Mass Mailer Failure

The web is good for many things but one thing it is not ideal for is mass personalised print (i.e. one file being populated with a list of details in a single one off print run)! Many disagree but seemed to have failed to consider the shear volume of data their methods are creating.

Many systems are taking the variable data in a CSV or XML file and generating 1000s of PDFs or 1 huge multipage PDF online. Its craziness I tell you. That kink of data is highly inefficient. RIP side file generation is the best way of approaching this type of print. Most RIP side personalisation applications utilise either quark or acrobat as their formats. As newsletters and other mailings can be very complex it is better to use the raw offline power of these applications as it allows the maximum creativity, which is the essential WOW factor of any marketing literature.

The best approach is to use the web for the transfer of the data file and the design and let the rest be dealt with by the printer's production team.

I've had experience with many personalisation products in the past, some not so good, but good enough to get you started, like the Quark XTension XData and all singing and dancing products like HP's 'Yours Truly'. Having looked around extensively however I can happily say that offline personalisation rules the roost in this case.