What is Web-2-Print Software?
In a time when printing houses and publishing companies are continually looking for ways to reduce print costs and keep them down, web-to-print software offers a good solution. This particular software removes the requirement of a commercial print business owner to purchase and set up expensive equipment for completing in-house orders. Instead, a designer can send a completed digital file via an Internet connection to an offsite location for printing.
Using web-2-print programs has multiple advantages, namely cost savings, ease of use, design flexibility and collaboration between clients and print designers in different locations.
Advantages of Web-2-Print
For a newer print business without a large amount of start-up funding, quality web-2-print software suites are economically practical choices. Many of these programs have the same editing tools as more expensive graphic design programs, and a good web-2-print software program has a relatively easy learning curve as well. After editing a project, designers can typically render it as a PDF file ready to be sent to a digital print press in just a few steps.
Web-2-print software also allow for a multitude of professional print projects in varying dimensions, namely book jackets, calendars, business cards, photos and advertising flyers. Independent publishing houses that specialize in print-on-demand books can offer book jacket design with web-2-print software as an added service for authors.
Who Can Benefit from Web-2-Print Technology?
Both large and small printing businesses can take advantage of web-2-print software’s reasonable costs and convenience. Running and maintaining traditional print presses can get quite expensive in terms of both energy bills and keeping the machinery in good working condition. Replacing this low-tech workflow with web-2-print technology all but eliminates these costs. With the saved funds, print business owners can focus on providing the best quality designs to their clients at prices that will end in profits.
Book publishing houses can benefit from web-2-print software use by offering design services to their authors as well. Rendering copies of a manuscript is one part of the process, but many writers find they need to go elsewhere to have an eye-catching book cover designed. If a writer can have a great cover designed at the same publishing house, this particular book publisher has a definite edge over the competition by offering this service. Due to the relatively low purchase and production costs, adding web-2-print design is an economically smart move for any publishing house.
Compared to a number of traditional workflows in commercial printing and publishing, using web-2-print software is beneficial in terms of both company costs and productivity. A number of web-2-print offsite printing facilities offer delivery of finished prints, so that print business staff members don’t have to take time away from an important project to pick them up. Along with prints, web-2-print software vendors frequently offer 24-hour technical support just in case of a glitch right in the middle of a pressing deadline. Due to preloaded templates and user-friendly editing tools, designers can make those last minute small changes to a digital file in only a few minutes as well.