Variable Data Printing

As you walk into the country’s largest Craft and Hobby Show held at the Anaheim Convention Center, in California, it is like being in the world’s largest grown-up toy store.

There are aisles and aisles of beautiful booths filled with amazing crafting products to get your creative juices flowing. There is so much to see. No matter what type of crafting you are into, there is a booth that caters to your favorite hobby.

Whether it is crocheting, knitting, glass painting, jewelry making, scrapbooking, card making, wood crafting, stamping, painting, you name it ~ it is all right there! Crafters, Store Owners, Buyers, Manufacturers and Designers from all across the globe are here to buy and sell. There are giveaways and contests to win, Fashion shows and “Make and Takes” galore. The vibe throughout the show is one of glitz and glam and the attendee’s are dressed to the nines. Leopard prints, diamond studded badge holders, truly a sight to behold.


Webster’s Pages, a scrapbook paper company, is amazing at creating the “display” of it all. I started working with this wonderful company about 5 years ago. The scrapbooking papers, pads, journaling cards and catalogs that are printed, must be stunning. The lighting must be “spot on” to showcase the colors and motifs within the designs. Embellishments need to sparkle and shine to catch the eye. Crafting projects are displayed to show how elegantly these papers and embellishments can be put together to create a lasting memory. The whole experience of walking into the booth is like coming home, you want to sit down, chat with friends, and create a new memory to capture in a scrapbook page later. It is such a wonderful experience to walk in to any one of these booths at the show and feel so welcome.

Let’s be honest, it is a place for these companies to sell their wares, but I have never been to a convention that is so warm and inviting. Jesse James Beads booth was totally renovated this season and looked fabulous, I stopped in to check on them and business was booming. It is great to see.

Customers from all over the globe stop in to place their orders and just chat with the girls. Lots of photos are taken, stories from the past six months are shared and lots and lots of laughter. It is wonderful to get to be a part of this industry through print.

Learning the ins and outs of the scrapbooking and crafting industries has been an exciting and exhausting undertaking. Helping customers get ready for a big show like this, by having products and catalogs printed for display and sale, is a whirlwind. When you step into the convention center on opening day, take in all the sparkle and shine, it will take your breath away.

Our previous post discussed testing your marketing communications tool and finalizing the right look and feel for your project. Now you’re ready to take the project into full production. As always, there is a deadline and a budget that has to be met in order to achieve successful completion. So, this leads us into our next tip…

TIP #6: Determine production timeframes and budgets.

You’ve done all of the proper planning in advance. Now it’s just a matter of knowing when you need the project completed by and making sure the timeframe works and the project remains within budget. Knowing all of this information ahead of time helps the printer determine an accurate production timeframe and keeps your team on schedule of completing the project on time. The printer can also determine if there are any cost-effective or green alternatives that can be recommended for your specific project if time allows.

For example, if you were creating a variable data/image enrollment package that becomes a folded, direct mail piece, there are a few options available that could make a difference in pricing. One option would be to put wafer seals on the sides per the U.S. Mail standards, which would be more expensive than the alternative option of using fugitive glue dots while the direct mail is inline on the machine. The option of glue dots saves you money because it can be done inline rather than pulling it from one machine and setting it back up on another machine to attach the wafer seals. However, it is best to let the printer determine what process will work most effectively for your specific project and still maintain the quality of your expectations.

Here’s a sample production schedule for print material:

9) Date of use of the marketing communication tool

This refers to the date on which the marketing communication tool is to be placed in the hands of the intended audiences for use by them. Depending on the purpose of the tool, this date may or may not be flexible. For example, if you need a booklet for a conference that begins on November 10, it’s no use distributing the booklet on November 22.

8 ) Date of delivery by the printer

It’s important to ensure the materials are received on time. Set this date a few days – or even a few weeks – in advance of the date of use, depending on the duration of the distribution process.

7) Date of submission to the printer

Upon receiving all of the specifics about your project, the printer should let you know how much time they will need to meet the planned date of delivery. Due to multiple projects simultaneously happening, the production lead time allowed to the printer is not very elastic. This timeframe is taken into consideration when the proposal is submitted by the printer.

6) Validation of the content and the format

The period needed to validate the tool can vary in length, depending on the tool, the clients, and the validation method used.

5) Date for layout of text and visual material by the graphic designer

Like printers, graphic designers often work on several jobs simultaneously and must therefore incorporate your job in their own production chain. The graphic designer plays a central role in the production of your printed material, since he/she is the person who creates it, gives it a concrete form and guides its progression to the final stages.

Often, if not always, the graphic designer handles the follow-up with the printer and is thus responsible for delivering the material to the printer. The advantage of this is that the graphic designer is in regular contact with the printer. Since they share a craft, he/she knows how to talk to the printer.

To be able to do their job, the graphic designer needs to have all the necessary texts and visual elements. These aspects will have been defined during the design meetings. Unless the graphic designer authorizes otherwise, the material should be final when it is placed in their hands. This avoids errors and saves time.

4) Production of texts and visual material

The written and visual material must have very clearly defined production mandates to ensure it is completed on time. In a perfect world, both the content and the communication tool will have been determined during the design meeting, as this will make the job of writing the text and gathering the visual material much easier.

3) Data gathering and research

The marketing team is to gather together all the information that the writer needs to write the content and the visual images need to be planned. Does the project already have photos or images available that could do the job? Is it necessary to get photos or images from another source?

2) The design meeting

The design meeting is the cornerstone of any communication process. It brings together the team of marketers, the designers as well as anybody else involved in the project being planned.
During this meeting, the planned marketing communication tool is meticulously analyzed, defined and outlined. Responsibilities are assigned and most of the deadlines fixed. However, certain details may still need to be determined (printing costs and deadlines, delivery details, etc.).
Once these elements have been verified, all the people involved are informed in writing of the project schedule and of the steps that need to be taken to respect the delivery dates.

1) Identification of needs

The marketing team starts their process by setting in motion its long- and short-term communication needs. It’s important to look as far ahead as possible, since some tools require a long production process.