Tradeshows demand big visuals and fast turnarounds. In 2025, many printers say the pressure is higher than ever. Two U.S.-based firms, US-SEG and Horizon Print Solutions, are tackling that challenge in different ways. One delivers large-scale customization through automation and consistency, the other focuses on speed and personalized service. Both are redefining what print partners can offer the exhibit industry.
US-SEG: Seamless Scale and Built-in Reliability
For decades, seams were a necessary compromise in large-format fabric graphics. US-SEG is removing that barrier with 16-foot-wide, seamless dye-sublimation printing. The change expands what designers can do with space and layout.
“Until recently, seamless fabric graphics were limited to a maximum width of 10 feet,” says Cory Shidlofsky, director of sales at US-SEG. “This forced designers to adapt their creative concepts to fit within technical constraints, resulting in tiled visuals, visible seams, or compromises in scale and layout.”
US-SEG is based in Orlando, with multiple facilities across the U.S. (including Las Vegas) as well as overseas. The company specializes in high-volume, fabric-based printing for exhibits and environments. Its production facility is designed for automation, global scalability, and color precision. The team operates 13 dye-sublimation printers, including three that print at 16 feet wide. Graphics are produced on lightweight fabrics that pack small, ship efficiently, and install quickly. Unlike UV prints, dye-sub graphics are odorless and finished with a soft matte surface, making them well-suited for enclosed tradeshow environments.
“Designers are now free to explore more ambitious spatial designs,” Shidlofsky says, “with larger uninterrupted surfaces, panoramic visuals, and cleaner aesthetics.”
Beyond scale, US-SEG’s production line is built for consistency. Every step, from prepress checks to finishing, is engineered for speed and accuracy. Cutters use camera systems to verify dimensions. Files are prepped for stretching, shrinkage, and complex contours. Color profiles across all devices are FOGRA-certified, ensuring consistent, brand-accurate color output.
Finishing is automated. Quality checks are photo-documented, with precise measurements on file for every job.
“This integrated and automated approach results in flawless graphics, shorter setup times, and total peace of mind for our clients,” Shidlofsky says.
That reliability extends to capacity. With double production capability across materials, US-SEG can absorb last-minute jobs or spikes in demand. Its finishing department alone can process up to 8,000 square meters per day.
“Since the post-COVID recovery, exhibit builders and event organizers have been facing tighter setup schedules, higher customer demands, and rising transportation costs,” Shidlofsky explains. “We address these challenges by continuously innovating in both software and hardware.”
As modular systems become the industry standard, US-SEG has aligned its production to support widely used formats, including systems like beMatrix and Aluvision. The goal is faster setup and visual consistency. For brands with international activations, consistent output matters.
“Thanks to our international focus,” Shidlofsky notes, “US-SEG enables clients to deliver a consistent and high-impact brand experience anywhere in the world. Our global reach ensures uniform quality and execution across all markets.”
One misconception, he says, is that high-quality printing can’t be replicated at scale or across multiple facilities.
“At US-SEG, we challenge that assumption,” he says. “Our fully optimized and automated workflows ensure absolute precision in both dimensions and color, eliminating the need for prebuilds. We don’t just deliver prints. We deliver predictability, reliability, and peace of mind.”
Horizon Print Solutions: Nimble, Personal, and Print-Smart
Horizon Print Solutions takes a different path. While others scale up, Horizon moves fast and stays close to the client. For founder Will Houghton, that’s not just strategy—it’s how the business runs.
Efficiency, he says, is the key to standing out in a crowded market. “Efficiency is a major differentiator in today’s rushed business world,” Houghton explains. “Businesses that are doing well are growing rapidly and need a partner who is nimble, who understands the industry and who can make things happen fast, with ease.”
At Horizon’s Las Vegas headquarters, that speed is baked into the operation. Today, typical projects are turned around in 48 hours and shipped nationwide—the result of years spent adapting to shifting customer demands.
“Item demand over my long career has evolved forward three times in forty years,” Houghton says. “Smaller and smaller project sizes, all the way down to ‘consumer needs items for a birthday party’ sized print orders being asked of us.”
Even as job sizes shrank and timelines shortened, Horizon stayed focused on business-to-business work. “We are selective in maintaining a strict Business to Business model,” he says.
That doesn’t limit the product mix. Houghton points to the rise of short-run, creative requests—everything from selfie frames to gift kits to multi-channel marketing campaigns. “Consumers are finding new ways to display and use print,” he says, “and those ideas come to work with them.”
One fast-growing product category is branded kits filled with promotional items tailored to a specific theme or event. “Think a gift box with eight or nine small, branded merchandise items, all themed around the same party, event, seminar, or holiday,” he says. “The box becomes an experience for the receiver.”
He believes in the format enough to use it himself. “This branded box is such a major play in my industry that I send these to clients,” Houghton says. “Two were sent last week.”
Creativity, he says, is only half the equation. Execution matters just as much—and often trips people up. “Doing it yourself doesn’t really get you very far,” he explains. “Print, branded merch, apparel campaigns, mailing—there are more nuances than ever, more choices, and unfortunately more disappointed customers as a result.”
His advice: don’t bring in a printer after the fact. “Call a printer when you think of a mailing project,” he says, “not while driving to the post office.”
That early planning paid off on a recent job that required Horizon to produce more than 22,500 food and gift vouchers—each one fraud-resistant and fully traceable.
“We generated an artificial watermark, used special paper, added assigned numbering, and reversed out Prismatic Rainbow Foil, which also matched the theme of the event,” Houghton says. “And we did it in four business days.”
For Horizon, every job is a balance of speed, accuracy, and trust. “Fast, efficient, knowledge, directions, and solutions,” Houghton says. “That’s what our clients are seeking today.”
Two Models, One Goal: Print That Performs
US-SEG delivers scale and automation. Horizon Print Solutions delivers speed and service. Each serves a different kind of customer, but both reflect how print partnerships are evolving in 2025.
Today, quality and speed are table stakes. What earns trust is consistency—whether it’s a seamless wall of graphics or thousands of branded kits delivered on time.
These firms aren’t just reacting to client needs. They’re helping shape what’s next.
This story originally appeared in the Q3 2025 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 50. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/exhibit_city_news_-_jul_aug_sept_2025/50.
