Thumbnails

• A printing company makes a Web-to-print system available to its customers so that it's easy for the customers to order customized company collateral such as business cards and letterhead.
  
  
• A bank makes a Web-to-print system available to its branches to make it easy for employees to order customized bank collateral such as business cards and letterhead.
  
  
• A corporation that manufactures security devices for computers makes a Web-to-print system available to its channel partners (resellers) to make it easy for the channel partners to create customized versions of postcards that can be used in direct-mail campaigns.
  
  
• A corporation with a chain of restaurants makes a Web-to-print system available to the restaurants so that each restaurant can order various kinds of documents. For example, the system could be set up for ordering placemats, menus, napkins, and coupons that are tailored a particular restaurant.

1. Self-hosted system. This is a system that you license, and you run the software on your own server. Usually, a self-hosted system is used only by your company and/or your company's customers.
   
   
2. ASP system. This is a system that you subscribe to, and it runs on another company's server. Usually, an ASP system is used by many different companies in addition to your own company and your company's customers

Static documents

A static document is a document that always looks exactly the same when printed. A static document is not designed with customization in mind — so when somebody uses a Web-to-print system to order (for example) 500 copies of a static document, all 500 will be identical, and each one will look just like its thumbnail representation in the Web-to-print system's on-line catalog. (Of course, the printed document will be bigger than the thumbnail representation and will have more detail than the thumbnail representation.)

Versioned documents and variable-data documents

The printing & publishing industry has coined the terms "versioned documents" and "variable-data documents." These terms denote different kinds of document customization.

Versioned documents

If somebody uses a Web-to-print system to order a batch of versioned documents, that person is ordering a batch of documents that are customized in some way, but all the documents in the batch are identical.

For example, if the person orders 500 business cards, the Web-to-print system will allow the person to type in his name, job title, phone number, e-mail address, etc. The person will receive 500 business cards that are identical to each other but are NOT identical to the thumbnail representation in the on-line catalog (because the thumbnail representation would not include the name, job title, phone number, e-mail address, etc. of the particular person that placed the order).

Variable-data documents

If somebody uses a Web-to-print system to order a batch of variable-data documents, each document in the batch is different.

Sometimes, but not always, variable-data documents are also versioned. Here is an example of a batch of versioned, variable-data documents.

An employee of a chain restaurant might use a Web-to-print system to order a batch of versioned, variable-data coupons. In this case, the Web-to-print system might allow the restaurant's employee to type in the address and phone number of the particular restaurant so that the system can print the restaurant's address and phone number on each coupon, and the Web-to-print system might also allow the restaurant employee to upload a file than contains names and address of customers or potential customers so that the system can print a bar code on each coupon. (The bar code would represent a particular name and address in the file that was uploaded. When one of the coupon recipients brings his or her coupon to the restaurant, the restaurant could use a scanning wand to capture the name and address for each coupon. The restaurant would thus know who has used the coupons and who has not and could plan additional marketing activities based on this information.)

In this situation, the versioning part is the address and phone number of the restaurant, and the variable-data part is the bar code that represents the name and address of a particular customer or a particular potential customer. All of the coupons that are printed for this order will have the same restaurant address and phone number, but each individual coupon will have a different bar code.

Recap of the differences between static, versioned, and variable-data documents

When somebody uses a Web-to-print system to order a batch of STATIC documents, the person receives a batch of documents that are all identical to each other, and each document in the batch is identical to its thumbnail representation on the on-line catalog for the Web-to-print system.

When somebody uses a Web-to-print system to order a batch of VERSIONED documents, the person receives a batch of documents that are all identical to each other, but each document is NOT identical to its thumbnail representation in the on-line catalog for the Web-to-print system, because the Web-to-print system has allowed the person placing the order to customize the document in some way.

When somebody uses a Web-to-print system order order a batch of of VARIABLE-DATA documents, the person receives a batch of document that are NOT all identical to each other, and, of course, each document is NOT identical to its thumbnail representation in the on-line catalog for the Web-to-print system.

Often, but not always, VARIABLE-DATA documents are also VERSIONED.

• A person that's placing an order can type text into an on-line form. For example, a user that is ordering business cards would type in his or her name, job title, phone number, e-mail address, etc.
  
  For most Web-to-print systems, the on-line form is shown on the screen separate from the representation of the document itself. For some Web-to-print systems, the on-line form is laid out on the screen so that the person placing the order can, in effect, type information right onto the document. (Generally, Web-to-print systems with this capability cost more than Web-to-print systems that display the data-entry forms separate from the documents. That's because these systems are more difficult to create.)
  
  
• A user can choose from an on-line library of graphics or can upload graphics. For example, a user might upload a TIFF file or JPEG file that contains his company logo — or instead, the Web-to-print system might allow allow the user to choose his logo from an on-line library of logos that has been uploaded to the system by a system administrator.
  
  
• A person that's placing an order can upload a database containing name-and-address information (and perhaps other information as well); the information in the database could be used throughout the documents in various ways. For example, if a restaurant is ordering coupons, name-and-address information might be encoded in a bar code on each coupon. When a particular individual brings the coupon to the restaurant, the restaurant could use a scanning wand to capture the name-and-address information that's represented in the bar code. This captured information could be entered into a database, thus allowing the restaurant to know who is who is not using the coupons. The restaurant could then implement additional promotional campaigns that are based on this information.
  
  
• Some Web-to-print systems are set up so that the person that is placing an order is not allowed to choose fonts, font sizes, colors for text, etc., whereas other Web-to-print systems do allow the person to make those choices.

• When somebody wants to place an order, he or she uses a Web browser to go to a particular Web URL and uses a username and password to log into the system.
  
  
• The person browses the system's on-line catalog and chooses the document that he or she wants by clicking on a thumbnail representation of the document.
  
  
• The person follows step-by-step instructions on the screen that explain what to type and what files to upload (if any). Often, there is also on-screen information that explains how the information that's provided by the user will be used — where it will be printed on the documents, etc. In some cases, such on-screen information isn't required because it is obvious how the information will be used.
  
  
• After the person has entered and/or uploaded the required information, the system displays an on-screen proof. With most systems, the proof is displayed as a JPEG image or as a PDF file. Some systems display only the JPEG image, some systems display only the PDF file, and some systems display the JPEG image first and allow the user the option of seeing the proof in the form of a PDF file. (The PDF format provides a better view of the document, because text is usually crisper than it would be in a JPEG image and also because the document can be seen at several zoom levels.)
  
  
• The person that's placing the order either approves the proof by clicking a button, or he/she can go back and make changes and then see a new proof.
  
  
• When the person is satisfied with the proof, he or she follows more on-screen instructions to complete the on-line order process. This process might or might not include a procedure for paying with a credit card.
  
  
• The system automatically generates a file that will be used to print the documents, and the system makes that file available to the appropriate person or company. That person or company then arranges for the printing to be done.
  
  Oftentimes the file that's used for printing is a PDF file, but depending upon the capabilities of the Web-to-print system and depending upon the type of printing equipment that is to be used, the file might be in a different format, such as PPML or VPS.
  
  
• The order is fulfilled by the designated person or company. The term "fulfilled" might mean different things in different sets of circumstances, depending upon the requirements of the person that's placing the order and depending upon the capabilities of the particular Web-to-print system that's being used. For example, in some situations, delivery of the file to be used for printing constitutes fulfillment. In other situations, the fulfillment process consists of printing a batch of documents and shipping them to the person that placed the order. In other situations, fulfillment might mean mailing the printed documents to a set of names and addresses in a file that was uploaded by the person that placed the order.
  
  

• deploying document templates into the Web-to-print system
  
  
• testing each deployed template without making it available to customers until it's been fully tested
  
  
• managing the on-line catalog by creating categories and subcategories within it, by enabling and disabling deployed templates, etc.
  
  
• monitoring the status of orders that have been placed.

• making sure that operating-system updates are applied in a timely fashion
  
  
• dealing with security issues
  
  
• ensuring that the system's Internet connection is intact at all times
  
  
• attending to the general health of the server that runs the Web-to-print system and the environment in which that server is located.