The growth of digital media has upset the operating environment of the printing industry, driving businesses to merge and to cut capacity, The Finnish research agency VTT writes in a press release. The worldwide financial crisis that unfolded in 2008 hit European printers hard, and the industry is not expected to recover its former volume.VTT has studied the present situation of the European printing industry and explored means for future survival by interviewing more than 30 representatives at 18 European enterprises in the field.The study shows that in order to survive, the European printing industry must either increase production efficiency and flexibility, increase the value of printed products or launch new applications and services exploiting printing competence. These are the ways in which the industry can survive in a situation where print runs are shrinking but the range of printed products is expanding.Production efficiency may mean, for example, that printing presses support a wider range of formats and products more flexibly than before. Hybrid printed products, combining digital and traditional printing, are a case in point.