What is Variable Data Printing?
Variable Data Printing (shortened to VDP), is a printing method that allows an order of multiple copies of the same document to feature different details on each copy. Scroll down for more detail.
VDP is a specialized process ideal for orders like invitations, thank-you notes, or custom reports. VDP can be incredibly helpful and has some distinct benefits over other print techniques.
This article covers the VDP process in more detail, how other methods compare, and a short history.
Many modern print shops offer VDP in addition to other printing services. If you want to learn more, get a free quote for your next print job, or are interested in a large print order, contact JH French today.
Try VDP for personalized cards | Image source: Unsplash
VDP - Explanation & Application
Description
VDP, or Variable Data Printing, is a type of digital printing that uses computers to make small adjustments to each item within a larger order.
For comparison, with a printing process like offset printing, once you set up the rollers, they will only print the same image, over and over again.
With VDP, even after you set everything up, you can have each individual item printed with slightly different information, like different text, different images, or different colours.
This video provides a helpful example that shows how data sets can be used to customize a single advertising template:
VDP is a powerful marketing tool.
Application
Because VDP allows you to customize every single item within a larger order, it’s perfect for orders where you want everything to look similar, but include slightly different content.
For example:
Wedding invitations
Personalized holiday cards
Address-specific advertising flyers
Postcards
Up to 60% of consumers are willing to become repeat customers if their shopping experience is personalized, and VDP is a fantastic way of personalizing products to suit specific individuals.
Notable Example: Coca Cola
You can even order custom labels yourself | Image source: Coca-Cola.com
Remember those bottles of Coca-Cola that all have the same label design, but with different names on the side?
They caused a huge wave of excitement when they came out because each person knew they might be able to find a bottle out there with their exact name on it.
Coca-Cola was using VDP to create all those labels, thousands at a time, each with a different name, and they turned it into an explosive advertising campaign.
VDP Compared to Other Methods
Each print method has its own pros and cons | Image source: Unsplash
VDP is a type of digital printing. Every print shop that offers VDP should also offer regular digital printing, but not every print shop that offers digital printing will be equipped to offer VDP as well.
The following are two of the most common printing methods to investigate if you either can’t find a shop that offers digital printing, or your needs have changed such that digital printing is no longer optimal.
Offset Printing
Offset printing is a method slightly over 100 years old that uses rollers to transfer colour onto a printing surface, such as paper, which is fed through the rollers.
This short video provides a helpful visualization of how offset printing works, and we’ve also written blog posts on this method in past if you’re interested in more detail.
Pros
Great for printing high volumes of the same document.
Ideal for promotional posters, forms, pamphlets, flyers, or brochures.
Cons
High initial cost due to the labour required to set up and calibrate the rollers.
Unlike VDP, offset printing cannot put slightly different data on separate copies of the same document template unless you want to reset the rollers every single time, which would be prohibitively expensive.
Letterpress printing involves pressing paper against inked blocks | Image source: Unsplash
Letterpress Printing
Letterpress printing is the most historic printing method still in use today. Similar to the mechanism of the original printing presses, letterpress printing works by arranging the letters you intend to print on a tray, coating them with ink, and then firmly pressing your printing surface, usually paper, on top.
For a deeper look at the difference between letterpress printing and other methods, check out our previous articles here and here.
Pros
Produces beautiful, high-fidelity items.
Perfect for gifts or commemorative projects.
Letterpress printing can be used to put unique details on each copy within a print run, but it’s costly and slow at high volumes.
Cons
Letterpress comes with a high cost, as it is labour-intensive and requires specialized skills.
Significantly longer to create individual copies than any other modern printing technique.
A Brief Background
VDP was developed along with modern computers | Image source: Unsplash
The chief benefit of VDP is being able to make customized items within a larger order. That same concept of making multiple similar texts or items with slightly different ideas has been around as long as the practice of writing, but it wasn’t until computers became involved in the printing process that VDP started to become what it is today.
In 1989, backed by funding from Graham Nash (known for his work in the Crosby, Stills, and Nash band), the first digital print was developed using a modified pre-press printer. Digital printing was developed as a new solution to printing, making it easier to use translate images through computers into printed images.
These days, inkjet printers are one of the most common digital printers and are incredibly popular among homeowners and businesses alike.
There are a variety of methodologies for variable data printing, but these are essentially different ways that computers handle the combination of customized data with unchanging data to produce the printed product.
As with any other print method, finding an experienced print shop is more important than knowing exactly how each print method works. Ask questions, explain what your need is, and trust the experts.
JH FRENCH
A century of experience fused with modern techniques.
Situated in central Hamilton, JH French has developed a reputation for consistency, quality, and transparency.
Not only do we offer variable data printing and other modern print methods, but we also offer traditional bookbinding, corporate stationary orders, and custom printing of all kinds.
For more information on any of the above and more, call us today to begin your next printing project.
“Great service! Quick and easy! We use JH French for CUPE Local 5167 envelopes and special projects!”