Web To Print History

Article Written By: katrinawagner

Web to print is the process which links online content with a commercial printing process. It has become increasingly popular among companies that are looking to reach new customers and make it as straightforward as possible to get their artwork from concept through to printed material.

This usually encompasses upload, processing, payment and customer management however in the strictest sense of the word isn t actually these things. The origin of the phrase "Web to Print" is not actually known, but it is thought that Jim Frew was the first to coin the phrase when he wrote an article back in 1999 titled From Web to Print which detailed the process from content held online to commercial print production.

Many solutions do offer the complete package though including templates that customers can drag and drop to customise to their exact requirements right the way through to a payment gateway and customer management software.

Items produced often include:

•Business cards

•Brochures

•Leaflets

•Stationery

•Promotional items

•Posters

•Exhibition prints

In essence, web to print now means an online storefront that helps print businesses to grow their customer base and better service their existing clients. Within these storefronts, thanks to advances in print technology, no longer do clients have to select based on pre-designed templates but they can increasingly upload completely bespoke artwork that allows customers to create almost anything they like and it makes it very easy for the print company to accept and process orders.

This added automation and simple workflow in the process makes the entire operation far more streamlined and adds to the profit margins for the business – a significant advantage of employing a web to print solution.

The advantages are abundant – it allows the business to reach new clients via the world wide web, streamline the production process and better service clients. For the customer, it makes the process significantly easier and more user-friendly.

Initially, the real disadvantage was that the systems were proprietary and geared towards large enterprises. This made it prohibitively expensive for small or even medium sized print houses to get involved with this venture.

This is a common misconception now as there are many leading solutions that offer a package geared towards the needs of even small or localised printers. This is thanks to the advances of technology and the 'opening up of platforms that has allowed for further development, improvement and cost reduction.

About the Author

OPS offers leading edge Web To Print Solutions and software as well as other printing solutions.

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