History

The origins of the WPCF dates back to 1976, following a proposal put forward by the Australian Federation to organise a World Print Congress. The idea took root and within 16 months the first World Print Congress was organised in Singapore in 1978.

In an industry characterised the world over by a large number of small and medium-sized businesses, there was little scope for a truly world-wide congresses of printers until the age of the jumbo-jet and relatively cheap travel. Prior to 1978, the congresses were held every 3 and 4 years in Europe by the WPCF’s member association Intergraf, which represents the European printing industry. Inspired by the success of the 1978 congress in Singapore, succeeding World Print Congresses were convened in the United States, Hong Kong, Brazil, India, Australia and China, with the number of participants ranging from hundreds to thousands.

The WPCF was officially founded in 2004 as a global network of printing associations by the world’s major transnational and national printing associations. The founding members of the WPCF were Conlatingraf, representing South America; Intergraf, representing European interests; Printing Industries of America for the North American continent; and national associations from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and South Africa.

Following the merger of the world’s two leading print and communication congresses, the World Print Congress and Comprint International, into a single global conference, the 8th World Print and Communication Congress was organised in South Africa in 2005. After the last Congress in 2005 the meetings of the member associations of the WPCF have been organised in conjunction with the Intergraf’s meetings. Over the past years the WPCF has organised and partnered with various ad-hoc conferences and seminars focusing on specific subjects.

The next World Print and Communication Forum Meeting will be held in Drupa, Düsseldorf, Germany on the 29 May 2024.