Newbie VDP mailer

[bulksolution2001]

ok I'm hoping you guys can help me find a SIMPLE solution to get me started.

We have a 8.5 x 11 that has already been color printed and we have white areas were we need to lay variable like name, a personal message, and then on a different area on the page the address so it shows through the window of the envelope.

We are only going to be doing like 6,000 of these a month...

We will be getting the data nightly in a CSV file....

From what I have read will this work: Printable | FusionPro Desktop

also what printer? remember only maybe 10,000 a month AND I'm only laying Black, non of the color is variable and that is already printed out of house..

Thanks so much for helping a newbie.

 

[bkaupp]

Are you doing all ~6000 at one time or in batches throughout the month? Also, do you know if the pre-prints are laser or offset printed?

 

[bulksolution2001]

batches throughout the month.... umm offset print i think as ill probably be buying say 20,000 8.5 x 11 at a time and using them daily.

Thanks for your help

 

[bulksolution2001]

so im really just the final set... add the variable stuff the envelope and get it to the post office..

what are you guys thoughts on the best way to do this... I need black ink only and i cant afford much of a printer...realize i only need to be able to do 1,000 a day max


THANKS so much

 

[bkaupp]

Pre-printed done on offset is usually your best route for maximum useability and lowest cost. Pre-printed on laser then imprinted with another laser printer will likely run you into problems. When ever we have done a job like that we usually charge the customer for all the pre-prints up front incase they change their minds about something and leave you with a years worth of stock you won't get paid for.

Based on my experience, if you are just doing text, just about anything should do the trick. If you don't already have a machine 1) be weary of investing in new equipment for one job that the customer may stop doing in one or two months and 2) with such low numbers in a month the only thing you'll gain with the more expensive machines is speed. We currently have a pair of monotone imageRunners that only go 20ish pages per minute, if you don't otherwise have the volume, they may take an hour to do the job but I think we only picked them up for a few grand each. A high end desktop laser printer would probably due the trick as well. I am not familier enough with those machines to suggest anything.

Personally, if this is the only variable data job you have and don't see yourself doing much else, you could probably save your cost on the software and even use the mail merge features in Word to get the job done. Again, if you shell out the money for the Fusion software (I am not familiar with its cost) and you lose the job in a month or two, have you gained?

This is just one persons opinion and obviously I don't know your whole background or setup.

Good luck.

 

[bulksolution2001]

ok thanks for your help

 

[dpolglaze]

A few more VDP thoughts

A few more VDP thoughts

I have 20 years in digital print and a decent VDP background. I tend to agree with "bkaupp" on using Word's mail merge feature--and the idea of jobbing this out comes to mind based on the information you gave.

What you're taking on--assuming you want to move into VDP--REQUIRES a whole new thought process and physical processes; hardware, software, knowledge and expertise. I don't want to scare you unnecessarily, but if you take on this job and screw it up, where will you be? Is this a new customer? Existing customer?

Going ahead...
FusionPro is a stand-alone application--you don't need to buy Printable to get it. EFI also uses FusionPro for thier Digital StoreFront W2P system, and it's a good program--still about $500-$600 I think. InDesign has a built-in data merge feature that you mitght be able to use for this. You could do the VDP work in-house and send PDFs out for production (to a local printshop) while you decide what printer to buy.

If you really want to get into VDP (not W2P) from scratch, contact Greg Bane at Meadows Publishing and buy DesignMerge for about $5K ([email protected], 847-882-8202). DM is a plug-in for either Quark or ID (Mac or PC). Greg will have you up and running and doing this job in a few days. If you want to do both VDP and W2P, contact Steve Enstad at PageDNA ([email protected], 888-472-43362). You can start with this one for a few hundred bucks and add on as needed. No, I have no financial interest here...

If you take this on, make sure you get initial and periodic test groups from the client and PROOF, PROOF, PROOF before you run or send the work out for production.

As far as the printer goes, that also depends on how far you want to go. To start, I would look at a small color or black and white laser printer--no more than $2K or even less until you decide where you're going with this.

Good luck,
Dwight Polglaze
413-262-1018

P.S. If you rub the ink hard on the pre-print and it's offset it will smear like liquid ink normally does. Laser won't smear much and can be scraped off with an exacto knife.

 

[oxburger]

You can also used InDesign to do your variable data merge using a scanned copy of your mailer as a template. Once you get it set up, all you have to do is marry it with the data file and InDesign will generate a page for each file. You can then either print directly to a printer that has your preprinted piece in the paper tray or generate a pdf for printing elswhere.

 

[bulksolution2001]

Thanks Guy,

Yea Oxburger I think that is exactly what I want to do now I need to pick a B&W printer to lay the variable down with

 

[Printease]

If you are using oxburger's suggestion(output to PDF from InDesign), then the Xerox Phaser 5550 might be a good machine to do the imprints with. Just tell your press operators to take it easy with the powder when printing the shells

 

[PlanetDave]

New Option

New Option

I don't know if you are still looking, but my company provides a solution you may be interested in. For $150, I will clean the list, NCOA, presort, perform a Variable Data Merge, return to you postal reports, merged PDF for you to print.

digitalformattingservices.com

 

[BAB Print]

2 more cents

2 more cents

We do quite a few jobs similar to this. We're using Fusion Pro Desktop, and it works very well. It comes with a built-in imposition program, postal barcode fonts and optimized output streams for quite a few different devices.

As far as running offset shells back through a black and white device, we had a Xerox Docutech and found it to be problematic - multiple jams and breakdowns. We have switched to a Kodak Digimaster, and it works much better. However, we still have issues with offset ink coming off on various parts and causing problems over time. Especially if it's a repetitive graphic that gets run over and over in the same spot.

 

[[email protected]]

An HP Laserjet 4350 for about $400-$500 used will do what you need it to do and pretty fast too. Very low cost per page and you can refill the cartridges.

------------------
To the previous post: there's two things I would try about the offset ink coming off:
1. reduce the moisture content of the paper; put a dehumidifier by the stock;
2. make an adjustment to the fuser temperature by lowering it. (don't recall if this is user or service mode, most machines is under service mode) also a pressure reduction in the fuser may help.

What I theorize is happening is too high of a temp or pressure with too much moisture in the paper is causing too drastic of a difference in the two environmental states when the paper hits the fuser and is causing the moisture to lift off some of the offset ink and go to the fusers.

Don't adjust too much though or the toner may not fuse properly.

 

[DigiRod]

We also do the same with our Kodak Digimaster and we struggled with preprinted material. We played with heat and pressure settings and then found out Kodak has a fuser roller and special settings for this kind of printing. Ask your Kodak Tech for a Mod 19, it is a coated fuser roller and the settings get changed as well, reduces the oil and adds heat if I remember correctly. Made a hugh difference for us. We also researched offset inks and for these kinds of projects we switch to a different offset ink.

 

[MailGuru]

Do you have postal sortation software and are you familiar with current USPS Postal Regulations? (You might want to take PlanetDave up on his offer..........)