At the end of 2025 we found ourselves looking at two matching numbers. In October we passed our five millionth order. A month later our YouTube channel crossed five million views. They arrived through different routes, but together they mark a moment worth acknowledging.
From 500,000 to 5 million
Solopress began in 1999 with one press and a guillotine. Today, we operate over 70,000 square feet of production space boasting some of the most advanced print equipment on the market. In 2015, Solopress celebrated its 500,000th order, an event covered by Printweek at the time.
A decade later, we have reached ten times that volume. The increase reflects steady investment rather than sudden leaps. Our production list now includes B1 litho capability, a continually updated HP Indigo fleet, including the 120K Digital Press, and a wide range of finishing equipment which you can explore here.
Large format has grown sharply too, supported by presses such as the Agfa Oberon and Anapurna, plus expanded cutting and finishing capacity. Together these changes have allowed us to take on higher volumes with shorter lead times, while keeping quality consistent.
The company has added new space as well as new machines. We now operate across four Southend-on-Sea sites, with a fifth facility under construction. That additional room gives flexibility when demand fluctuates and lets us separate workflows more efficiently.
Five million views on YouTube
The second milestone came from a very different direction. On 27th November, our YouTube channel passed five million views.
The audience did not arrive from sudden spikes. Views have accumulated over years of tutorials, product explainers and behind-the-scenes footage. Many visitors find us when they are learning to use design software. Our Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign guides remain among the most watched:
How to set up fonts in Adobe Photoshop:
Other viewers come for a peek behind the scenes, whether that’s to watch press-room footage for it’s fascinatingly hypnotic rhythm, or to gain a more technical insight into the machinery and equipment that keep the print churning out day and night:
We recently fimed drone footage recorded across all four sites. It provides a wide view of our operation that standard filming cannot capture, showing the scale of the buildings and the volume of work moving through each stage of production. This will become a larger part of the channel as we release more edited segments in 2026.
What the two numbers suggest
Five million orders show how many businesses have relied on us for print. Five million views show how many people come to us for information, guidance or simple curiosity about how things are made. Neither number tells the full story on its own, but together they reflect the two sides of Solopress: production at scale and a willingness to share what we know.
They also show that our audience is broader than customers alone. Students, designers, small businesses, print resellers, franchise owners and people with no connection to print at all appear in our analytics. The common thread is interest in how print works.
Looking ahead
A fifth production site is progressing and further machinery investment is planned for 2026. The aim is the same as it has been for many years: build capacity carefully, maintain reliability and keep improving the detail of how work moves through the factory.
On the content side, more tutorials, case studies and behind-the-scenes videos will follow. The drone material will help show parts of the process that are usually out of sight.
Five million orders and five million views do not mark an end point. They simply record where we are today. If the next milestones arrive, they will come from the same place as the first ones: steady work, useful information and a customer base that continues to grow because it sees value in what we offer.
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