TL;DR
Web-to-print has evolved from simply ordering uploaded PDFs to sophisticated online design and personalized publishing. With browser-based editing, variable data, AI, and emerging technologies continuing to advance, the boundary between online creation and print production keeps expanding.
In the late 1990s, the term “Web to Print” sprouted up. Like any new buzzword, it meant different things to different people.
The most basic interpretation was that you could order print products using a web interface. This meant needing to upload a print-ready file, like a PDF, through a browser, specify the quantity, paper type, and other elements, see a price, then click “buy…”
Perhaps before you clicked “buy,” you’d see a preview of expected output.
This represented a serious step forward in technology. But more advanced systems would even let you create or edit the document via an online interface.
You might do something simple, like enter a name and address into fields to produce your own postcard. Or, at the other extreme, you could edit a “data-driven” document template, and manage the flow of data through it. This template type would ingest a database of recipients, and magically produce personalized content.
Pioneers in this field, such as Modern Postcard, would let users choose a template, edit it, and upload a data source (containing perhaps 100,000 targeted postcard recipients), then proof the dynamically-generated, template-driven output. This final step involved ordering a large print/mail job targeted to thousands, or even millions, of recipients.
For the average printer, “Web to Print” was at the base level. In other words, customers simply ordered printed copies of “ready-to-print” files they had uploaded and emailed. The process didn’t rely purely on the web; it might also require phone calls. And the next step—online editing—generally involved just one version of a single document. There were a number of businesses that set the standards in the beginning; VistaPrint, Shutterfly, Modern Postcard, and Truly Engaging all had home run success with early Web to Print.
Eventually, the industry converged on a typical workflow with two initial paths. Either you would:
In the most sophisticated offerings, document editing was tailored to specific use cases, and the template might include variable data. Variable data printing (or VDP) has revolutionized the world of direct marketing. VDP systems from XMPie and Silicon Publishing can provide intense personalization, where nearly every dimension of a document can be data-driven. Data on age or gender could alter the text or color scheme of each recipient’s copy of the document. Based on the data, document template layers could be turned on or off. If you played roulette, loved steak, and liked jazz music, the targeted, one-to-one postcard you received would show exactly that.
If you played roulette, loved steak, and liked jazz music, the targeted, one-to-one postcard you received would show exactly that.
Response rates to such personalized content could be stunning—if everything aligned.
Web-to-print continues to evolve to this day, with the web side continually evolving, as the print side moves far more gradually. Online editing tools became robust in the early 2000s: Silicon Designer was first deployed in 2006, with Canva following in 2012. Both products offered very sophisticated capabilities on the order of desktop software like Adobe InDesign, entirely through a web-based interface. Designer was a foundation for heavily customized enterprise deployments, as Canva went head-to-head against desktop design applications, with a one-size-fits-all interface.
Both were successful, with Canva attaining a valuation of $40 billion in 2021. Adobe noticed this success, and in 2021 re-branded their Spark product as Adobe Express. In 2023, a massive refactor with AI features (based on Adobe Firefly) made Express a viable alternative to Canva targeting a broad designer base, from grandmothers making garage sale signs to social media influencers serving up videos and banner ads.
Where is it all headed?
Artificial intelligence, part of most modern online design tools, is far and away the technology driving most change with web to print, just like nearly everything else. AI is having an incredible impact on existing tools, while also ushering in a slew of new online editing products. These include tools such as OpenArt, which can be considered AI-first. Meanwhile, Adobe and Canva have pioneered AI in the context of web-based editing, with features ranging from automatic resizing, to prompt-based image generation, to automated template creation.
Print output is still required for most editing tools, but now the same online editing systems typically render banner ads, videos, and interactive web content. While early web-based tools were not as performant as desktop applications, there is now near-complete equivalence. Web-based interfaces are already dominant for editing online content, while desktop applications remain prevalent for print and video. It appears inevitable that eventually editing will be completely web based.
One of the most promising trends impacting web to print and online editing is the trend towards modularity, with fluent interoperability thanks to web services. Thus you might use multiple systems behind a web interface, with one tool serving up generative AI for an image, while another processes effects with server-based rendition. Adobe has partnered with many leading AI solutions, also offering up most of their desktop applications as cloud-based services. At long last, designers have a vast array of powerful options.