, Director of Print On Demand Initiative (PODi) in Europe; Javier Rigal, CEO of Service Point; Siegfried Blume, interior designer; Jennifer Mat, President of Web2Print Experts and Michael Jostmeier, Professor of Media Design /CGI Imaging Georg Simon Ohm University, Nuremberg.

The sessions -that will provide simultaneous translation- will combine success stories and technical contents with their application in business to increase competitiveness and improve companies' results. It will be a congress in which to talk about business solutions for imaging and printing.

Everything to do with printing on multiple substrates will be especially relevant in a session that will present the experience of companies that use digital printing technology to personalise all types of products: from bath screens to sportswear, tiles and textiles to images for decoration and interior design.

Another session will be dedicated to new business opportunities that social networks offer the world of graphic and visual communication. Experts will analyse the change in graphic product consumer habits, the creation of contents suitable for printing by end users thanks to new technologies and the Instagram phenomenon, among other social networks.  Other topics will be interactive imaging and printing applications and "web to print", with the presentation of trends, possibilities of innovation via augmented reality, implementation of QR codes and on-demand printing.

The Congress will also feature the new business models arising from digital publishing of contents for multiple channels and devices, such as tablets and smart phones.

The more technical aspects will include the importance of colour management from digital image capture to print as a way of guaranteeing work success and also saving money. Experts will talk about 3D virtual tests, remote approval systems, the work of photographers, quality of images and their publication on digital devices. This session will end with an explanation of how digital photographer has led to new ways to capture and create images. Three dimensionality, retouching and CGI (Computer Generated Image) treatment will be some of the topics.

Lastly, the Image & Print World Congress will also present the main trends of the global digital printing market, with special focus on Europe. This system will be compared to others, such as offset, flexography and screen printing, in terms of production and costs. The new market niches where digital printing can offer new business opportunities will also be identified.     

According to the President of Graphispag.digital's Organising Committee, Rafael Farrés, the Image & Print World Congress aims to be "a discussion forum in which new trends of the printing market can be analysed and shared thanks to the vision and experience of experts from different countries". For Farrés, the printing industry, as occurs in other sectors, is also becoming globalised. "Most of the demand for printed material already comes from global companies.  Our clients demand different and more innovative solutions that have added value. In the congress, we aim to debate the challenges and opportunities of our sector from this viewpoint," he said.

For the President of Sonimagfoto & Multimedia, Enric Galve, professional photography companies have to throw themselves into getting to know their customers, both regular clients and new ones they can incorporate and, that in Image & Print World, can find inspiration for emerging businesses. "There are still niches to be discovered in which images continue to have an exclusive and differential value. Technology makes photography an essential element in new graphic applications and we have to be creative and very proactive in order to detect new trends and tastes in terms of image clients and know how to respond with new photographic products," said Galve.

The Image & Print World Congress is an educational space held in the setting of Graphispag.digital and Sonimagfoto & Multimedia aimed at graphic arts and related companies, photographers, photography labs, advertising agencies, graphic and industrial designers, heads of marketing, publishers, among other professionals in sectors that use printing and images in their activity.