Beyond colour: the value of black-and-white digital print

Did you know that black-and-white print amounts to 335 billion A4/letter pages and represents 60% of the total digital cut-sheet production print volume globally1? From these figures alone, it’s clear that the need for black and white print remains high. And, our continued investment into mono production technology, is a result of this healthy demand.
Since the launch of our varioPRINT 6000 almost 20 years ago, we’ve introduced a steady stream of updates to existing devices. Now in its seventh iteration, the varioPRINT 6000 TITAN Series offers reliable productivity and automated options including integrated plan-ahead scheduling, proactive alerts and remote monitoring to support operators. And, with upgradable speed configurations and workflow integration with a range of finishing options, customers have even greater flexibility from investing in a product that evolves as their business needs do.
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Why digital mono printing is still fundamental

It’s the very nature of black-and-white applications that means mono digital printing remains an essential technology for a number of core applications, which include, but are not limited to:

  • Books
  • Direct mail
  • Manuals
  • Brochures
  • Transactional prints (such as bills and statements)
The volumes of these applications have led to the continued requirement for mono production and its value, making it an attractive market for print service providers (PSPs).

The great news is that for some of these applications, recent data shows not just steady demand, but also growth opportunities. Take books, for example. In 2021, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales of printed books hit an all-time high of 827 million. This growth can also be attributed to the fact that younger readers are increasingly turning to print for its tactile, physical qualities2. Meanwhile, textbooks have made a comeback because, following a shift towards online resources, many academics have subsequently acknowledged that students learn better with print, which is also supported by a number of studies.

Demand is especially strong in the pharmaceutical and household products sectors - from statements and invoices, to pharmacy leaflets and technical manuals.

Lastly, the demand for packaging inserts also continues to grow, driven by consumer-protection regulations that mandate manufacturers to supply accurate operating instructions, manuals, health and safety warnings, and detailed product information in multiple languages.

Meeting demand with flexible digital technology


In response to these growth opportunities, we’re adapting our service offering and technologies to support customer growth and help them to become more productive.

From providing spaces and industry forums such as Canon’s Future Book Forum, a unique gathering of global book publishers, printers and thought leaders to ignite new ideas for innovation and growth – to more direct approaches. For example, receiving and implementing feedback directly from customers to solve real production issues and enhance our technologies to solve them.

Our Gemini Instant Duplex Technology in the varioPRINT 6000 series, is such an example of technology developed based on real customer needs. It uses two imaging belts to print simultaneously on both sides of the media. And, with near-perfect front-to-back registration, users can deliver premium quality print after print.

With the addition of a special lightweight media kit and air guide, users are able to print on ultra-light media. This eliminates the need to stop the printer to turn the sheet and substantially reduces the stress on the paper compared with when you fuse each side separately which boosts productivity.

For added flexibility, our sheetfed mono digital production printers – the varioPRINT 6000 TITAN series and the varioPRINT 140 series – offer both permanent and temporary speed upgrade options. This way, users can upgrade their speeds based on production demand peaks, usually driven by buying trends such as seasonal sales increases.

So, what does this tell us? It’s clear that, despite misconceptions, black-and-white printing is not only stable but growing across some of the core applications it serves. With the right partner by their side, print businesses can better understand market shifts and adopt technologies that will support production and demand, allowing them to take advantage of all the opportunities for growth that this sector has to offer.

Want to find out how our services and technologies have supported print businesses to take advantage of mono digital print opportunities and achieve business growth?

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  1. Global Production Printing and Copying Market Forecast: 2023-2028 (Released 2023)
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/feb/09/reading-is-so-sexy-gen-z-turns-to-physical-books-and-libraries?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other