Variable Data Setup Guide

Variable Data Printing allows you to not simply print identical documents for each of your clients, but to print a targeted individualized message for each client, by merging information from a database with a static document design.

When creating a database of 50,000 records or less, a spreadsheet program such as Excel can be used. If your database contains more than 50,000 records you should use a database program such as Access or Filemaker Pro.

When setting up the database it is recommended that header fields are included, this makes it much easier to identify the content of the fields. See the example below of what a common Excel database would look like.

If you only have a word processing program, setup your file the same way but instead of fields like in Excel, put a tab or comma between the different catagories, with a hard return at the end of each record, then save the file as a text file.

Below is a list of the supported database formats and associated file name extensions:

File Type                                            File Name Extension

DBase                                                           .dbf

Microsoft FoxPro                                           .dbf            

Microsoft Access                                         .mdb

Microsoft Excel                                              .xls

Paradox                                                         .db

ASCII Delimited                                         .txt or .csv     

Below is a list of supported graphical formats and associated file name extensions:

File Type                                            File Name Extension

Encapsulated Postscript                               .eps

GIF                                                                 .gif

JPEG                                                      .jpg, .jpe, .jpeg

Tagged Image File Format                           .tif, .tiff

Windows Bitmap                                           .bmp

Make sure all image file names in the database match the file names of the actual images.

Image files should be saved at 300dpi for hi-res output.

All images must be the same size and resolution for each variable image location.

TIFF image files should be saved without LZW compression.

EPS file preview format should be PICT (Mac) and TIFF (Win).

Color images should be saved as RGB, ASCII format for use on either the Mac or Windows versions.

Click here to view a short 90 second video about Variable Data Printing.

If you need any further help or have specific questions in regards to your Variable Data project, please don't hesitate to contact us.