Testing the interface
It is also important to try the software out, as the interface should be both rich and simple. Graphic template generation, for example, should be possible within the software as a workflow/production activity requiring no design expertise, but while SaaS providers have increasingly recognized this need, in many cases template creation is still cumbersome.
Customizing graphics, too, should offer smooth throughput, without posing impediments to or additional costs for the customer. Populating each changeable area of a design template should become simply an upload function.
It should not take a lot of work to turn a design into a template. And when late changes are needed for a design, there should be a post-template-production ‘edit’ function, rather than having to start all over with the template.
With that in mind, templates need to offer a certain degree of flexibility for user input variations. While corporate designs certainly require constraints to preserve branding consistency, making the rules too strict can cause problems when special cases arise where those rules do not apply. If the system will not accept varying data, after all, then the user will give up and the sign shop will lose his/her business.
The software should also automate the pre-flighting of uploaded files. Advanced systems include dedicated modules to help evaluate Portable Document Format (PDF) files before PSPs’ employees have to spend time checking them personally.
Drop-down menus should be checked for their predefined values. Visual images in these menus can offer a more positive web experience than solely word-based descriptions, as people want to see what is being described.
Online design tools can offer very advanced features today, such as layering, transparencies and drop shadows, but caution and prudence are needed, as there is a danger that very large, complex files—as common in wide-format printing—can crash web browsers or cause delays due to long loading times at the client plugin side, i.e. when calculations end up being performed within the browser on the customer’s computer.
It is important to back WTP up with employees who understand the software and can support customers’ needs. Photo courtesy Montreal Neon
The following are more questions to ask when testing the software:
- Do you have full control over colour spaces and spot colours?
- What PDF versions and features are supported by the software?
- What are the minimum and maximum canvas sizes?
- Can you design wide-format graphic applications that go beyond the simple, limited design capabilities needed for rectangular business cards or posters?
- What parts of the design templates can you make variable for your customers and can they incorporate gradients, custom outlines and other filters and effects that are already part of corporate design agencies’ repertoires?
- Can you upload your own fonts and/or purchase new fonts as you go?
Finding the right balance
For sign shops, expanding into WTP has been a challenge of balancing software affordability against the ability to merge desktop graphic design tools with sufficient server-based technology. Fortunately, while proprietary software set the stage for major commercial printing companies to begin offering WTP services to their corporate clients and, for that matter, the general public, SaaS providers have edged into the market to offer viable options for smaller PSPs.
Ongoing challenges in the print-for-pay sector have pointed to the need for more technologically advanced, web-based sales processes, both to assist existing customers and to reach new prospects. Yet, while WTP can unite marketers’ and signmakers’ goals by simplifying pre-press and other processes, it is important not to underestimate how much work is needed to build, maintain and provide such services. A well-thought-out plan and new expertise will be needed if WTP is to truly yield value-added services in the wide-format printing sector.
Rick Mandel is owner and president of Mandel Graphic Solutions, which uses roll-to-roll solvent-based, ultraviolet-curing (UV-curing) flatbed and dye sublimation printers and digital cutters to produce point-of-purchase (POP) signage, stand-up displays, outdoor event graphics and fabric displays. The Mandel Company has operated continuously since 1892, when it specialized in wood engraving. For more information, visit www.mandelcompany.com.
