Web, Click, and Print ...
Printing and the Internet are growing ever closer together. In
Western Europe alone, orders worth more than 13.5 billion dollars
(10 b. euros) will be generated from the Web this year. This
technology offers numerous benefits for print buyers and print
shops alike. Web-to-print is a profitable option for both - not
just for basic business stationery, but for highquality offset
printing, too.
Can business stationery be designed online and sent to a print shop for printing with a click of the mouse? Why not? What sounded impossible just 10 years ago is now a wellestablished practice. Countless print shops now offer this service, and it is not uncommon, for example, to pay less than 13.5 dollars (10 euros) for 500 business cards.
Web-to-print is currently considered to be one of the print media industry's key growth markets. The basic principle behind it is amazingly simple, but the technical reality is not quite so straightforward. An Internet server gives customers access to layout software that enables them to enter and modify their data using fixed input masks and defined tools. A few mouse clicks later even relatively inexperienced Internet users can give the go-ahead for printing - and can do so day or night, from any computer anywhere in the world that is connected to the Internet. This direct link to the print shop is used for the key commercial processes, too, with orders, delivery notes and invoices also being generated online.
A business model with huge potential. Thanks to ever improving technical infrastructures - primarily the result of faster and more powerful online connections - the range of feasible Web-toprint projects has kept on growing. Just a few years ago, typical Webto- print jobs included business cards, price lists and forms with fixed layouts. Nowadays, though, the same process is also routinely used to produce advertising brochures, catalogs, annual reports and even large posters. Today, Web-to-print is used for virtually anything that is printable in some form or other - from advent calendars to zodiac charts with endless customization options along the way.
This business model also has huge growth potential in the medium term. According to a study by market research company Infotrends, the market volume for western Europe will climb to more than 13.5 billion dollars (10 b. euros) this year - a threefold increase in the space of just three years. What's more, a large majority of the print shops participating in the study see Web-to-print as an important and effective customer loyalty tool because an increasing number of customers expect this service. Web-to-print therefore offers print shops an excellent opportunity to recommend themselves to customers as long-term suppliers of online services.
"Web-to-print is the ideal tool for bringing customers and technologies together," explains Bernd Zipper, a technology and strategy consultant for the print media industry who is committed to this marriage of Internet, printing, e-commerce and media services. He believes that anyone failing to leverage this trend "is missing out on the opportunity for future success" because, as he sees it, Web-toprint is "a new DTP revolution for the graphic arts industry - moving away from the local desktop towards a flexible Web workplace."
Prepress costs 60 percent lower. The benefits for print shops and their customers are clear. The fact that customers use their Web browsers to create print originals and their contents makes print jobs faster, more effective and more cost-efficient. Savings of up to 60 percent can be achieved in prepress and, when combined with the press stage, the savings are still as high as 40 percent. Repeat jobs in particular are very easy to process online. Customers can make their own last-minute corrections, while the risk of possible errors lies with the customer right up till the print data is "handed over" electronically. The fact that all communication takes place over the Internet also dispenses with the time-consuming and cost-intensive process of transporting data carriers, films or proofs. What's more, standardizing the production and approval processes virtually eliminates traditional production errors and any breaches of strict corporate design rules. The time-to-market for customers is up to 80 percent shorter in some cases.
Can business stationery be designed online and sent to a print shop for printing with a click of the mouse? Why not? What sounded impossible just 10 years ago is now a wellestablished practice. Countless print shops now offer this service, and it is not uncommon, for example, to pay less than 13.5 dollars (10 euros) for 500 business cards.
Web-to-print is currently considered to be one of the print media industry's key growth markets. The basic principle behind it is amazingly simple, but the technical reality is not quite so straightforward. An Internet server gives customers access to layout software that enables them to enter and modify their data using fixed input masks and defined tools. A few mouse clicks later even relatively inexperienced Internet users can give the go-ahead for printing - and can do so day or night, from any computer anywhere in the world that is connected to the Internet. This direct link to the print shop is used for the key commercial processes, too, with orders, delivery notes and invoices also being generated online.
A business model with huge potential. Thanks to ever improving technical infrastructures - primarily the result of faster and more powerful online connections - the range of feasible Web-toprint projects has kept on growing. Just a few years ago, typical Webto- print jobs included business cards, price lists and forms with fixed layouts. Nowadays, though, the same process is also routinely used to produce advertising brochures, catalogs, annual reports and even large posters. Today, Web-to-print is used for virtually anything that is printable in some form or other - from advent calendars to zodiac charts with endless customization options along the way.
This business model also has huge growth potential in the medium term. According to a study by market research company Infotrends, the market volume for western Europe will climb to more than 13.5 billion dollars (10 b. euros) this year - a threefold increase in the space of just three years. What's more, a large majority of the print shops participating in the study see Web-to-print as an important and effective customer loyalty tool because an increasing number of customers expect this service. Web-to-print therefore offers print shops an excellent opportunity to recommend themselves to customers as long-term suppliers of online services.
"Web-to-print is the ideal tool for bringing customers and technologies together," explains Bernd Zipper, a technology and strategy consultant for the print media industry who is committed to this marriage of Internet, printing, e-commerce and media services. He believes that anyone failing to leverage this trend "is missing out on the opportunity for future success" because, as he sees it, Web-toprint is "a new DTP revolution for the graphic arts industry - moving away from the local desktop towards a flexible Web workplace."
Prepress costs 60 percent lower. The benefits for print shops and their customers are clear. The fact that customers use their Web browsers to create print originals and their contents makes print jobs faster, more effective and more cost-efficient. Savings of up to 60 percent can be achieved in prepress and, when combined with the press stage, the savings are still as high as 40 percent. Repeat jobs in particular are very easy to process online. Customers can make their own last-minute corrections, while the risk of possible errors lies with the customer right up till the print data is "handed over" electronically. The fact that all communication takes place over the Internet also dispenses with the time-consuming and cost-intensive process of transporting data carriers, films or proofs. What's more, standardizing the production and approval processes virtually eliminates traditional production errors and any breaches of strict corporate design rules. The time-to-market for customers is up to 80 percent shorter in some cases.
You will find the complete article in Heidelberg News issue 269.
Please use the pdf download on the top right-hand side.
Please use the pdf download on the top right-hand side.
