Variable data products (VDPs) may include business cards, note cards, invitations, or promotional flyers that you personalize by entering data such as a name and address in a form and/or by adding an image. The site provides the basic product (business card) and you personalize it.
Sometimes data that you can use for personalizing a product may be provided on the site. For example, an address book from which you can select contact information may be available. In addition, if you are completing a form, some fields may be filled in for you automatically based on what you select in another field. For example, if you enter your name, your contact information may be filled in from your user profile.
Sometimes you can create several versions of the same product, each personalized differently, for example, 500 copies of a promotional flyer, with each flyer addressed to a different prospect.
The procedure for personalizing a VDP differs slightly depending on whether a product can be personalized one at a time or several at a time:
● Some products are personalized one at a time (as a "one-off," or to address a single situation). For example, you are an HR manager and need to order your company business card for a new employee. In this case, you customize the business card with the information for a single person. This type of product is also called a single-record VDP.
● Some products can be personalized several at a time. For example, you want to send 100 promotional postcards to different recipients. In this case, the order includes 100 variations of the postcard, personalized for each recipient. This type of product is also called a multi-record VDP.
Note: Direct mail products are a special type of multi-record VDPs. (This type of VDP is also known as EFI VDP.) Direct mail products are personalized and then mailed to recipients on a mailing list.
● Some products are hybrids and give you a choice of ordering a single variation of the product (a business card personalized for one person) or multiple variations of the product (100 versions of a postcard, personalized for each recipient).
● Some multi-record products are considered combos because they allow you to enter some common data (single-record) and some versioned data (multi-record). For example, a promotional postcard might include a common message and logo, but have individually unique recipient addresses.
Tip: Some VDPs may be available in both printed and/or downloadable form. In this case, in addition to (or instead of) obtaining the printed copies of the product, you can order a digital download of the production PDF. If different deliverables are available for a product, you select what you want to order after you click Buy Now.
● Personalizing single-record VDPs