How did the art printing industry evolve before print on demand existed?

Before inkjet printing emerged around 2000-2001, artists had only two options: lithography (mass poster printing) or serigraphy (screen printing). Both required large minimum orders - often 300+ prints - because you had to pay for screens and setup costs. Publishers would gamble on which images might sell, and they’d end up with massive warehouses full of unsold inventory. Most artists couldn’t get their work printed at all without going through publishers. Inkjet printing revolutionized this by allowing one-off prints with no minimums, enabling artists to bypass publishers entirely and print any image they wanted.

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Asked by general audience · Answered by Nick Friend · art-marketing-podcast · 2022-02-27