5 Interesting Facts About the 2026 Pinnacle Awards

By Kalie VanDewater

Every year, the Pinnacle Awards program celebrates the technologies and products creating the biggest waves in the printing and packaging industry. This year is no different, with 71 awards highlighting innovation excellence.

We dug into the data to find some of the most interesting facts about the winners.

1. Competition Was Fierce

For this year’s competition, there were 154 submissions across three categories: 66 in Output, 59 in Non-Output, and 29 in Technology. However, only 71 awards were given out. This underscores just how exceptional products and technologies must be to receive this honor.

2. 54 Companies Took Home Awards

In total, 54 companies received a Pinnacle Award for one of their products or technologies. Most of these companies (41) earned just one award, while 13 companies secured at least two awards. The distribution of awards across many companies highlights that excellence is a keystone of product and technology development in the industry.

3. Consistency Is Rare

While the program has honored many companies, only eight have been recognized with a Pinnacle Award every year. This goes to show that sustained innovation is a challenging feat to achieve.

4. Newcomers Broke Into the Winner’s Circle

Excitingly, there were 15 companies that entered the Pinnacle Awards program for the first time this year and were recognized with an award. Their success proves that first-time entrants have every chance to demonstrate and be recognized for their innovation excellence, despite tough competition from repeat entrants.

5. Wide-Format Dominated

Of all the innovations that earned a Pinnacle Award this year, half of them were tailored to the wide-format segment. This showcases the continued growth of this segment within the broader printing and packaging world.

This is just a snippet of the insights from the 2026 Pinnacle Awards program. Check out the photo gallery below for more stats.

Want to see these innovations in person? Many will be onsite at the 2026 PRINTING United Expo. Register for the event here.