Our Top 10 Printing Facts

Printing is integral part of our business. Although we manufacture and supply our own A4 sheet labels, the main purpose of these labels is for them to printed on and used by our customers. Printing is still a huge industry around the world and shows no signs of being replaced any time soon. We receive lots of publications, industry magazines and visit many printing related websites on a regular basis. It's a fascinating industry to work in, with plenty of new developments and innovative and creative ideas. With this in mind here's our top 10 printing industry related facts:

The UK is the world’s fifth largest producer of printed products

942 million inkjet cartridges were sold worldwide in 2012, containing enough ink to fill 4.5 Olympic sized swimming pools

Black printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids or commodities on the planet, it costs over $2,700 per gallon! This is massively more expensive than oil, which currently costs only around $2.26 per gallon!

In 2005, more than 45 trillion pages were printed globally

Johann Gutenburg developed European printing technology in 1440, although printing is considered to be one of the four greatest Chinese inventions with evidence of the first printing from 684-705 AD

The UK imports 10 million laser toner cartridges and 30 million inkjet cartridges each year

William Caxton is thought to be the first English person to introduce a printing press into the country

The laser printer was invented by Xerox in 1969 and was built from a modified photocopier

The world’s smallest printed book measures only 0.74 x 0.75 mm (0.0291 x 0.0295 in)!

The printing industry employs over 140,000 people in the UK