Charles Babbage invented the first mechanical printer in the 1800s. It’s been over two decades since that first printer, and printers have come a long long way since then.

But, are printers dying out? Has tech made printers obsolete? Well, it’s a strong no from us. Printers are useful and will continue to be useful. To prove our point, I’m going to debunk 3 print-related myths below.

Print is Bad for the Environment

We’ll admit that print costs paper, and paper comes from trees. But, we think the paper industry is often unfairly criticized for being bad for the environment. On top of being recyclable, paper used for printing comes from managed forests or farms. These managed forests or forms are certified and replant about 4 million trees a day – 4x more than they harvest. Many printing companies have also switched to vegetable-based inks and actively promote recycling efforts too.

Print Marketing is Dead

Again, this is not true at all. Just because digital marketing is the norm nowadays, it doesn’t necessarily mean that print marketing is ineffective or dead. In fact, 4 in 5 households say that they read or at least scan direct mail ads. And, direct mail marketing yields a 13-to-1 return on investment ratio. Still, digital marketing is effective. Experts recommend creating a strategy that blends print and digital marketing together.

Print Can’t Be Personalized

These days, personalization is important. There seems to be a common misconception that every run of the printing machine means just one uniform design. Technology makes this myth as wrong as any other. Elements of your printout can be changed from one printed piece to the next. If you’re interested in this type of technology for your business, we’d suggest looking into variable data printing.

I’ll be creating a blog all about variable data printing in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout if you’re interested!