Portable Document Fullfat

Before I start I would like to apologies to the non-technical as I have written this for all those techie printers out there.

I have worked in print for many years now. Printing is a funny industry, we have the most amazing array of complex technology in both hardware and software but many still cling to the traditional and fear change. Technology is the key to working smart and remaining viable. However it's important that you are able to spot unnecessary and expensive technology traps that vendors try to force us into.

Adobe's PDF is a typical example, the industry has adopted this format with open arms treating it as a 'Golden Hammer' to all print problems. Unfortunately this is far from true. PDF's are wonderful at encapsulating all information pertaining to a job, therefore making it ideally for highly distributed print setups. This is great for complex one of printed items but too many people are using PDF for variable data work, for which in the majority of cases a print job is typically printed by the same printer time and time again.

Having worked in the construction of major internet applications, I have seen all too often, systems designed to be distributed when in reality they didn't need to be. Distributed systems are far more complex to create, maintain and are not as efficient as nondistributed systems.

RIP-side variable data printing is a good example of efficient printing the high resolution data sits in one place on the RIP and only the variable data is sent to the printer over the network each time the job is printed. All variable data work should be like this including online e-procurement systems.

So why is it that almost all print management systems for variable data work insist on using full fat PDF's, sending the same high resolution image and font data to their print suppliers time and time again. Print Evolved is a good example of an efficient. They only send the variable data as XML to the print suppliers on their network. This kind of system allows for greater flexibility, scalability and efficiency. More Print Management Systems should follow their lead.

Spacious Flat with a View

Print packaging is an important consideration for any printer. It determines your customers initial impression of your product. Ideally you want packaging that:

•  Shows off your print i.e. transparent.
• Protects your print from your friendly, shot putting, courier.
• Doesn't take up too much storage space.

I've found a solution, Visibox. As a company they've been around since the mid 90's. Their products come flat packed, are made of polypropylene and can be constructed in seconds.

They come in a variety of sizes and even have carrying handles on some of the box designs e.g. conference wallet.

The site is www.visibox.com

Getting from B2C

Tapping into the business to consumer market is a tricky business. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just create a print site and plug the dynamic aspects of the site in with ease.
 
I've found the perfect way of creating your own online print shop.
 
An example site using this technology is Cardcorp. They use the Print Evolved system. Yes I know I've reviewed this technology before but the B2C possibilities are definitely worth covering.
 
For some reason the Business to Consumer aspects of the Print Evolved system are not covered on their site, but after a long conversation with one of their support staff it seems that they are concentrating on selling the B2B aspects first.
 
Anyway... Here are the B2C niceties of the system:

• Secure Credit Card system built in.
• Ability to change fonts, styles, colours, position and even swap images within the templates.
• Ability to use your own domain name for the pages served from their servers (see WWWhats in a Name).
• Options to use your own templates or reuse other shared templates on the print network.

In essence to get going I would .....

1. Upload my designs or use existing online templates (templates are created in Quark Xpress).
2. Then create a site full of product thumbnails and link each thumbnail to the template on the Print Evolved system.
3. Market the site and organise the printing of the orders.

If it seems too simple then don't blame me blame Print Evolved. If you would like to get a B2C site going call them and ask for a demo.

WWWhats in a Name?

Print Evolved initially reviewed July 14th have added a new feature to their web based print ordering service.
 
Now Printers and Print Management companies can use their own domain names. This means that their customers get a consistent user experience, never knowing that they are in fact on Print Evolved's servers when ordering their print.

Many Print Management Systems are sold as software packages that you must install and maintain yourself. This is expensive but the fact that your customers use only your domain name throughout the ordering process if a big factor for many print companies. With Print Evolved's latest development you can now get all the cost and contingency benefits of a hosted solution with all the benefits of hosting your own.
 
I think this is a good move on Print Evolved's part and will help them to expand their print network considerably.

Ink-andescent

I stumbled across an incredible variety of ink the other day. Advertising is all about getting noticed, but what if you need to advertise in bad light or in areas swamped by other advertising. BrightSign has the answer.
 
Their inks are day-glow! They bring any print immediately to the foreground with amazing vibrancy. They are striking even in low lighting conditions and positively glow in ultraviolet.
 
The possibilities are endless, but just to get peoples minds a kick start here are a few niche market opportunities:

• Drinks labels and promotional items for nightclubs.
• Advertising posters in areas already full of adverts.
• childrens' books.

If you speak German you can check out their website at BrightSign.

UK distribution is handled by:

Colour Division Ltd
David Jacobs
Managing Director
168 West End Lane
London NW6 1SD
Great Britain

Tel: +44 20 77 94 78 58

It's an impressive product and definitely worth checking out!

Smile if your HP

I love personalisation. Its not often that I catch a glimpse of a product that takes my breath away but today the final piece of the image personalisation puzzle fell neatly into place. I'm very familiar with Adobes Graphic Server, which is a fantastic server side image generation tool but HP's new software offering 'Direct Smile' is nothing short of breath taking.
 
Direct Smile is a fantastic tool for mass personalisation. You can create image based fonts and apply them to layered images to create a highly effective marketing image.
 



HP's 'Yours Truly' software was a great RIP side personalisation package but this is definitely the icing on the cake.

Business Cards for the Chop

This post is mainly to say thanks to Sue for the invite into this Blog. I own the Print Automation web site, so getting the chance to talk print to print managers and bridge that production/admin gap is great.

My first article here will be about guillotining, as I've picked up the trail of a new product out there that can cut entire batches of small print items at a time. Ideal for business stationery and point of sale products. More to come on that once I've done my homework...

Looking forward to being an active blogger :)

James Taylor

inKontrol - Print Automation

Its nice to see people trying to give a little back to print by publishing non-commercial industry related sites. Blogs are wonderful don't you think :) but to truly make a statement you need to register your own domain and then build it from scratch. James Taylor is a great example, I'm still kicking myself for not getting to his domain name first. He has created the site www.printautomation.co.uk, he's not got that far with it yet it seems but its encouraging to see he shares my opinion on the Print Evolved system.

Good luck to you James and keep it up!

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.

Taking the PMS out of Print Management Systems

Print Evolved has been hanging in the wings for quite some time. It was up until 3 months ago exclusively owned by a Leeds based print company. Finally it has been offered to the masses.

What is it you say!? Well I'll tell you... It's a Print Management System, haven't you read the title! Admittedly however your question would be half right as unlike other systems, Print Evolved goes one step further and Automates almost all of your Pre-press tasks as well. Oooooo say the printers, 'So what!' say the Print Management companies. The advantages to print management companies may not seem immediately obvious, but when you consider the time savings on the printers side, your printers can now offer you much more competitive prices.