Inkjet’s Fibre Future: How Digital Printing Is Reshaping Packaging

This article is inspired by a FuturePrint Podcast interview. Check out the podcast here.

In the evolving world of industrial print, few areas are undergoing as rapid a transformation as packaging. For decades, packaging has been the domain of analogue production - high-volume, low-flexibility systems optimised for consistency and cost. But as brands demand speed, sustainability, and personalisation, digital printing - and particularly inkjet - is beginning to disrupt the fibre-based packaging landscape.

At the heart of this shift sits a convergence of chemistry and engineering.

Agfa is active as a full digital print solution provider, but Agfa is also active as a partner to companies (so-called OEMs) in need of an expert ink partner, which is the subject of this article.

 ‘We’re good at chemistry, our partners are good at engineering,’ says Marc Graindourze, Business Manager for Industrial Inks at Agfa. His team’s role is to ensure that the inks, primers, and varnishes at the core of digital printing perform flawlessly at industrial scale. ‘You need more than just an ink,’ he explains. ‘Sometimes it’s a primer, sometimes a varnish. Sometimes both. They work together as a system.’

From Labels to Boxes

Labels have long served as the proving ground for digital print. First came toner systems, then inkjet, which brought stronger adhesion and compatibility across substrates. But as the economics and reliability of single-pass inkjet improve, attention is turning to paperboard and corrugated applications.

‘These are high-demand applications,’ Graindourze explains. ‘Boxes are everywhere, from the carton that holds your coffee machine to the corrugated box that delivers your groceries. Each has its own technical challenges, but both are ripe for digital transformation.’

Corrugated packaging, in particular, represents a new frontier. It is a market defined by scale - printing widths exceeding three metres, speeds of 300 to 400 metres per minute - and relentless cost pressure. ‘A corrugated box must protect and promote the product, but it has to do so cheaply,’ he says. ‘Inkjet offers flexibility, but it must do it at industrial speeds and with total consistency.’

Folding cartons, by contrast, lean towards the premium and promotional end of the market: pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, consumer electronics, high-value food and beverage. Here, the appeal of inkjet lies in its ability to enable shorter runs, faster time to market, and the creative freedom for brand differentiation.

The Drivers: Speed, Sustainability, and Smarter Brands

Digital’s core advantages - speed, flexibility, and personalisation - are now amplified by sustainability and regulatory pressure. As plastics fall out of favour and fibre-based alternatives rise, the ability to print directly onto recyclable substrates has become strategically significant.

 ‘The move away from plastic is a big driver,’ says Graindourze. ‘Look at washing detergent pods - once packed in plastic pouches, now often in corrugated boxes. Fibre-based packaging can be recycled multiple times. It’s better for the planet, but also for the brand image.’

Meanwhile, the rise of connected packaging - embedding track-and-trace data, QR codes, and batch-level traceability - is making packaging as much a digital medium as a physical one. In sectors such as pharmaceuticals, these capabilities are not optional; they are regulatory necessities.

At the same time, marketing departments are recognising the value of packaging as a storytelling surface. ‘When you stand in front of the shelf, the product must stand out,’ Graindourze says. ‘Inkjet allows brands to do limited editions, localised campaigns, or even AI-generated designs that tie into broader multimedia campaigns.’

Fibre, Fluids, and Physics

If there is poetry in print, it is found in the interaction between fluid and fibre. Getting ink to behave consistently on porous, uneven materials is a challenge, but possible.

Water-based inks, Graindourze argues, are the natural fit for fibre substrates. They simplify compliance with food contact regulations and align with sustainability goals. ‘When you print on the outside of a box, water-based is the safe choice,’ he says. ‘The raw materials are cheaper, the gloss easier to control, and the results can be excellent.’

But water-based inks have limitations. They require carefully tuned drying systems and, above all, control. Fibreboard absorbs ink differently depending on porosity, coating, and even colour - brown kraft board behaves nothing like white-lined chipboard. Maintaining image sharpness at high speeds requires precise gap control, the distance between the printhead and substrate. ‘On a folding carton, you can keep that gap to about 1.0 to 1.5 mm,’ Graindourze explains. ‘On corrugated, with its flutes and bulges, it needs to be about 2 – 3 mm. The ink - waveform combination has to compensate.’

It can be possible to have all functions in the ink itself. But in a second option primer and varnish come into play. In that case, rather than overburdening the ink with multiple functions - adhesion, colour density, protection – primer and varnish will take over part of these roles. ‘The primer keeps the pigment near the surface, stopping it from bleeding into the fibres,’ he says. ‘The varnish protects the print afterwards. It is more stable, more controllable, and more cost-effective.’

This modular approach also allows manufacturers to apply consumables only where needed, reducing waste. ‘If only ten percent of the box has printed graphics, you only use primer, ink, and varnish on that ten percent,’ he notes. ‘That is real efficiency.’

Preprint vs Postprint

The corrugated world operates around two distinct production models: preprint and postprint. In preprint, the liner material is printed before it is combined into a corrugated cardboard  - offering optimal flatness, humidity control, and speed. ‘You can run 400 metres a minute, with a perfectly stable roll,’ Graindourze says. ‘But the ink must survive the heat and pressure of corrugation.’

Postprint, by contrast, involves printing directly onto the finished board. The process is more flexible but slower - typically under 100 metres per minute - and demands careful handling to avoid head strikes on uneven sheets. ‘You raise the printbar a bit higher and adapt the waveform,’ he says. ‘It is a trade-off: lower throughput, but more versatility for shorter runs.’

Both methods benefit from Agfa’s focus on end-to-end solutions. ‘We do not throw inks over the wall,’ he says. ‘We work with OEMs from the beginning - designing ink for their printheads, drying systems, and substrates. The chemistry must fit the engineering.’

The Collaboration Imperative

That spirit of partnership runs throughout Graindourze’s outlook. ‘To be successful, you need two things: technical expertise and market access,’ he says. ‘You can have a brilliant machine, but if nobody knows you, it does not work. Likewise, great chemistry needs the right partner and real-world testing.’

He has seen a shift in how companies now approach innovation. ‘Five years ago, people thought of ink last,’ he reflects. ‘Now they start with the application - what the customer really needs - and work backwards. The most successful projects begin that way.’

Approaching the Tipping Point

For all the enthusiasm, cost remains the industry’s persistent concern. High-speed single-pass systems are capital intensive, and inkjet must still prove its economic parity with gravure and flexo. Yet Graindourze is optimistic. ‘In décor, we saw the same story,’ he recalls. ‘Ten years ago, digital was for one percent of jobs. Now short runs make up double-digit shares. The same will happen in packaging.’

The economics are shifting not just because of print cost, but because of time-to-market, reduced waste, and lower inventory. ‘Digital lets you react faster and print what you need,’ he says. ‘That flexibility has value.’

Towards Consistency at Scale

Ultimately, success in industrial print comes down to reliability - producing the same quality, day after day, across batches, sites, and substrates. ‘Anyone can make one nice print,’ Graindourze smiles. ‘The challenge is to make only good ones every day.’

That consistency is the measure of maturity. ‘In décor, customers reprint the same pattern month after month - it must be identical. Packaging will demand the same. Consistent colour, consistent quality, consistent speed.’

As Agfa prepares for the upcoming ESMA Industrial Print Integration (IPI) event in Düsseldorf and the FuturePrint Industrial Print Conference in Munich, Graindourze sees the sector entering a defining moment. ‘Packaging is where everything comes together - sustainability, functionality, and creativity,’ he says. ‘Inkjet is ready. Now it is about collaboration, discipline, and doing it right.’

To find out more about the IPI event next month and to register please visit here.

To find out more about the FuturePrint Industrial Print event in Munich in January 2026 please visit here.