中文The University of Ljubljana’s Chair of Information and Graphic Arts Technology will host the 11th Conference on Information and Graphic Arts Technology, known as CIGT, on September 29–30, 2027, at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Offered in a hybrid format, the two-day event is designed to bring researchers, academics and industry professionals into the same room to exchange knowledge and to chart where graphic communications is heading.
CIGT has earned a reputation as a bridge between the laboratory and the pressroom. Where many industry events lean toward commerce, this conference keeps one foot firmly in science, with peer-reviewed papers and posters covering the full span of graphic arts technology. The 2027 program spans graphic design and visual communication, 3D and functional printing, print production, quality control, colour management and workflow digitalization, alongside the perennial themes of sustainability and packaging.
What gives the 2027 edition its distinct flavour is the explicit embrace of emerging technology. The program will address artificial intelligence in design and photography, personalized marketing, extended reality, user experience and digital media. Those topics would have been fringe discussions a decade ago; today they sit at the centre of how print businesses think about differentiation. A conference that pairs traditional colour-science rigour with AI and XR signals a discipline determined not to be left behind by the software-defined economy.
The hybrid format is a deliberate choice rather than a pandemic hangover. By streaming sessions and accepting online attendance, the organizers widen participation to researchers and practitioners who cannot justify international travel, while keeping the in-person networking that drives collaboration. Registration opens on November 2, 2026, giving the community more than ten months to plan. Fees are structured to encourage broad attendance: €380 for in-person participants, €260 for PhD students, and €120 for online attendance, with the student rate a clear signal that nurturing the next generation of graphic-arts scientists matters to the organizing committee.
Deadlines are already on the calendar for contributors. Abstract submissions and contributor registration are due April 12, 2027, with final papers and posters due June 1. Non-contributing attendees can register until September 1. The staged timeline reflects the academic backbone of the event: this is not a trade show with booth demonstrations, but a venue where findings are scrutinized and where methodology matters.
For the printing industry, gatherings like CIGT perform a quieter but essential function. Commercial events tell the market what is for sale; research conferences tell it what is possible. The gap between the two is where the next decade’s products are born, and Ljubljana has positioned itself as a reliable place for that conversation to happen. Topics such as functional printing, where printed electronics and smart packaging blur the line between graphics and engineering, are precisely the areas where cross-disciplinary exchange pays off.
Sustainability will again feature prominently, and not as a bolt-on session. The graphic arts have spent years absorbing life-cycle thinking, and CIGT’s treatment of the subject tends to be quantitative rather than aspirational, reflecting the university’s engineering orientation. Expect rigorous treatment of material efficiency, deinking and circularity rather than slogan-level discussion.
The choice of Slovenia is also symbolic. Central and Eastern Europe has become an unexpectedly vibrant hub for print research and machinery development, and Ljubljana’s faculty has been a steady contributor to that ecosystem. Hosting CIGT there reinforces the region’s claim to be taken seriously as a centre of graphic-arts science, not merely a low-cost manufacturing base.
As the industry navigates automation, AI-assisted prepress and the slow migration toward digital and functional printing, CIGT 2027 offers a rare opportunity to step back and consider the trajectory as a whole. The organizers’ stated aim, to encourage collaboration between research and industry while supporting continued innovation, is exactly the kind of mission that keeps graphic arts technology moving forward.
The conference’s longevity, now in its eleventh iteration, is itself a quiet achievement in a field often criticized for short attention spans. By maintaining a consistent academic standard while progressively widening its lens to include AI, extended reality and functional printing, CIGT has managed to stay relevant without sacrificing depth. For young researchers weighing where to present early work, and for established practitioners curious about what the lab bench will mean for the factory floor, Ljubljana in late September 2027 remains one of the most concentrated opportunities to see the future of print taking shape.
The choice of Slovenia as host also carries a strategic message. Central and Eastern Europe has quietly become a vibrant hub for print research and machinery development, and Ljubljana’s faculty has been a steady contributor to that ecosystem. Hosting CIGT there reinforces the region’s claim to be taken seriously as a centre of graphic-arts science rather than merely a low-cost manufacturing base, and it gives regional researchers a home-stage on which to present work that might otherwise travel west to be noticed.
