Xerox Fiery EXP6000, Fiery EXP5000 Variable Data Printing

Fiery

SERVER & CONTROLLER SOLUTIONS

®

EXP6000/EXP5000 Color Server

Variable Data Printing

© 2005 Electronics for Imaging, Inc. The information in this publication is covered
under Legal Notices for this product.

45049074
15 March 2005

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ONTENTS

ONTENTS

C

C

CONTENTS

NTRODUCTION

I

Terminology and conventions

About this manual

VERVIEW

O

Overview of variable data printing

Variable data job components 8

3

6

7

Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 variable data printing

Compatible variable data printing languages 10

Compatible variable data applications 11

Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 core features for variable data printing 12

P

RINTING

VARIABLE

Printing variable data documents using FreeForm

How FreeForm works 16

Creating the master document 17

Creating the variable document 17

Combining the FreeForm master with the variable document 18

Guidelines 20

Previewing master documents in the Windows printer driver 21

Printing variable data documents with FreeForm 2

DATA

DOCUMENTS

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16

25

26

CONTENTS

Printing other variable data printing jobs

Imposing variable data jobs

Imposing FreeForm jobs with Impose 27

Imposing FreeForm 2 jobs with Impose 28

Imposing other variable data jobs with Impose 29

NDEX

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4

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31

NTRODUCTION

I

Terminology and conventions

INTRODUCTION

This manual provides information about variable data printing and describes the variable data
printing features supported by the Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000, including:

• Compatible variable data printing languages such as EFI Fiery FreeForm and FreeForm 2

• Compatible third-party variable data applications

•Imposing FreeForm 2 jobs with EFI Impose

This manual uses the following terminology and conventions.

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Term or convention Refers to

Aero Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 (in illustrations and examples)

Digital press DocuColor 6060/5252/2060/2045

Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 Color Server

Titles in italics

Windows Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0,

Other books in this documentation set

Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003

Topics for which additional information is available
by starting Help in the software

Tips and information

Important information

Important information about issues that can result in physical
harm to you or others

:

INTRODUCTION

About this manual

The manual covers the following topics:

•Basic concepts of variable data printing.

•Supported Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 features and compatible variable data printing
languages.

•Printing variable documents with FreeForm and FreeForm 2.

•Printing and submitting other variable data job formats, such as PPML (Personalized Print
Markup Language) and Creo VPS (Variable Print Specification).

N

OTE

For detailed information about printing variable data jobs using third-party variable

data printing applications, see the documentation that accompanies the application.

For example scenarios of popular variable data printing workflows, see Workflow Examples .

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VERVIEW

O

OVERVIEW

This chapter describes variable printing technology and discusses the supported components
that allow you to create variable data print jobs.

For specific variable data printing scenarios and workflows, see Workflow Examples

Overview of variable data printing

Variable data printing is typically used for personalized mailings, such as direct-mail
advertising. It involves combining a set of master elements that are common across copies
of a document (reusable data) with a set of variable elements that change from copy to copy.
When you use variable data printing, you create personalized communications with elements
that have special appeal to your targeted audience.

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.

An example of variable data printing is a brochure that greets customers by name and may
include other personal information about the customer obtained from a marketing database.
Background elements, illustrations, and text blocks that do not change across copies of the
brochure are master elements. The customer’s name and other customer-specific information
are variable elements.

In its simplest form, you can use variable data printing as a basic mail merge. However, you
can also dynamically assemble four-color images, charts, text, and other objects to create
attractive, highly customized documents.

Variable data printing uses digital printing technology that customizes communication by
linking databases that contain the content for printed documents to a print device, such as the
digital press. The customized communication includes rules that specify the selection of
content from the database and the placement of that content in the document.

The following two variable data printing technology levels describe how reusable data is
specified within a variable data printing language.

Page-based technology

pages. Each page element is called a master page. Page-based languages are more suitable for
simple, predictable layouts. FreeForm is a page-based language. For more information about
FreeForm, see “Printing variable data documents” on page 15.

Element-based technology

Element-based technology allows you to use many separate objects within a page as static
elements or variable elements individually.

describes static, reusable data (the master element) in terms of entire

describes static, reusable data in terms of elements or objects.

OVERVIEW

Element-based variable data jobs use reusable objects for the variable elements in the job,
such as images. Because these elements are frequently accessed, they are stored on the
Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 and cached as a group. A job may have multiple masters.
For an example workflow, see Workflow Examples.

PPML and Creo VPS are element-based technologies. For more information about PPML
and Creo VPS, see “Compatible variable data printing languages” on page 10.

Variable data job components

A typical variable data print job includes the following major components:

• Content

Content includes the text, images, or photographs placed in different areas of your
document. You can create static or variable content using a variety of applications,
such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Word.

•Database

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A database is a table containing all the changeable or variable elements in a printed
document, such as text, graphics and photographs. You can use a database created in
popular desktop applications, such as Microsoft Excel or Filemaker, Inc. FileMaker Pro.

The data must be organized into records, with fields (categories) for each record. For
example, in a database about people, a person is a record and the information about that
person, such as name, address, and phone number is a field.

•Business rules

Business rules, created in a variable data printing application, specify what variable content
to use and where to place it within your document. According to these predefined rules,
described by “if” and “then” statements, the variable data application uses particular
elements from databases to create personalized pages and documents that contain different
text and images for a specific audience. For example, you can set up a rule to print specific
content for a specific age range.

• Layout

Layout encompasses the design or page layout of your document in any desktop
publishing or word processing application. The layout must accommodate space for
variable text and images.

1 Layout
2 Database
3 Business rules
4 Content
5Variable data application
6 Print device

OVERVIEW

•Variable data print applications

Variable data print applications combine master elements and variable information and
prepare the document for printing. For FreeForm, you do not need a dedicated variable
data print application.

•Print device

The print device is the output device that turns digital files into hardcopy documents.
This can be any printer, copier, or digital press that supports variable data printing.

The following diagram shows the variable data printing components.

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OVERVIEW

Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 variable data printing

The Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 combines variable data printing languages, third-party variable
data printing applications, and Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 core features to integrate into many
existing workflows. For more information about variable data printing workflows, see

Workflow Examples .

Compatible variable data printing languages

The Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 is compatible with the following variable data printing
languages:

•FreeForm and FreeForm 2

FreeForm and FreeForm 2 are used with EFI variable data solutions. FreeForm technology
reusable data is RIPped only once, enabling the digital press to run faster.

FreeForm supports the creation of master elements and variable data from any desktop
application or computer platform. Within the application, the master page is assigned a
number from 1 to 100. FreeForm options are found in the Fiery driver, job management
tools, and EFI Hot Folders. For more information about FreeForm, see “Printing variable

data documents” on page 15.

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FreeForm 2 expands FreeForm technology by allowing you to determine page conditions
and rules for printing a job containing multiple master pages. It also allows you to define
boundaries of each record in the data stream. This means defining the start and end of
each record. Unlike FreeForm, FreeForm 2 requires a variable data printing application
(for example, PrintShop Mail-Fiery Version) that specifically supports FreeForm 2. For
more information about FreeForm 2, see “Printing variable data documents” on page 15.

•Personalized Print Markup Language (PPML) version 2.1

PPML, an XML-based language developed by PODi, is considered an industry standard.
PPML allows the digital press to store text elements and graphic elements and reuse them
as needed, making variable data jobs print faster.

The Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 accepts zipped and non-zipped PPML jobs. To print
documents in PPML format, use a third-party software application that is compatible
with PPML format, such as Pageflex Persona-Fiery Version. Send the PPML job to the
Fiery EXP6000/EXP5000 or download the PPML file using Command WorkStation
or Hot Folders.