Strategy October 28, 2025
PRINTING United Expo 2025: Decoration Trends & Equipment Upgrades
Advancements in direct-to-film, on-demand production and UV printing were among the solutions touted by equipment makers.
Key Takeaways
• Direct-to-film (DTF) technology dominated the PRINTING United Expo show floor, with manufacturers showing off equipment to help make the process more efficient.
• Print-on-demand emerged as another leading trend with more than half of decorators now offering it in-house and industry leaders calling it a “business model, not a printing method,” enabling automation, personalization and faster fulfillment without manual intervention.
• UV and UV-DTF printing innovations captured attention for their ability to create high-perceived-value imprints and special effects for hard goods.
Orlando was the place to be last week for promo suppliers and distributors, apparel decorators and commercial printers looking for the latest and greatest technologies to power their operations. Equipment manufacturers at PRINTING United Expo showed off an array of innovations to help make prints more vibrant, production more efficient or to amp up branding with standout special effects.
Here are a few highlights from the show, held from Oct. 22 to 24 at the Orange County Convention Center.
Direct-to-Film in a Flash
Direct-to-film (DTF) printers, transfers, inks and related technology were scattered throughout the show floor, with education sessions devoted to how the popular decoration technique is evolving. In fact, DTF transfers are the most common heat-transfer technology decorators employ, with 65.7% of those surveyed in the most recent State of the Decorated Apparel Industry report counting DTF among their offerings. Among decorators who use heat-transfer technologies specifically, 88.5% are offering DTF transfers, according to the report, which is released quarterly by Apparelist and PRINTING United Alliance.
“It’s such a defining tech in today’s apparel decoration market,” said Cassie Green, content director for Apparelist, during a presentation on the Alliance research team’s findings.
There were a number of solutions to make DTF printing more efficient on display at this year’s Expo. ROQ US showed off the Impress, an automatic DTF printer, which includes automated stations to place DTF transfers in the same location on a garment every time, operate the heat press, peel the film off the transfer and remove the garment from the pallet and onto a conveyor, said Mike Dolph, part of ROQ’s service team.
“This is our newest piece of equipment,” Dolph said. “A single operator can do about 500 pieces an hour on this machine with no assistance from anyone else.”
Though DTF will continue to gain traction in the decoration industry, Dolph said it’s not a replacement for screen printing. “For high quantities and high volume, screen is always going to be king,” he added.
‘On-Demand Is Everything’
Another giant trend evident throughout the expo was the shift toward print-on-demand (POD). “It should be treated as a business model, not a printing method,” Green said during her session on the state of decorated apparel. “Most shops are adopting POD either as a main focus or complementary facet of their business. This trend is not going away.”
More than half (53.7%) of decorators Apparelist and the Alliance surveyed said they currently offer POD services in-house, and 74.3% said they expect POD sales to increase this year, compared to last.
Rusty Pepper, head of global markets and partnerships at Taylor OnDemand, spoke about the state of print-on-demand at PRINTING United Expo in Orlando.
Rusty Pepper, head of global markets and partnerships at Taylor OnDemand, described POD as the shift from “analog to digital manufacturing,” during an education session at the expo. Taylor OnDemand is part of Taylor Corp., parent company of Counselor Top 40 distributor Taylor Promo Marketing (asi/333647), Counselor Top 40 supplier ADG Promo Products (asi/97270) and other print and promo firms.
“You’re basically providing print-ready art files and letting them flow directly into production without any manual manipulation, no prepress, no back-and-forth, pure automation,” he said. “It could be quantities of one, 10, 100 or 1,000 – it doesn’t matter.”
The model removes a lot of the friction that has existed with traditional print and promo ordering and opens opportunities for expanding into new markets while also freeing up salespeople to focus on building relationships, rather than “babysitting orders,” he added.
Throughout the expo, there were plenty of examples of the power of POD. Of particular note was an activation organized by Stahls’ (asi/88984), allowing attendees to journey through the workflow of its Fulfill Engine platform. Participants picked up a passport from the expo’s Apparel Zone, collected a blank sweatshirt from Lane Seven Apparel (asi/66246), headed over to the Melco booth to get custom embroidery, then finished at the Stahls’ booth to add a DTF and LIQUID 3D transfer application.
John LeDrew, in charge of business development at Melco International, said the booth was buzzing, with attendees eager to see the Melco Summit embroidery machine in action and receive a personalized design.
“On-demand is everything,” LeDrew said. With embroidery, “[on-demand] personalization allows for names, monograms and in some cases even full customized, digitized logos.”
In addition to showing the power of on-demand production, the activation allowed Melco to demystify a decoration process that many find intimidating. “We’re changing perspectives,” LeDrew said. “Embroidery is not as complicated as it looks.”
UV Printing Developments
Also trending at the show were UV and UV-DTF printers, ideal for customizing an array of hard goods. Decorating equipment vendor Hirsch Solutions was highlighting an all-in-one UV-DTF printer from Mimaki (asi/16001), which allows decorators to produce vibrant, durable transfers, even for curved or uneven surfaces.
Carlos Uribe of Hirsch Solutions shows off drinkware decorated with a UV-DTF print.
“Because it’s UV ink, you get special effects like gloss and texture – you can build up layers of ink,” said Carlos Uribe, sign and graphics technical engineer for Hirsch. The result is a “prime-quality product that’s unique and very desirable right now,” he added, noting that UV-DTF is a great technique for handling short runs and rush orders.
Arcus Printers, part of Axiom America, was showcasing a flatbed UV printer, which can accommodate both direct-to-substrate and UV-DTF sheet printing. The major advancement of the machine, said Brian Belk, managing director of Axiom America, is the vision scan system. “You can lay items onto the bed, and the system automatically recognizes where they are,” he said, adding that it’s a huge time-saver since it eliminates the need for templates and manual registration while still allowing for seamless high-speed precision printing on irregularly placed objects.