Corporate B2B Print Portals

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Corporate B2B Print Portals:

One of the early incarnations of e-commerce based Web to Print (probably earlier than retail printing) included the ability to engage a printer’s existing customer base, and catalog their frequently ordered materials in a structured and convenient portal.  Such portals, typically saved documents in PDF format and allowed for variations within an organization as well as modification within the template so that common ordered items can be re-used by different employees, agents or offices within the same institution.  When standardized in PDF, templates ensure a consistent brand image across multiple locations or offices for businesses with more than one location.  Print vendors could establish fixed pricing with quantity breaks and integration with payment gateways and shipping providers.

Pre-approved marketing materials and designs can be catalogued and stored for quick and efficient reference and ordering. Print clients can upload, create and edit their own unique files and templates, including templates with their company branding. Files are sent directly to a local or preferred printing company for professional quality printing. Budgeting and approval tools ensure that company spending is transparent with easy invoicing and order management.

Aside from the general features listed above they may also include multiple B2B (Business to Business) customizable storefront print portals for other print brokers, sellers, franchisees, branches etc.  In these scenarios, really good web to print platforms equip these 2nd level portals with a unique store, unique offerings, and unique pricing capabilities.

 

Retail B2C Print Portals

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Retail B2C Print Portals:

Whereas the first initiatives in Web to Print were taken to create a smooth and convenient experience for established print customers, the expansion of web to print in the retail space now focuses on attracting new customers to an online print business.  Business to consumer (or B2C) Web to Print portals allow print shops to offer convenient online printing to their customers. B2C printing often involves a web to print storefront or a web to print e-commerce portal where customers can create, edit and print their documents by adding them to a shopping cart.

User interfaces were created in javascript or flash so that website visitors could design or modify a desired template to their liking.  Over time these interfaces have become more advanced and optimized to improve user experience.  After designs are done, it is then previewed for approval and ordering.  The ordering of common printed items such as business cards, postcards, flyers, envelopes, letterhead have become easier to design and order due to these types of technologies.

It was probably at this stage, and with this type of technology in which the printing industry and the personalized garment ‎/ promo industry began to converge. The same canvas that can present a paper document with variable text or imagery can present a shirt, a hat or a mug and so on.

These Web-to-Print systems improved over time, becoming nicer-looking, easier to use, while incorporating more effective print shop management and integration capabilities on the back-end. People looking for a contemporary solution will need to look for an HTML 5 based solution as Flash has been rejected by tablets and smart phones while. Browsers also, no longer contain Flash as an embedded technology and therefore not recommended as a long term investment.

Online Print Estimating Software

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Online Print Estimating Software:

Nearly any standard e-commerce system and shopping cart would be a sufficient medium for most industries to sell their wares. However, the same is not true for the printing industry for two reasons.  Most widgets are manufactured and sold as they are with very few options to customize or personalize.  In print, it is simply not so.  Everything in print is a customization from the content you want printed to the medium that you want it printed on.  The materials can change, the shapes can change and the turnaround varies from consumer to consumer.  What also adds a complication to the mix is that production prices may vary significantly based on the machine that is used to produce the product(s).  All these variables make printing complicated and make the mediums for ordering very sophisticated.

To that effect, online print estimating software has been in some cases very difficult to master for both the technology providers and for print vendors looking to cut their quoting time or display it publicly to offer varying product and service options with their product offerings.

Online print estimating software in their simplest form have also been one of those necessary evils in Web to Print to allow the customer to consider an offset path.  But the public display in pricing has demystified the industry by making print a competitive market space driven by the cheapest price.

There are at least 50 different printing estimate softwares that have crossed my desktop and there are probably over double that in the market place.

 

Online Printing & File Uploading

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Online Printing & File uploading:

At the most basic level, Web to Print involves tools such as emails and FTP servers that allow print consumers to deliver originally designed files to print suppliers via the web with online printing and file uploading. Early initiatives online printing and file uploading were undertaken by the major manufacturers of printing machines to their print shop customers by facilitating the delivery of print files to print shops, from their customers.  However, most of the technologies created within this space were “closed” and limited to work exclusively with the machines provided by manufacturers.  These basic forms of “electronic delivery” eventually evolved into the print driver concept where printers would distribute disks to encourage the installation of “print drivers”. With a print driver installed on your computer, you would be able to send files directly to your preferred print supplier by opening the file you want to print in its native application (i.e. Photoshop, InDesign, Adobe PDF reader, Word, Excel, etc.) and then select the print driver from your list of printers to send your files to the print company for processing. Where as most machine manufacturers tried to limit the ability of the drivers to interact solely with their machines, the technology providers in the market ultimately prevailed.  Today, many universal and even branded pdf print drivers are now available to communicate with any machine without being limited by a particular machine manufacturer.

 

It is worth noting, that all of the above are still in wide scale use, each one with its strengths and weaknesses.  Emails are generally limited in the file sizes that they can either send or receive. FTP uploads can take large files, but unless the file is expected, there is little information related to the file sender nor is there any indication or record as to when the file was sent if the sender does not personally follow up. Lastly, both email and FTP will send an original document, but due to the broad range of documents being created around the world across various technologies, it is possible that the printer will not have the required application to read and accept the document. The optimal file format is PDF. There are many PDF conversion solutions. There are some efficient branded Web to Print pdf print driver solutions that bundle all the mediums of file sending into one eliminating the barriers to file sending. GoPrint2, for example, is a preferred solution.

Racad Tech Announces New Web To Print Shop Tool For Wide Format Printing: Introducing Online Sign Studio

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Online Sign Studio is a new wide format web-to-print technology under the Web To Print Shop umbrella. Combining graphic design tools with wide format web-to-print, Online Sign Studio makes it simple for customers to create custom signs, banners, posters, and other wide format products. Once designs are approved by clients and finalized, Online Sign Studio’s advanced technology sends the files to be produced and shipped.

Online Sign Studio accommodates an endless variety of wide format products by utilizing a configurable canvas design engine – this allows customers to create products of any size or shape. This capability is combined with a configurable shopping cart and checkout functionality, added to any existing website using a plug-in. Online Sign Studio’s unique combination of advanced ordering technology, graphic design capabilities and web-to-print technology make it a standout for wide format web-to-print.

Online Sign Studio serves companies or entrepreneurs looking to efficiently produce marketing pieces for their business. Through the web, Online Sign Studio allows clients to make professional signs, posters, adhesive wraps, lawn signs, and other wide format products branded for their business. If they do not want to create their own unique designs, they may also opt to use a pre-designed template.

Online Sign Studio will soon be available as a cloud-hosted printing storefront or as an enterprise solution.

At the upcoming CONSAC Nation Sign and Graphics Trade Show this September 25 & 26, 2015, Online Sign Studio will be demoed. Visit Racad at the Web to Print Shop booth to learn what Online Sign Studio has to offer your business.

Racad Tech

www.racadtech.com
Racad Tech produces advanced web-to-print solutions affordably. Racad is committed to innovation and generating user-optimized web applications for a diverse client base. With over a decade of industry experience and many solutions under their belt, Racad maintains its status as a leading developer of web development software for printers.

Online Sign Studio

www.onlinesignstudio.com
Online Sign Studio is a web-to-print solution that specializes in wide format solutions. Online Sign Studio combines state-of-the-art ordering and printing technology with graphic design capabilities, for the ultimate wide format web-to-print solution.

Web to Print Shop Tutorial Shows How Easy Web to Print Can Be!

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Racad Tech has unveiled WebToPrint.Solutions which is a new web-to-print resource website. The website contains some basic information about web-to-print. More interestingly, webtoprint.solutions is a repository of resources that will aid people in utilizing web-to-print technology to facilitate their printing. The website currently includes a new tutorial that walks new customers through the process of using web-to-print tools to create unique marketing pieces for their business. The tutorial offers customers an opportunity to learn how to create unique marketing products with the graphic designer found on uDraw and other Racad products.

With the insights provided in the in-depth tutorial, every customer gets their own guide to lead them through the process of creating a unique and memorable marketing piece for their business. The tutorial includes step-by-step instructions with information explaining how to use each feature.

You start off by choosing your design template. Once you’re on your template, numbered textboxes appear, walking you through the steps and offering information about features and their purpose so that clients get the most out of each and every feature.

With this new tutorial feature, it has never been so easy to use web-to-print! Try it for yourself and see how easy it is to create your own marketing pieces.

Visit Web To Print Solutions to test out a demo and try the tutorial first hand!

Web to Print Solutions –

 http://webtoprint.solutions/
Web-to-print is a type of online printing service that allows you to print documents directly from the internet. Web To Print Solutions is able to give you the best form of W2P with a complex form of technology and many different integrated tools.

RACAD Tech Inc. –

 www.racadtech.com
RACAD Tech is dedicated to producing user-optimized web applications for a diverse client base. Having over a decade of industry experience under their belt, they specialize in developing technologically advanced, user-friendly web to print solutions that meet the needs of every client.

uDraw is The Most Advanced Web-to-Print Solution Available

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Racad Tech is pleased to announce a host of new features that advance the capabilities of their web-to-print technology, uDraw.

Over the past couple of months, Racad Tech has been fine-tuning features on uDraw, the intuitive web to print plug-in for WordPress and other popular website platforms. Some of uDraw’s new and improved features include:

  • Colour breakdown and replacement of images
  • Curved text
  • Freehand drawing
  • Drag and drop layers
  • Advanced colour selection (CMYK, RBG or colour picker)
  • Gradient text
  • Drop shadow, stroke, and text effects
  • Image filters like sepia, etc.
  • Bounding boxes to limit editing spaces
  • Upload your own fonts
  • Create multi-layer images to show variables for backgrounds, etc.
  • See associated products in the designer
  • Add pages directly in the designer
  • Unique, colourized QR codes
  • New advanced pricing matrix
  • New PDF “rule-based” products

These enhanced features further cement uDraw as one of the most innovative web-to-print tools available to businesses today. These new features give customers even more control to develop unique marketing pieces for their brand.

If you’re interested in seeing what uDraw has to offer, call a Racad Tech representative at 1.877.227.1636 ext. 233. More information can be found on www.uDRAW.net.

Racad Tech Unveils Modular Web to Print Shop Innovation – uDraw

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On April 16, 2015, at the Graphics Canada tradeshow at the International Centre, Racad presented its newest innovation under the Web To Print Shop banner.  Racad’s director of business development, Reuben James, presented uDraw, a WordPress-based web-to-print plug-in that brings unprecedented affordability and customization to the web-to-print industry.

With an instructive presentation at Graphics Canada, Racad showcased uDraw, and how it leads the way for further advancements in web-to-print and the print business in general. uDraw was described as an interactive browser-based graphic designer and template building tool.

uDraw is available through Racad’s Web To Print Shop as a web-to-print plug-in for W2PShop, Web To Print Technology (W2P Tech, powered by Go ePower), WordPress, and other website publishers. It is available for printers and graphic artists looking to augment their products and services by allowing end users to make graphic modifications to template designs directly in their browser.

The cost-effective, yet powerful web-to-print plug-in empowers any webmaster with WordPress experience to manage, create, modify, and publish sophisticated print products on WordPress without incurring high fees normally associated with web-to-print technologies. Integration is fast and easy with hosted and enterprise options. uDraw is not only an online graphic designer and brand management tool, it is also a browser-based web-to-print plug-in that makes it simple to get printed materials.

“uDRAW is a perfect tool for printers and graphic designers who are looking for an economical way to enter the online print ordering space quickly and easily,” James explains.

According to InfoTrends, the online print business will double in size to $70 billion in online transactions by 2017. uDraw is an in-demand product that the market has been clamouring for since its release. The web-to-print trend is expected to continue as the number of customers using web-to-print services reached an all time high this year. The print business, and Racad, will continue to develop exciting new products and innovative solutions for online printing.
Visit the uDRAW demo website to find out more about the solution’s cutting-edge web-to-print capabilities.

Racad Tech

Racad Tech is committed to innovating and generating user-optimized web applications for a diverse client base. With over a decade of industry expertise and numerous solutions under its belt, Racad is a leading developer of web development software for printers.

uDraw

uDraw is an innovative online web printing and template designer solution. It combines an online graphic designer with top of the line web-to-print and website publishing technology. Learn more about the brand management features that have made uDraw the most affordable, premium online printing solution online.

Racad Launches Web To Print Shop, A Modular Web-to-Print Solution for Printers

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Web-to-print innovator and veteran web developer Racad Tech has rebranded and launched a brand new web-to-print resource for printers looking for the latest, most innovative web-to-print solutions available in the marketplace today. Web To Print Shop, launched in August 2014, is a modular solution for printers seeking cutting-edge web-to-print technology.

The developers at Racad Tech are the minds behind previous industry-standard web-to-print solutions such as Web To Print Technology (W2P Tech, powered by Go ePower), GoPrint2, uDraw, and Online Sign Studio. Web To Print Shop takes all of Racad’s web-to-print technologies and offers them in a robust and efficient platform. Web To Print Shop allows you to develop a custom web-to-print solution by simply choosing the components you need as a standalone module or an integrated plug-in to a third party system.

While this model effectively cannibalizes Racad’s legacy web-to-print solutions, it promotes technological advancement in the web-to-print space and allows affordable investment by small and medium-sized businesses that are on a path to growth. This is consistent with Racad’s business practices, which put the focus on helping printing businesses flourish in the web-to-print sphere.

The newly established Web To Print Shop brand is an umbrella web-to-print service, offering every type of web-to-print solution printers could possibly need.

Some of the web-to-print solutions available through Web To Print Shop include:

  • Corporate branded web-to-print portals
  • E-commerce web-to-print storefronts
  • WordPress plug-ins compatible with existing websites
  • Other third party integrations with existing website
  • An in-browser graphic designer with web-to-print capabilities
  • FTP, email and print driver based solutions
  • Variable data printing
  • Multi-location job routing
  • Customizable order production
  • Online price calculator and estimator

Learn more about the exciting new solutions available through Web To Print Shop at WebtoPrintShop.com.

Racad Tech Integrates GoPrint2 to their W2P Shop and W2P Tech platforms

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Veteran web developer and leading web-to-print innovator Racad Tech recently combined the GoPrint2 within their Web To Print Technology (W2P Tech), powered by Go ePower, and W2P Shop web-to-print platforms.

GoPrint2 is a convenient and easy-to-use custom-branded print driver that facilitates file transfers by expanding current file receiving capabilities and removing file size restrictions. This revolutionary software eliminates a significant number of complications associated with existing web-to-print solutions. It ensures customers can quickly and easily submit their files to any participating printer or print shop with a few clicks.

GoPrint2 now complements other web-to-print solutions by bringing routing orders from other ordering platforms into a designated FTP folder, a designated production email, and an MIS system. Print providers that have multiple locations for production and print brokers that are outsourcing their fulfillment can designate products to be fulfilled by a particular vendor or production facility.

Of course, the standard stand-alone components available through GoPrint2 still remain:

  • Free Printer’s Website
  • PDF Print Driver
  • Desktop Courier
  • Custom Web Upload
  • Web PDF Conversion Engine
  • FTP Replacement for Printers

Learn more about the benefits of this exciting new web-to-print tool on GoPrint2’s website.

Racad Tech –

 www.racadtech.com

Racad Tech is committed to creating innovative, user-optimized web applications for a diverse client base. With industry expertise, cutting edge technology and proven solutions, Racad offers advanced software that meets the needs of businesses and their customers.

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