Web to Print

Efforts to expand their customer base outside of their natural geographic area, make ordering of printed products available 24/7 and generally reduce the costs of sales have driven many printers to consider web to print solutions. A few years ago they would not have considered it, but greater reliance on electronic communications and a growing confidence in doing business over the web have changed attitudes, while advances in software have lowered the bar on the cost of implementing a solution.

At its simplest, a web to print solution provides a convenient means of showing your wares and taking orders over a web interface. Anyone with a computer and browser software becomes a potential customer, with 24 hour access. A Print Service Provider can offer a wide range of products, either static - like books and other publications, printed on demand - like data sheets or product brochures that can be constantly kept up to date, or fully customised - like business stationery, where the client can actually enter their own details to localise or personalise a document held as a template.

Getting artwork to the printer

One of the earliest implementations of web to print grew from the requirement to get artwork in a finished format, usually as a ready to print PDF, directly to the printer’s workflow. Services, built around products like Jaws PDF Courier, allowed quality PDFs to be made to a consistent specification at the client side, pre-flighted if necessary, and securely delivered via a web interface to a server at the service provider. Job tickets, defining the printing and finishing requirements accompany the job, allowing clients to order online. Compared to simply delivering the PDF or a native document by FTP or on disk, it gave a more rounded service, reduced variation at the printer’s side and put the responsibility for getting the document right with the client. While this solution did and still does work well, there is no ‘store-front’ and no real opportunity to use templated documents.

Opening the shop

Many printed items, like business stationery, are in standard sizes and formats, with only a few variations in layout. It is relatively easy to offer these as templates, with fixed production costs, in a web store. Clients can then make their own amendments to the template, putting their telephone numbers etc in place and then order the required quantity. This system works particularly well for corporate print, where a large number of individuals in different offices around the country (or world) can customise items, for printing at a single location or with finished PDF artwork supplied for local production. Corporate style and colour schemes are maintained and stock holding of printed items is significantly reduced by the more responsive service provided.

Web stores can be built in many ways with software ranging from free to many thousands of pounds. Many avoid the infrastructure costs of hosting your own with a simple rental model. A clear idea of what you want to achieve is important before diving in. Changing the logic or the format later is often very time consuming. Always think from the user (client) standpoint. What is logical for you as a printer may require a good deal of explanation to an unpractised secretary ordering her bosses business cards for the first time.

The more personal approach

Stationery, business cards and brochures can be localised and then printed in quantity from a single master document, but the growth of digital print, with the ability to make every page different has made web to print a logical route to market. Greetings cards, calendars, personalised mailings and items of novelty print can easily be set up as basic templates on line, and the client can then insert their own personal details for a one-off, or upload a database of relevant details to produce a batch of individually personalised items.

Templates have limitations particularly where the quantity of text or size of pictures may vary considerably. They do allow a consistent style and format to be maintained, but basic software often fails to give the degree of flexibility required for a professional looking print job. Recent advances in software, for example in uEdit, part of XMPie’s uStore application, allow selected items on the page to be moved, scaled, colours and fonts changed, while other items remain locked in position, size and style. On-line production of relatively sophisticated documents, particularly for direct marketing or novelty print for public consumption, like party invitations, is now feasible.

Most successful examples are relatively simple documents, but complexity is not the limiting factor as much as imagination. Innovation is driving the market forward and the ability to use a web interface to capture quite complex data is being used regularly.

Personalised children’s books were introduced a few years ago, using sophisticated software like XMPie’s PersonalEffect to insert a character representing the recipient into a pre-written story. The ability to provide relevant illustrations (with appropriate hair and skin colour, identifying name on a tee-shirt etc) and names (of the recipient, best friend, teacher etc) inserted in the text of the story, makes these items very desirable. They wouldn’t exist without the ability of digital print to deliver a print run of one. They do represent a challenge for the printer however. Short turnaround times and a high seasonality in the market, together with fairly sophisticated finishing and mailing requirements, means this is a market for the specialist, but it is expanding rapidly.

Web to print overall is a rapidly growing area. Novel applications are being introduced all the time. There is no doubt that it has opened new markets and it can, used properly, reduce costs and the time to generate the printed item. Convenience to the client is a major selling point and a major reason for using the service. Because of that, anyone looking to secure their longer term future in print needs to consider it seriously.