What Is Web-to-Print?

What is web-to-print?

Web-to-print is online ordering for print that has to be customized: a storefront where someone picks an item, personalizes it from a template, approves a proof and places the order, while the system produces the print file and sends it to production. It replaces the old loop of emailing a designer, waiting for a draft, marking up a PDF and then emailing a printer.

You'll also hear it called W2P, a print portal, a print storefront, an online print catalog or print management software. Commercial printers use it to take orders from their customers. Brands use it to let their own teams and their partners order branded print without breaking the brand.

What can you order through web-to-print?

Almost anything printed that follows a repeatable design. Common examples:

• Business cards, letterhead and name badges.
• Brochures, flyers, sell sheets and rack cards.
• Postcards and other direct mail.
• Posters, banners, yard signs, window clings and other signage.
• Point-of-sale displays, shelf talkers and table tents.
• Event and trade show materials.

Many storefronts also carry items that aren't personalized at all, like stocked brochures or branded merchandise, so people can order everything in one place. More on setting that up in how to run a brand-approved catalog.

How does web-to-print work, step by step?

The flow is much the same whoever runs it:

1. Set up. A designer builds each item as a template to the printer's specifications, and decides which parts are locked and which can be edited.
2. Browse. The person ordering signs in and sees the items they're allowed to order.
3. Personalize. They fill in the editable fields, such as name, address, offer or photo. In a partner network, much of this fills in from the partner's profile.
4. Proof. The system shows an exact proof, and the person approves it. Some items also go to a second approver.
5. Order. They choose quantity, paper, finishing and delivery, then pay or charge it to a budget.
6. Produce. The system creates a press-ready file and sends it, with the order details, to the right printer.
7. Deliver. The printer prints and ships, and status and tracking come back to the person who ordered.

The template side of this, like bleed, color profiles and keeping text from overflowing, is covered in how variable-data printing works for partner networks.

What is the difference between web-to-print, print-on-demand and variable-data printing?

They describe different parts of the job and often work together. Web-to-print is how the order is placed: online, from a template. Print-on-demand is when it's printed: only once someone orders, in the quantity they need, instead of printing a big run up front and storing it. Variable-data printing is what changes: content that differs from piece to piece, like each recipient's name and address on a mailer.

A dealer ordering personalized postcards through a portal is using all three: web-to-print to order them, print-on-demand to produce them, and variable data to address each card. A storefront that only sells stocked brochures is web-to-print without the other two.

What are the benefits of web-to-print?

• Brand consistency. Everyone orders from approved templates, so the logo, layout and legal text are right every time.
• Speed. An order that used to take days of email takes minutes, with no queue at the design team.
• Less waste. Printing on demand means fewer boxes of outdated brochures in a back room.
• Less design work. Designers build a template once instead of making the same edit for every request.
• Visibility. You can see who orders what, what they spend and which items nobody uses.

How is web-to-print used in partner networks?

It's how dealers, franchisees, agents and distributors get print with their own details on it without making it themselves. The brand puts its print items in a storefront partners sign in to, ideally in the same place as the rest of their marketing. Each partner sees what applies to it, personalizes it and orders.

Partner networks need a few things a print shop's storefront usually doesn't: different catalogs by region, product line or tier; paying with co-op or market development funds instead of a credit card; shipping to many addresses; and reporting by partner. These are the same problems through-channel marketing solves for digital campaigns, and they're easier when print and digital come from the same templates.

How do approvals and proofs work in web-to-print?

The person ordering approves an on-screen proof before anything prints, and some items also need sign-off from the brand. The proof should come from the real print file, not a picture of it, so what's approved is exactly what gets printed.

Brands usually skip extra review for items where only safe fields can change, and require it for open text, new offers, regulated claims or unusually large orders. Spending limits work the same way: routine orders go straight through, bigger ones go to a manager. Either way, keep the approved proof with the order. More on setting those rules in what is brand governance?

How are web-to-print orders fulfilled?

Each order goes to the printer that should make it, with the press-ready file and everything the printer needs: quantity, paper stock, finishing, ship-to address and due date. Programs with more than one supplier route orders by rules, by product, region or rush, for example a national printer for business cards and a sign shop for banners.

Good fulfillment also sends status back: received, printed, shipped, with tracking. Without it, every order turns into a "where's my order?" email to corporate. Orders that mix printed items, stocked items and merchandise may ship from different places, and the person ordering shouldn't need to know that. See how fulfillment fits into a partner marketing program.

What are the common problems with web-to-print?

Most of them come from treating print as a separate system instead of part of the program:

• Templates that are too rigid, so partners order nothing, or too loose, so they order something off-brand.
• A separate login and catalog that partners forget about, apart from the rest of their marketing.
• Files that fail at the printer because templates weren't built to spec.
• Funds handled outside the order, so claims and budgets don't match what was printed.
• No order status, so support spends its days answering delivery questions.

What should you look for in web-to-print software?

For a partner network, here's the list we'd use:

• Templates with locked and editable fields, filled with each partner's details.
• True proofs from the print file, with optional approval steps.
• Print-on-demand, stocked items and variable-data direct mail in one catalog.
• Routing to more than one printer or mail house, with status coming back.
• Catalogs and pricing that vary by partner, region or tier.
• Payment by card, budget, MDF or co-op.
• Reporting by partner, item and spend.
• A place in the rest of partner marketing, so print isn't one more system partners have to learn.

Where does OnBrandify fit?

OnBrandify is the Marketing Hub for brands that sell through partner networks, and print sits alongside digital campaigns in it. Partners personalize brand-approved print, approve a proof, pay with their marketing funds if they have them, and the order goes to your printers with status coming back. See products, orders and funds, or request a demo and we'll walk you through it.