Web to Print
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Web-to-print, also known as Web2Print or remote publishing , is a commercial prepress process that allows a print house, a client, and possibly a graphic designer to create, edit, and approve computer-based online templates during the prepress phase. This process increasingly calls for a Portable Document Format (PDF) workflow environment with output provided by digital printing.
Web-to-print is targeted toward commercial users or to the general public, and both groups may access public or private online storefronts or catalogues offered by print houses. Within these storefronts, customers can choose pre-produced templates where they can alter the typeface, copy, images, and layout within a template, or approve a template layout and design that has been created by another person. When a digital press is used for the final output, the template usually is transformed into a PDF file that serves as the ‘master plate’ for the digital press. In more traditional printing processes, like offset printing, the template is used to create a plate or plates that are used to produce the final printed product.
Materials produced by a Web-to-print process include business cards, brochures, and stationery, among other printed matter, that can be printed in full color or in black and white on various papers and on various presses.
Contents |
[edit] Comparisons and Differences
The Web-to-print process is similar to desktop publishing (DTP), where the individuals involved in this prepress environment need to utilize a laptop or desktop computer, desktop publishing software, and a computer printer or print house to create the end product. Unlike DTP, Web-to-print can bypass the use of a graphic designer, as the templates utilized in this process are based upon a WYSIWYG interface that can be edited and approved by a client and by the print house without a graphic designer’s assistance.
Commercial Web-to-print also differs from Print on Demand (POD), as the former process usually concentrates on small or short runs of small print jobs rather than on manuscripts or other large-scale printed projects that often require galley proofs before a final print run is initiated. With that said, Web-to-print process varies little from the POD system when a PDF workflow environment and digital presses are used in Web-to-Print production.
Finally, the Web-to-print concept sometimes overlaps Variable Data Printing (VDP), a form of POD that is mainly used for personalization of marketing materials with product or customer data that is pulled from a database. VDP is geared toward mass customization, whereas Web-to-print focuses only on changes made from order to order.
[edit] Origin of the Phrase
The origin of the phrase “Web to Print” is unknown, but Jim Frew made the earliest known public use of the phrase in an online article entitled, “From Web to Print,” for WebMonkey, an online resource for Web designers, on 9 February 1999. [1] This article was geared toward Web designers who wanted to know more about DTP and the printing process from commercial, technical, and design aspects.
The use of the term “Web-to-print” from the perspective of a transition between Web-driven technology to printed matter means that the term “Web” connotes the World Wide Web (WWW), rather than the web that is used as a term for a web rotary press developed by William Bullock. Bullock’s web press revolutionized newspaper printing, and the WWW is now used to alter how corporations and individuals create commercial and personal printed matter.
The term has become ubiquitous, as businesses have picked upon the “Web2Print” phrase to name software designed specifically to manage the Web-to-print process. Graphic design and Web design firms that have branched out into print services also use the term to subhead their company trade name, or they use the phrase as a subheading for public relations materials.
[edit] History
DTP’s history provides the groundwork for current Web-to-print expansion, and the onset of e-commerce between 1998 and 2000 created an environment for Web-to-print to prosper. VistaPrint, one company that continues to provides short run, full color print jobs to the general public, opened its online storefront in Europe before they brought their services to an American public in 2000. This company provides a prime example of how print shops began to develop proprietary technologies to generate a Web-to-print solution for small- to mid-sized businesses, and that has expanded to offer that service to the general public.
Another example about how Web-to-print revolutionized the printing industry is provided by Tharstern Limited. Tharstern was established as a software developer for the print industry in 1984, and their proprietary software often contains a management information system (MIS) that allows printers to control workflow. In 2004, Tharstern launched e4print as a means for print houses to build an online catalog and online shopping cart system for clients to pick, choose, and order various print jobs.
Within the past two years, several companies have emerged to provide print houses with Web-to-print software. Companies such as Saepio and Responsive Solutions, Inc. also target national corporate clients who want to minimize prepress problems and who want to maximize the benefits provided by Web-to-print solutions through template-based localized advertising campaigns.
A new breed of Web-to-print software for national and international corporate clients began emerging in 2006/2007, with the first such entry being ad-apt from Australian software developers Creative Intersection. This new direction has redefined the space in which Web-to-print operates by combining a true WYSIWYG environment where the end-user can actually move elements around the design in a similar fashion to DTP applications, whilst remaining within the purely online environment - allowing it to take advantage of relatively low-cost-per-seat, cross-platform compatibility, multi-user collaboration, and live database integration for product and Digital Asset Management (DAM).
Typically, these new true WYSIWYG applications are being offered as Software as a service (SaaS) solutions, meaning that technical support, application upgrades, hosting, etc can be assumed immediately and without internal IT department participation. This, in turn, allows marketing and brand managers to own the application from end-to-end.
[edit] Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages to the use of a Web-to-print system include the ability for print houses, graphic designers, corporate clients, and the general public to access a private or public online catalog where last-minute changes to a prepress template are possible. Within this process, the client can approve the materials without the need for a face-to-face meeting with the printer. Additionally, templates allow print customers to control brand management and content, as portions of a constantly used template can remain consistent throughout a series of print projects. This system is often cost-effective for clients and time-effective for print houses.
The disadvantage to this system as it exists today is that small- to mid-sized print houses and print brokers are limited in their access to software and server system solutions for a Web-to-print service offering to clients. Most proprietary and trade name software that was developed with Web-to-print projects in mind remains prohibitively expensive for this sector. Additionally, these systems often require the use of digital systems that only a larger print house would maintain.
[edit] The Future
The main challenge for Web-to-print expansion is centered on both the affordability of this solution and software and hardware companies' abilities to converge desktop vector-graphic tools with server technologies designed expressly for a Web-to-print goal. While specific software set the stage for major print houses to offer Web-to-print services to corporate clients and to the general public, brand name software companies like Adobe have nudged into this business to offer mid- to high-range solutions. Adobe InDesign and Adobe Image server technologies provide two examples, as their programs accept InDesign and Photoshop files for server processing and potential Internet access for Web-to-print processes. Another source is provided by Quark DDS server, which works with QuarkXPress files.
On the other end of the economic scale, ZetaPrints’ began to offer a service in 2006 that accepts CorelDraw files from clients, although Corel, the parent company for the CorelDraw software, does not offer a server solution for any Web-to-print processes. Instead, ZetaPrints provides the servers and processing for clients to develop personalized storefronts, online catalogues, and templates to service print customers. This mix of trade name software and privately owned server banks opens doors for small- to mid-sized print houses, print brokers, and graphic designers who cannot afford high-end Web-to-print solutions to conduct a small-scale Web-to-print service.
The next logical step for Web-to-print is to provide true WYSIWYG support. Next-generation products such as ad-apt provide such ability by allowing elements within a template to be moved, inserted, and deleted by end-users - following strict rules established by the administrator of the system. This type of system begins to blur the lines between DTP applications and 'traditional' Web-to-print systems, and lets non-designers edit and proof customised artwork within a 'safe' environment.
[edit] See also
- List of desktop publishing software
- market overview Database Publishing Systems for web2print as an orientation
[edit] References
- ^ Frew, Jim (1999-02-09). From Web to Print. Webmonkey (online publication).
