YOU Through the Years
- ROQ.US
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Some products are engineered. Some products evolve. And every once in a while, a product starts with a napkin, a few glasses of Portuguese Vinho Verde, and someone saying two words that stick for more than a decade:
“ROQ YOU.”
The story of the ROQ YOU isn't simply the history of an automatic screen-printing press. It's the story of the people who designed it, sold it, believed in it, printed on it, and built businesses around it.
From a small restaurant in Porto, Portugal, to print shops across the United States, Canada, and around the world, this is YOU Through the Years.
2012: Before the Machine Came the Name
In 2012, the press that would become the YOU had a much less exciting working name: the Basic.
The Ryonet team was preparing to bring the press to the United States for the first time, and everyone agreed on one thing: it needed a better name.
The story goes that the team was sitting in a small restaurant in Porto, Portugal, kicking around ideas. After a few rounds of bad names—and a few rounds of good Portuguese Vinho Verde—Manuel Sá, co-founder of S.ROQUE, which was founded in 1983, offered his suggestion in broken English:
“ROQ YOU.”
The U.S. team loved it.
ROQ YOU. It sounded like “Rock You.”
It was fun. It was memorable. And it had attitude.
So Manuel did what people do when they know they've landed on something good: he drew it on a napkin.
A product name was born.
And nobody sitting around that table could have known just how many shirts—or businesses—the YOU would eventually help produce.
October 2012: The First YOU Lands
in America
In October 2012, the first YOU made its way from Portugal to the United States for its debut at the Printing United trade show in Las Vegas (which ROQ will back at this year, September 23rd-25th (link for more info).
The original S.ROQUE YOU was compact, approachable and built to give growing screen-printing businesses an opportunity to step into automatic production.
Sales didn't explode overnight. But something more important began happening: printers started believing in the machine. For shops moving from manual printing toward automation, the YOU offered a compact footprint and straightforward operation while giving them the production capabilities of an automatic press.
Tim Manley and the team at National Ink and Stitch purchased one of the very first YOU presses in the United States in early 2013.
It wasn't simply another equipment sale.
It was one of those early moments when a customer takes a chance on something new—and then puts that machine to work.
More than 13 years later, Tim's sister Michelle and the National Ink and Stitch team are still running that YOU today.
Sadly, Tim passed away in 2025, but his impact remains part of the YOU and ROQ story.
RIP, Tim. You will always ROQ.
That original press still producing today says something important about what the YOU would eventually become: not merely an entry into automation, but a machine capable of growing alongside the people who invested in it.
2013: The Second-Generation S.ROQUE YOU
The YOU didn't stand still for long.
The second generation arrived with refinements based on the evolution of the platform, including a significant visual and mechanical change:
The print arm motors moved to the top of the print arm to give more space for printing and easier access.
The control panel was upgraded to be faster and have more functionality.
The design got sleeker and the paint color brightened up.
Thanks to initial user market feedback, the press improved, but the idea remained the same. Build a compact automatic press that gives printers serious production capability without making automation unnecessarily complicated.
2015: S.ROQUE Becomes ROQ
Remember that napkin?
By 2015, the idea scribbled onto it had become something much bigger.
S.ROQUE became ROQ.
The branding was simplified, modernized and given the name that customers around the world recognize today.
And naturally, the YOU came with it: ROQ YOU. Short. Bold. Memorable. The name conceived over Portuguese wine had officially become part of the identity of a global equipment manufacturer. ,And around this time, momentum surrounding the YOU really began to build.
Thousands of print shops invested in the platform, using automation to increase production, take on larger orders, improve consistency and grow their businesses.
2021: A Bolder ROQ and a More Versatile YOU
In 2021, the ROQ brand took another step forward with a bolder new logo and visual identity. The YOU evolved with it.
This generation incorporated a smaller platen-arm design, helping make it easier for decorators to work with sleeves and other smaller print locations and items.
It was another example of the philosophy behind the YOU: keep improving the everyday experience of the printer without losing what made the platform successful.
Making Automation Easier
As the mechanical platform evolved, so did the operator experience.
Modern YOU generations gave printers increasingly intuitive control over the press through an updated interface and control panel.
For an owner making the jump into automation—or an operator responsible for keeping production moving—those details matter.
Because automation shouldn't only be about how quickly a press can cycle.
It should be about making production easier to control, easier to repeat and easier to grow.
2026: Meet the All-New ROQ YOU
Fourteen years after the first YOU arrived in America, the next generation continues the story.
The 2026 ROQ YOU brings an all-new operator experience to the trusted.
A larger control panel puts more information and control at the operator's fingertips. YOU platform with more functionality like job saving, print run countdown, screen calibration,
Auto Lock/Unlock helps streamline setup and operation.
Easy-lift functionality and integrated handles are designed around the people who actually work with the press every day. And underneath those improvements remains the speed, functionality and production capability that built the YOU's reputation.
It's also backed by something we're especially proud of: a 3-year squeegee-to-squeegee warranty.
From a machine once called the Basic to the newest generation of ROQ automation, the mission has remained remarkably consistent: Help printers produce more and build stronger businesses.
But the Best Part of the YOU Has Never Been the Machine. We can talk about motors. Controls. Platen arms. Print heads. Automation. Speed. And engineering. But none of those things are the real story. The real story is YOU.
For many customers, buying a YOU wasn't a casual equipment purchase.
It was a big investment and a big decision. It meant believing there would be enough orders tomorrow to justify buying more production capacity today.
It meant betting on growth. It meant moving from manual printing into automation, adding another automatic to the floor, hiring people, chasing larger accounts—or finally saying yes to jobs that previously seemed impossible.
ROQ Customers N The Zone ROQ Customer Noreast ROQ Customer Victoria Jones with InboundInk
Over the years, thousands of businesses throughout the United States, Canada and around the world have invested in the YOU. That's why, after all these years, the name feels even more appropriate than it did when Manuel first scribbled it onto that napkin. Because the story was never only about ROQ YOU.
It was about the people standing on the other side of the press.
YOU took the risk.
YOU printed the shirts.
YOU built the teams.
YOU grew the businesses.
YOU made the machine matter.
So, from everyone at ROQ:
Thank YOU.
From Porto in 2012 to print floors around the world in 2026, it's been one incredible ride.
And we're nowhere near finished.
The next generation of YOU is here.
Are YOU ready to ROQ?
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