Rise Above Research reports U.S. photo print market revenues on the rise

The traditional photo print market in the US continues to experience slight drops in volume every year, but Rise Above Research is expecting revenue from prints to increase over the next few years.

Rise Above Research predicts that while photo print volumes will see a -2.7% decline (compounded annually) through 2029, revenues from prints will increase by 3.3% for the same period. Photo print revenue is expected to grow from over $1.4 billion in 2026 to over $1.6 billion by 2029. This is largely due to increases in photo print prices that are the result of rising costs of materials such as paper and ink.

 “The market for traditional prints keeps chugging along, with some drops in volume year to year that are expected with such a mature market,” said David Haueter, director and founder at Rise Above Research. “However, we are expecting revenues from prints to increase over the next few years, as average prices for prints are going up. Prints are still a great value and inexpensive compared to other photo products, and these price increases are minimal enough that they won’t keep consumers who want to print photos from doing so.”

The 2025 US Photo Prints Forecast: 2024-2029 provides a five-year forecast for traditional photo prints and includes volume, revenue, average selling prices, and breakouts of home, online, and retail order channels. Commentary on key drivers and barriers impacting the market is also provided, as well as recommendations.

Rise Above Research has a reports page  showing what is available:

• 2025 US Photo Prints Forecast: 2024-2029  – The 2025 US Photo Prints Forecast: 2024-2029 is a five-year forecast for traditional photo prints, with volume and revenue broken out by home, online, and retail store printing. The report includes a summary of overall market drivers and barriers, as well as forecast methodology and recommendations. Each forecast section also includes key charts and forecast numbers along with analyst commentary. PowerPoint charts and an Excel file are also provided along with the report.

• Photo Book Abandonment: Occurrences & Reasons – Many consumers still give up on photo book projects after they have been started. This report goes into detail on why photo book projects were stopped, and why non-buyers of photo books haven’t bought them. The data for this is taken from the annual US Photo Merchandise Study.

• Home Printer Ownership & Future Purchase Plans – This analysis report takes a deep dive into home photo printing habits, with data taken from the annual 2025 US Photo Printing Study. It covers the types and brands of printers owned, what is being printed on them, future purchase intentions, and most important features, as well as interest in ink subscription services. Much of the data is broken down by age group and brand of printer owned.

• 2025 US Photo Printing Study – The annual US Photo Printing Study had over 1,200 respondents between the ages of 13 and 79. This is the most extensive survey of traditional photo printing in the US and covers a broad range of topics, with in-depth analysis of why consumers are printing photos and where. There are full sets of questions on retail, online, and home photo printing, as well as questions on how consumers are using mobile to print, opinions on AI usage, and how economic uncertainty is affecting print habits. RAR also ask questions of those who don’t print photos to find out why. The deliverables for the study include three sets of data tabulations, PowerPoint charts and a written report.

• In the Pipeline  – The firm is getting ready to start the annual US Photo Merchandise Study for 2025, which is expected to go into the field in early October.