Postcard Question

[ProspectComm]

Marketing Dept wants to offer Postcard deals where as we would combine jobs to save on postage for customers. Is it possible to take 8 different cards of the same size that may or may not have variable info on them and impose them onto a single press sheet? Or would they need to only be static cards and use them as graphic resources to build the job?

Any insight to this would be great.

 

Rick

FP Desktop

6.0P1f

Mac OSX 10.4

[rpaterick]

DATA:

You could combine all 8 data files into one. Before that process, you would have a column called "version." This is where the identifier for the "callout" of the .pdf would come into play once all 8 data files are merged together. You would put in the version column for all records the name of the .pdf. Make sure you are precise with naming conventions.

 

ART:

Your 8 .pdfs can be split-up between the front-side and back-side.

Let's say you have a postcard come-in that says CoastalBreeze.pdf You want to take the front-side of the postcard and save out as CoastalBreeze_front.pdf and then do the same for the back-side of the postcard. I have a Script setup in Acrobat that automates this for me.

 

Code for the graphic box placeholder:

return CreateResource(Field("version").replace(/(\.[^.]*)$/, "_[color=Red]front[/color]$1"));

You could name this code Front and apply it to an ART box that will be the placeholder for your artwork(background art). The other variable text boxes or graphic boxes will go on top of this. Just copy this Rule and then change the name to Back and apply the _back instead of _front in the rule itself(highlighted in red).

 

You will need to tell FusionPro where your graphic resources reside(folder location).

Composition>Advanced menu tab. You can put the full path in here ex:C:\projectFiles\MasterPostcards\usedForPrint

 

Let me know if you get stuck. I'm sure someone else may have an easier way to do it.

[ProspectComm]

Thanks for the great info. what if they want the cards to have variable elements within each card, such as discount offers or names of recipients? Would FP Desktop be able to do something like that?

[esmith]

what if they want the cards to have variable elements within each card, such as discount offers or names of recipients? Would FP Desktop be able to do something like that?

Yes.

 

EDIT: I just discovered that a post must contain at least 10 characters, not including the quote.

[ProspectComm]

So they can be completely different designs with different variable elements and be done as one job? Sorry if I didn't clarify what I meant. I am still new to the whole process. Any help is appreciated.

[esmith]

So they can be completely different designs with different variable elements and be done as one job?

Assuming the size of each card is the same (for imposition purposes -- not a requirement of FP), yes, you can have multiple card designs in one PDF template, apply different variable frames (with or without custom rules) to each card and then impose them all inline as one output file. Does that sound like what you are hoping to accomplish?

[ProspectComm]

yes that's exactly what they want to do. so you just build a multi-page template and work each card independently then compose them into an imposition? It does make sense to me now that you have explained it that way.

 

Thanks

[esmith]

When you compose your job, you will need an OnRecordStart rule that tells FP which card(s) to use for each record. This is typically done by using a "version" field in your data and using the "Manage Pages..." dialog in FP, and then using the FusionPro.Composition.SetBodyPageUsage() function to determine which unused pages will be used for each record. You can learn more about this function in the documentation.