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Citation Software releases ReplyMailOnLine.com system for creating Business Reply Mail artwork
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For immediate release
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WESTBOROUGH, MA, May 21, 2001 —
Citation Software Inc. has released its
new on-line mailpiece-design service,
ReplyMailOnLine.com.
This service lets you use your Web browser
to create the artwork for a Business Reply
envelope, postcard or label and download the artwork immediately
in PDF format. International Business
Reply envelopes/postcards and Courtesy
Reply envelopes/postcards can also be created.
(ReplyMailOnLine.com is referred to as a "mailpiece-design"
service because the U.S. Postal Service
refers to envelopes, postcards, and labels
as "mailpieces.")
How it works
A user accesses the ReplyMailOnLine.com
service by pointing his Web browser to
www.ReplyMailOnLine.com.
After entering a few pieces of information
(e.g., mailing address, dimensions of the
mailpiece, Business Reply Permit Number),
the user clicks a button — and in just a
few seconds the ReplyMailOnLine.com system automatically
creates a PDF file containing a mailpiece
that is customized according to the
user's specifications. The mailpiece is
laid out according to the U.S. Postal
Service's rules, and it contains all
the printed elements required by the U.S.
Postal Service — including the bar codes.
The user pays on line with a credit card.
The user downloads the PDF file to his
computer, uses the Adobe Acrobat software,
Adobe Acrobat Reader software (free from
Adobe Systems Incorporated),
or similar
software to open it, and prints the mailpiece.
Free tryout
First-time users will want to take advantage of ReplyMailOnLine's
"Free tryout" feature. This feature allows the user to
go through the entire process of creating the artwork for a
mailpiece without paying any money. At the end of the free-tryout
process, the user will get a PDF file, just like he or she would
get if payment had been made. (The PDF file generated during the
"Free tryout" procedure will contain a watermark.)
Why Is ReplyMailOnLine.com Needed?
Traditionally, creating Business Reply,
Courtesy Reply, and International Business
Reply mailpieces (known collectively as "Reply
mailpieces") has been a labor-intensive
and error-prone process. That's because
the U.S.Postal Service has established a complicated
set of rules that dictate how Reply mailpieces
must be formatted. For example: there
are rules that specify the minimum and
maximum length and height of each type of
Reply mailpiece, the ratio of the length
to the height, the size and style of
the fonts (typefaces) that are used for
the various text elements, the placement
of the text elements and graphic elements
relative to each other, and many other
things.
For most people, it would take
at least a couple of hours to create a
Reply mailpiece with illustration software
such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW.
Furthermore, even with careful attention to
detail, it is easy to make mistakes — and
mistakes on a Reply Mailpiece can be costly.
(In some situations, the Postal Service
charges extra money to process improperly
formatted Reply mailpieces. In other
situations, the Postal Service might
refuse to allow improperly formatted Reply
mailpieces to be used; the consequences can
be expensive if thousands of improperly
formatted mailpieces have already been printed.)
Because the ReplyMailOnLine.com service is
inexpensive, easy to use, and readily
available (anyone with a Web browser and
an Internet connection can use it at any time of the day or night), it
will be a boon to direct-marketing companies,
fund-raising groups, government agencies,
printing companies, the U.S. Postal Service,
small-business owners, and other individuals
and organizations who need to create Reply
mailpieces.
Pricing
ReplyMailOnLine.com users can
choose from two payment plans:
- Pay-As-You-Go Plan — Pay $2.00 USD per mailpiece to create
standard-sized Business Reply envelopes &
postcards and standard-sized Courtesy Reply
envelopes & postcards that have printer's
marks (crop marks, etc.).
The Pay-As-You-Go Plan
is appropriate for users who (1) don't create
a lot of mailpieces, and (2) don't require
much flexibility in terms of formatting.
- Subscription Plan — Pay $25.00 USD per year
to create an unlimited number of mailpieces.
The Subscription Plan makes available some
extra features that aren't part of the
Pay-As-You-Go Plan. Here are some of these
extra features:
- In addition to Business Reply mailpieces
and Courtesy Reply mailpieces, Subscription
Plan user can create International Business
Reply mailpieces.
- In addition to choosing from a list of
standard-sized mailpieces, a Subscription
Plan user can specify custom dimensions for
a mailpiece.
- For Business Reply mailpieces, a
Subscription Plan user can create labels as
well as envelopes & postcards.
- A Subscription Plan user can choose
from two different font styles.
- A Subscription Plan user has the option
of instructing ReplyMailOnLine.com to put
blank lines or labeled lines for a return
address in the upper-left corner of a
Business Reply mailpiece or Courtesy Reply
mailpiece.
- A Subscription Plan user can specify
whether he wants printers' marks on the
mailpiece, or whether he just wants the
mailpiece itself. ("Printer's marks"
are crop marks and mailpiece specifications.)
The Subscription Plan is appropriate for
users who (1) create a lot of mailpieces
and/or (2) need to have options in terms
of formatting.
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About Citation Software
Citation Software Inc.
is a provider of products and services related to
electronic-publishing technology, particularly variable-data-printing/publishing
technology, on-demand-printing/publishing technology,
and PDF-based workflow systems. Based in Massachusetts, the company sells
"off-the-shelf" software products to end users; licenses
software-development kits to programmers; and offers consulting, development, and integration services.
Citation Software's product portfolio includes solutions for
variable-data printing/publishing, page imposition, PDF viewing,
dynamic creation & modification of PDF files, dynamic PDF form-filling,
address standardization & enhancement, print-stream transformation, and more.
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