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Some argued the web would be the death of print. It was thought that rising young savvy designers and marketers would switch their attention to the internet, causing alarm bells to ring with some in the print industry. But what was seen as a threat has, in fact, led to quicker and easier print buying. Print and the internet are complementing each other.

This coupling has allowed web-to-print software to make its presence felt on the market. A good product will let customers buy print from high-volume work to one-off posters, and should take the buyer through various templates and options. It should also be a secure transaction engine, tracking orders through the system.

While some products cater solely to print ordering, others offer print management tools for companies to create their own sites, allowing printers to let their customers make amendments to images.

“Web-to-print has the potential to be lucrative,” says James Gray, Transeo Media managing director. “Our customers have reported anything from a 20 to 100% increase in the number of jobs they have received since they implemented a web-to print system.”

End-to-end platform
Printers don’t have to sit down with the customer and talk through a job’s specifications, as everything can be viewed on the system’s templates. “When it’s working at its best, the printer will receive a job pre-flighted and ticketed, leaving them to get on with the printing,” explains Gray.

Any web-to-print solution has to be web-native: built as an end-to-end online platform, not merely an online ordering portal for an installed production system, according to Claritum marketing manager Phil Martin. “By the nature of managing the entire process, it is vital for any web-to-print solution to be able to integrate with platforms within the supply chain,” he says.
According to a report by InfoTrends, web-to-print volumes in Western Europe are expected to increase by a staggering 264% by 2010, and will be worth in excess of £7bn. Although it’s fairly easy to set up, most success stories employ dedicated staff to implement the software.

Buyers should ask questions regarding job submission and status tracking. “For example, ask if you can use the print drivers from a desktop application to submit a job and then follow its progress,” says Gray.

A single system can handle business cards, stationery, documents, forms, point-of-sale, direct mail and print marketing adds Martin. “It’s critical to look at the underlying workflow capabilities and flexibility, and not to get seduced by systems with limited capability, inflexible workflow and just a nice user interface.”

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WHAT'S NEW IN… WEB-TO-PRINT SOFTWARE
• In November 2007, Press-sense launched iWay Version 4.0, with new features and enhancements driven by customer feedback
• In January, Canon Europe and Pageflex struck a pan-European deal to give Canon customers access to a range of personalisation and web-to-print software
• In February, Rob Walker, former managing director of Xerox UK, predicted a big future for web-to-print after joining software specialist Mtivity as a non-executive director
• RedTie released web-to-print software RedTie Quotation and RedTie Marketing in September 2007
• Pre-media supplier Transeo Media launched a low-cost ASP model of Press-sense’s iWay web-to-print software aimed at small to medium-sized printers in October 2007
• Despite the raft of new product launches, the UK is lagging behind in the adoption of web-to-print software, according to a report from InfoTrends: 60% of UK companies had no plans to run web-to-print systems, placing the UK among the bottom third of European countries