Web-to-Print, also known as Web2Print or remote publishing

Web-to-Print, or Web2Print is a commercial prepress process that bridges the gap between digital content online and commercial print production. It’s the interaction between those who purchase print products and those who sell them, using the World Wide Web as the medium for the exchange. This process allows a printing company, advertising agency, marketing service provider, or corporate marketing department to create, edit, and approve computer-based templates during the prepress phase. Manage your brand by offering pre-approved document templates that can be localized quickly and efficiently, eliminating the complex and expensive proofing and approval process. As a result, just-in-time warehousing and print on demand put documents in the hands of the user in just a few clicks of the mouse.

Print Procurement
Simple e-commerce storefronts are often B2C (business-to-consumer) but can be built for business users as well. These StoreFronts usually require simpler user interfaces, as their average users are not very experienced in the process of print buying. These StoreFonts act as the front door to a printer’s business and primarily cover the transactional side of printing. Sites walk the customers through a series of screens with step by step directions, ultimately allowing them to order printed products. They can be simple ad hoc or “send and print” sites that require users to upload their own files or templated storefronts that use pre-built templates for online customization.

Marketing/Brand Management
So much of what customers can do with Web-to-Print offerings really boils down to helping manage a brand or a marketing effort on the part of the customer. While these sites can ultimately be consumer sites, the branding/hosting of sites for other companies falls under B2B (business-to-business) because the printer is building the solution directly for his/her customer. The purpose of printers creating these customer-branded sites is to sell print and to sell the website itself to manage the printed products. The print being ordered from these sites could be templated or ad hoc. These solutions appeal to companies, particularly corporations.

Document Management
The sites that fall under this business model can be simple StoreFronts or can be customer-branded. What differentiates these sites from simple e-commerce storefronts is that there is typically no exchanging or uploading of files. Essentially, these simple StoreFronts can make ordering warehoused materials easier, by allowing the customer to place orders without personally interfacing with a customer service representative. Customers order from existing products that are already being warehoused by the printer. In this paradigm, the sites do not need to tie into a printer’s production workflow, although it would be best if they tied into the MIS system to automate tracking to product fulfillment. Basically, they are simple ordering sites that are accompanied with fulfillment services.

Workflow Automation
Workflow automation is another way for print buyers to place orders online without the tedious interaction of multiple human touches. There are ways automation can improve workflow for the printer on the back end in Web-to-Print as well. Orders can be gathered across multiple companies and imposed (set up for press) automatically in efficient ways. Job tickets are immediately generated and emails are automatically sent notifying end users and customers at deferent stages of an order