The global wallcovering market is huge. Spherical Insights has the global market at nearly $31 billion in 2020, reaching approximately $50 billion by 2030. As for the digitally printed portion of the printed wallcoverings market, analysts say it is growing rapidly, but there are differences in overall expectations.

MarketsandMarkets places the inkjet wallpaper side at $4.7 billion in 2022, reaching $13.1 billion by 2027. That would be a CAGR of 22.4%. Grand View Research had the market at $2.7 billion in 2022, growing by 18.2% through 2030. Business Research Institute placed the digitally printed wallpaper market at $2.44 billion in 2020, reaching $5.4 billion by 2026.

Indications of Wallpaper Market Growth

Digital ink manufacturers see similar trends, particularly in terms of how the market is growing as it moves away from gravure and screen, driven by the traditional advantages of inkjet printing. In a way, it is much like how digital printing is growing in the textle marketplace.

Michael Bush, marketing communications manager, FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group, observed that digital printing of wall coverings was essentially made possible by the expansion of roll-to-roll wide format hardware into the décor market.

“It has been possible to produce digitally printed wall coverings since the introduction of scanning wide format print systems,” Bush noted. “However, an essential requirement for wall coverings is to have low-odor inks for interior use and the introduction of low-odor UV inks, eco-solvent and latex inks made this possible. The first applications were for environmental graphics in retail and commercial spaces offered by sign and display PSPs.”

David Lopez, product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America Inc., noted that digital printing gained popularity for wallcoverings in the early 2000s, as advancements in technology made it more accessible, cost-effective, and capable of producing high-quality, color-consistent designs on various substrates.

“Before digital printing, gravure printing and screen printing were the methods traditionally used for creating large wallcoverings,” Lopez said. However, these methods were costly and could not accommodate quick turnaround times.

“Today, it is common to consistently change up a wall display, whether to accommodate the changing seasons or to publicize the next big project,” Lopez noted. “Digital printing provides advantages for sign shops to be flexible and make these quick changes, as well as offer an expanded color gamut to better meet branding and color requirements.

“Additionally, digital printing offers the ability to recreate intricate patterns with photographic quality, reproduce previous jobs easily, and meet just about any color requirement,” added Lopez. “This offers greater flexibility to print shops and increases output potential compared to traditional printing methods. Today’s digital printers demonstrate remarkable efficiency and productivity, enabling print shops to achieve more with fewer resources.”

Kitt Jones, business development and co-creation manager, Roland DGA, said that digital printing for wallcoverings has been around since digital printing was first developed and introduced.

“However, the ability to do a quality print with inks that can withstand exposure to the elements, human contact, and cleaning fluids – on media that is appropriate for wallcovering applications – has improved greatly over the years,” Jones observed. “Printers have also evolved, allowing for higher production as well as richer colors, unique textures, and stunning dimensional effects, such as those made possible by the Dimensor S, one of the most innovative digital printers in this space.”

“I believe it was first tried maybe 15 years ago, perhaps a bit longer. Wallcoverings could be printed with solvent inks, but it is likely the print quality was not always acceptable and the potential for odor from residual solvent can be an issue,” said Paul Edwards, VP of the digital division at INX International Ink Co.

“With the advent of UV roll-to-roll printers, higher quality images could be obtained and inks could go through Greenguard certification to address any indoor odor-related issues,” Edwards noted. “Latex technology was introduced and became quite popular for wallcoverings since it is water- based and high quality, with low odor.”

“Odor of the printed material is certainly a key factor for adoption, but the release of toxic substances in the surrounding environments was the most important consequence of printing with solvent inks,” noted Marco Zanella, global business development director for INX Europe.

Zanella pointed out that the Greenguard certification, released and promoted by UL, is a legacy program introduced to label furniture components (such as indoor fixtures) that are painted with solvent materials.

“Here in Europe,” continued Zanella, “wallcoverings have been digitized for personalization, customization, contract building and other similar segments. Latex from HP dominates but is being challenged by the UV curable process offered by the Canon Colorado platform, which is a unique interpretation of the energy curable process. Aside from these two processes, Dimense is a special process through which more 3D effects can be obtained. Progressively higher availability of wallcovering substrates, crafted to receive inkjet inks, have helped spread that decoration process in the last 10 years.”

Advantages Driving Wallpaper Market Growth

Regardless of the market, digital printing offers some inherent advantages, most notably the ability to customize products, faster turnaround times and producing smaller runs more effectively. The biggest hurdle is reaching higher run sizes cost-effectively.

The market for digitally printed wallcoverings is fairly similar in those regards.

Lopez pointed out that digital printing offers several advantages to the wallcoverings market, including customization, versatility, and productivity.

“Digital printing allows for highly customizable designs on a variety of compatible substrates and eliminates the need for traditional setup processes, like plate making or screen preparation, which have higher high setup costs,” said Lopez. “Unlike traditional printing methods, digital printing is more cost-effective and offers quicker turnround times for short print runs. This makes it practical for producing small quantities of customized wallcoverings without the need for large minimum order quantities.”

Jones noted that there are many advantages that digital printing brings to the wallcoverings market.

“This technology requires no inventory, it allows for 100 percent customization by design, and it allows for lower costs and better control over production and turnaround time,” added Jones. “The introduction of the Dimensor S, one of the most innovative products available for such applications, is ushering in a new era of customized texture and print-on-demand production that allows for not only unique output, but also a high return on investment.”

Bush noted that inkjet and the wider digital technologies are highly suitable for producing short-run and bespoke wall covering prints.

“Themed and bespoke wallcoverings are popular in the decoration of hotels, hospitals, restaurants, retail and offices,” Bush added. “Important technical requirements for wallcoverings in these interior environments include odorless/low-odor prints; resistance to physical abrasion from scuffing (as for example people scuff against walls in corridors, furniture touches walls in restaurants, or suitcases scuff on walls in hotel rooms); washability and lightfastness for long-term installation. For these type of print applications, the gamut of digital process colors and there is a growing trend to include embellishment processes.

“Eco-solvent, latex, and UV technologies are used widely and are all suitable for wallcoverings, each with their own advantages and limitations,” Bush pointed out. “For example, UV has excellent abrasion and chemical resistance, but it is more challenging to achieve very low odor prints with UV. Latex can be very low odor but can have poor scuff resistance and may require a second process of lamination for abrasion critical applications. Hybrid UV/aqueous technologies could address the requirement for low-odor prints and durability.

“When it comes to industrial mass production of wallpapers by single-pass production, the technology readiness of digital to match the productivity and cost of analog methods is a significant factor,” Bush concluded. “The ability to produce very wide color gamuts, spot colors, special effects, and finishes such as metallics, pearlescents and glitter, often required in wallpaper design, is also a challenge for digital printing.”

“Digital printing brings several advantages to the application,” said Edwards. “First, you can print anything up from one copy of an image at the same cost as 10,000. The variety of images you can create is vastly greater than in the analog process and personalization is possible. With digital printing, you are not restricted in terms of repeat length of an image as you would be with analog. You can have better control of inventory and print-to-order is possible.”

Oscar Vidal, HP large format global director of product portfolio, said that digital printing has revolutionized the wallcoverings market by offering several key advantages.

“One of the most significant benefits is the ability to customize designs, patterns, and images on demand. This level of personalization is highly desirable for interior designers, architects, and homeowners looking for unique wallcoverings,” Vidal said.

“Additionally, digital printing enables quick turnaround times, eliminating the lengthy setup required by traditional printing methods,” added Vidal. “It is also cost-effective for small production runs, making it an ideal choice for businesses and individuals who require limited quantities of wallcoverings. The high-quality printing achieved through digital technology ensures vibrant colors, sharp details, and intricate patterns, enhancing the overall visual appeal.

“Furthermore, digital printing offers versatility, as it can be done on various materials suitable for wallcoverings,” Vidal noted. “This versatility allows for a diverse selection of textures, finishes, and durability options. Lastly, digital printing reduces waste by eliminating excess inventory and minimizing the risk of overproduction, as wallcoverings can be printed on demand.”

Inkjet’s Role in the Wallpaper Industry

At this point, digitally printed wallcoverings have yet to take the dominant share of the wallcoverings market, but growth is there.

“Digital printing has a relatively very small share of the overall wall coverings market, if the huge décor wallpaper market is also considered,” Bush said. “In the sign and display area, there is continuing growth. Inkjet printing dominates in the production of short-run wall covering applications and this has also created a bespoke wall covering market with tailored wallcovering produced by specialist providers.”

“Without the benefit of real data, I think it has reached a significant share of the market where digital technology advantages can be applied,” explained Edwards. “For high volume repeat images, it is likely that digital may have little penetration.”

“While digital printing has gained adoption within the wallcoverings market, I still consider this to be an ‘emerging technology’ within this vertical, as many within the sector are still unfamiliar with digital print and benefits,” Jones said. “With the evolution of on-demand digital printing in other markets, such as object customization/personalization and apparel decoration, it makes sense that this adoption would expand to home décor and wallcoverings.

“In the past, designers and decorators, as well as other industry professionals, were limited to stock designs and having to purchase large quantities of products from overseas sources,” Jones added. “The availability of innovative devices like the Dimensor S – and the DG DIMENSE printing solution – makes it easy to bring production in-house, respond to customer demands, maintain better control over the process, and increase profit margins.”

Lopez said that digital printing has indeed reached a significant share of the wallcovering market.

“Within the past few decades, there have been many technology advancements in digital printers that have led to increased design flexibility, color consistency and substrate compatibility, ideal for the wallcovering market,” said Lopez. “Additionally, these technological advancements have benefited print shops by providing faster turnaround times and cost reduction in the production of wallcoverings.”

Challenges for the Wallpaper Industry

Vidal observed that digital printing had to overcome several challenges to establish its presence in the wallcovering market.

“Initially, it struggled to match the quality of traditional printing methods like screen printing or gravure printing,” Vidal pointed out. “However, advancements in digital printing technology, including improved color accuracy and higher resolution, have enabled digital prints to meet and even exceed the industry’s quality standards. Speed was another challenge, but thanks to automation and smart printing solutions like HP Print OS, print firms can unlock previously unseen efficiencies – such as data analysis of operations or removing repetitive and time-consuming processes.

“Another challenge was ensuring durability, as wallcoverings need to resist wear, tear, and fading,” added Vidal. “Innovations in ink formulations, like the HP Latex inks – which use Aqueous Dispersion Polymerization to produce more durable prints – have addressed this challenge, making digital prints more resistant to fading, water damage, and abrasion. Additionally, digital printing had to ensure compatibility with a wide range of substrates used in wallcoverings, which has also been achieved through advancements in ink formulations and printer technology.

“Lastly, digital printing has become more cost-effective over time, especially for short-run or personalized projects, making it a viable option for the wallcovering market,” Vidal concluded.

Roland DGA’s Jones said that the main challenges have been creating awareness of the printers and the materials, ensuring that prospective customers understand the overall print process, and making sure users have the right combination of printer, ink, and media to support the needs of their clients.

“While these same challenges still exist to some extent with interior designers, architects, and builders, we are seeing a growing interest within this market to bring digital printing in house for the reasons mentioned previously – unique production capabilities, lower costs, better control, increased profits,” Jones said.

“There are several challenges,” Edwards noted. “Not all substrates are suitable for digital print. The surfaces may be too absorbent, and wicking the ink away into the structure may not allow drops to spread correctly.

“The real challenge is the choice of materials/coatings used for digital print must be carefully selected,” said Edwards. “Wallpaper can be a bit dusty with loose fibers, and these need to be kept away from the printing equipment to ensure reliability. Different methods can be applied to address this before it reaches the printer. Inks must have sufficient low odor to work in this application, and the ink surface itself must be sufficiently scratch resistant to ensure good wear and tear characteristics.

“Sometimes a varnish coat is applied to enhance the resistance of the ink itself,” Edwards added. “It should be noted that handling of the output after print must be considered. The rolls of material of different image types also need to be controlled and collated, making it a bit more complicated for digital due to the larger number of print variants.”

“Digital printing has faced several challenges to get where it is today; one that stands out is output durability and longevity,” Lopez said. “Initially, digitally printed designs weren’t always maintaining their appearance and there were concerns about fading, smudging and scratching, especially on wallcoverings placed in the elements or in high foot traffic areas. Over time, technology advanced and today, these concerns are minimal.

“Manufactures have developed durable ink and hardware to combat these issues,” added Lopez. “For example, the Epson SureColor R-Series printers leverage Epson UltraChrome RS resin ink, an ink set developed by Epson to work with the Epson PrecisionCore MicroTFP printhead, to produce durable, scratch resistant output. Resin ink has highly resistant scratch properties that makes it an ideal solution for wallcoverings in high traffic areas.”

The Future of the Wallpaper Industry

The production of ceramic tiles has come a long way. Ceramic tiles were originally painted, then came screen printing. However, in the late 1900s, inkjet printing began to make headway, primarily due to the minimal makeready costs and inventory, ability to produce unique patterns with photographic detail, and capability to customize the patterns.  Today, inkjet dominates the ceramic tile segment.

So, will the wallcoverings market go the same way? Probably not, but as digital printing becomes more cost effective for longer runs, it will continue to take market share.

“For short-run wall coverings, like custom environmental graphics, promotional wall coverings and specialist patterned and image wallpapers, digital printing is the perfect, and dominant solution,” said Bush of FUJIFILM Ink Solutions Group. “Mass-produced wallpapers are generally printed on a wide-web at very high speed. Achieving the required productivity at a cost-point to match analog printing is a challenge for digital.”

HP’s Vidal said it is highly likely that digital printing will become the dominant technology in the wallcovering segment.

“The advancements in digital printing technology, such as improved print quality, faster production speeds, and a wider range of printable materials, have already positioned it as a strong contender in the industry,” added Vidal.

“Additionally, digital printing offers significant advantages like customization options, quicker turnaround times, and cost-effectiveness for short-run or personalized projects,” Vidal added. “These factors, coupled with the continuous innovation and development in digital printing technology, indicate that it will continue to gain market share and eventually become the dominant technology in the wallcovering segment.”

Epson America’s Lopez said he thinks we are rapidly moving towards a future where digital printing will be the dominant technology in the wallcovering segment.

“As technological advancements continue to improve, digital printing will become faster and more efficient at producing extra-large jobs, now still often produced by traditional print methods,” Lopez said. “With today’s customers expecting quick turnaround times, it’s important as a manufacturer to engineer reliable and efficient products that can help print shops meet customer’s expectations.”

“Currently, there are a significant number of larger, higher-volume (production) digital printers within this market, so you could say that ‘digital printing’ is already a dominant technology within this space at some level,” Roland DGA’s Jones said.

“However, there is always room for vertical growth, and I think the trend moving forward will be a combination of those types of ‘high-run’ printers complemented by mid to shorter-run digital printers,” Jones added. “When I say ‘mid to short-run,’ keep in mind that running 400 or more square feet per hour is still a lot of production, and while using multiple printers increases by count, this is still considered ‘short run’ for larger print manufacturers.

“For these larger manufacturers, this will allow them to do shorter runs and even on-demand printing in addition to bigger projects – they won’t have to turn away any jobs,” Jones continued. “With shorter-run and on-demand printing of wallcoverings becoming more prominent within this market. I believe there will be a big increase in demand for this type of production – not only for wallcoverings, but within the home décor market across the board.

“For new industry professionals looking to gain the benefits of printing, the future promises to be very exciting, with designers, architects, hospitality contractors, builders, and other professionals embracing digital printing, and realizing how the control, design, and versatility advantages this technology offers will put them one step above the competition,” Jones concluded.

INX’s Edwards sees it as a possibility.

“As the speed of inkjet systems increases, the use of suitably sized, single-pass roll-to-roll printers would be ideal for much longer runs,” said Edwards. “At some point it may become dominant in all but the longest run lengths. With general run length decreasing on average, the point of average run length and digital print speeds could be reached, which would be the inflection point where inkjet starts to dominate.”

How This Impacts the Greater Inkjet Market

The wallpaper and wallcoverings segment is another example of how digital printing technologies continue to make gains in segments where traditional printing once held dominance.

Digital printing now is the leading printing technology for billboards, direct mail and ceramic tiles, and is expanding its reach in packaging, such as labels and narrow web, as well as textiles. The wallpaper industry is poised to be another fast-growing opportunity for digital printing.