By Ed Avis
Andy Heling, owner of Blue Print Service Company in Appleton, Wisconsin, is conservative when it comes to forecasting sales. He said “I think business will be flat” in reply to a question about 2026 sales in a recent IRgA survey.
Andy Heling
But when he starts talking about the year ahead, he sounds a bit more optimistic. He says sales are growing in his graphics department; clients continue to order new equipment; and even his traditional reprographics work – printing, scanning, as-builts – is holding steady.
“I guess I'm encouraged by signs that the economy remains strong, especially in commercial building,” he says. “And I see that residential is stable. … I always think that interest rates play a factor in investing, and we’re in an environment where interest rates are trending downwards. I think that the trends are pointing in the right direction to believe that business will remain stable in 2026. But I guess it would not surprise me if we had a better year than we had the prior year.”
Heling’s opinion of 2026 is somewhat more conversative than the average respondent to the IRgA survey, which was sent out on January 5 and was answered by 18 large-format imaging businesses.
Ten of the survey respondents (56 percent) said they think business will be “somewhat better” in 2026 compared to 2025, and three respondents (17 percent) said they think business will be “much better.” Four were in the “flat” category, and just one said “I think business will drop somewhat.”
How Was 2025?
The survey also asked how business was in 2025 compared to 2024.
The big winner was color graphics – 56 percent of respondents said sales were up in that category; 38 percent said they were flat; and 6 percent said they were down. Scanning also did well: 47 percent up; 40 percent flat; 13 percent down.
Less successful in 2025 was monochrome plan printing: 22 percent said business was up; 33 percent said flat; and 45 percent said down. Digital services, such as downloads and archiving, also fared somewhat poorly: 13 percent up; 50 percent flat; 37 percent down.
The other two services included in the survey were nearly flat across the board: Small-format printing was 44 percent up; 13 percent flat; and 44 percent down. And Equipment leasing/sales was 45 percent up; 36 percent flat; and 19 percent down.
Transition to Color Graphics
Reprographics firms have been gradually transitioning to color graphics work for 30 years, and that trend continued in 2025. An open-ended question the survey asked respondents to add details to their reply to the question about predicted 2026 growth, and three of them specifically mentioned color graphics:
“Our profit centers are changing and evolving. 3 years ago, I would have said we're a reprographics company. Today I say we're in the graphics and sign business.”
“I project that our traditional repro sales will continue to operate flat to slight loss, but optimistic that graphics and equipment sales will show modest growth.”
“Due to the decline in monochrome plan printing, I have retooled the shop to include more color graphic work such as signs, wallcovering and ADA signs.”
Worried About Sales Growth
Another question in the survey asked about concerns. The biggest concern of all is how to increase sales: 50 percent of respondents said they are “very concerned” about that, and 44 percent said they are “somewhat concerned.”
Another point of stress is getting the business ready for an ownership transition: 56 percent are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about that.
Naturally, inflation also is causing worry. Seventy-eight percent of respondents are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the rising costs of consumables, and 72 percent are “very” or “somewhat” concerned increasing costs of printers and other equipment.
Using IRgA Services
Finally, a question asked respondents which IRgA services they used in the previous year. Number one was the IRgA newsletter and website, which was read by 88 percent of respondents. Fifty-three percent of respondents attended an IRgA webinar or watched a recording of one, and 30 percent attended the IRgA Workshop in Washington DC.
Click here for information about the 2026 slate of webinars!