It's hard to imagine the French printing industry without Character . Although it has been part of the graphic arts industry since 1949, the magazine has just published its final issue under the GLN Médias banner. Its publisher has been placed in judicial liquidation, with authorization to continue operations until September 30. This deadline allowed the team to complete one final issue, No. 843.
The first copy of Character dates back to April 1949. Founded by Maximilien Vox, a leading figure in 20th-century French typography, the magazine was then dedicated to "the paper and graphic arts industries and techniques."
Since then, nearly 1,100 issues?including Special editions?and more than 63,000 pages have been published.
Over the course of these seven decades, the monthly magazine has witnessed the transformations in the printing industry?from photocomposition to digital prepress, from offset printing to the advent of digital printing, and on to the automation of print shops.
Through its investigations, feature stories, technical reports, and profiles of industry leaders, the print magazine has, above all, served as a guide for several generations of printers and suppliers. In print shops, one could always spot a Character on a table or in an office.
The story of Character The partnership with the publishing company GLN Médias began in 2008. Three former employees of Groupe Tests?Yvon Guémard, Jean-Dominique Lozier, and Thierry Negri?had founded GLN Médias at that time to take over Character and the classifieds section Transaction to their employer.
In recent years, GLN Médias had also developed several events centered around the print magazine, including ?Stars of the Printing Industry,? which brought together printers, manufacturers, distributors, and trade organizations.
However, things had been more difficult recently. In the editorial of its latest issue, the editorial staff notes a significant decline in advertising revenue during the first half of 2026, following two years that had already been challenging.
And for us, writing for *Caractère* today is, by its very nature, something special. For decades, we?ve covered the same companies, the same trade shows, and often the same topics, each with its own editorial focus. We also read Character with that professional curiosity that helps bring different perspectives on the same industry into focus. We will miss him.
Our thoughts go out to the team, and especially to our colleague Guillaume Prudent, editor-in-chief of Character , whom we had the pleasure of meeting at industry events and to whom we wish all the best for the future.
