Variable Data Printing Using EFI Fiery RIP, Save Time and Money in Your Print Shop

A great feature integrated into EFI Fiery RIP that is connected to your Konica Minolta, Xerox, Ricoh Digital Press. I'll be using this in the future. I previously achieved VDP by using PDF snake. Or by running projects back through the press multiple times. I'm actually could have printed and collated this with the variable data on my c1070. Which I might do next time. Looking forward to the next time I can use it.

[@Benzelf]

What a lovely little helper you have Dan :-)

[@justaprinter]

I think so too!

[@wadebaxter666]

Thx for the demo dan ! I’ve been manually duplexing when doing VDP - didn’t realize the free form option would allow auto duplexing !!! Thx so much !

[@justaprinter]

You bet. Glad I found it too!

[@pozo3318]

Sir, you have just changed my life. I’ve beeen running the job through twice! Once to print the job and then again for the addresses! I’ve been doing this for YEARS! I’m embarrassed 😳 THANK YOU!

[@justaprinter]

Haha, thats what its all about. Glad to enlighten you!

[@paulng6780]

I remember myself when i was young just like your baby girl. I was so amazed with the typewriter my grandfather had in his printshop and how it made the letters print on paper. I am now a 3rd gen printer and i’m loving it. To cut the long story short, the rest was history. Lets pass on the knowledge so we can take a long break oneday.

[@justaprinter]

YES! I am hoping some of the younger generation will be interested in printing. Its a fun and honest trade.

[@miketheprintman]

You can also use VDP to change entire images or areas of text on pages as well. This allows you to run targeted direct mail campaigns based on user interests, membership levels, etc. I did one where the company had a silver/gold/platinum membership tier so the coupon values changed. Ran a 1,500 postcard job like that, it’s pretty awesome.

[@justaprinter]

Nice, I learned how to do that back in school but haven't needed to use it yet. I guess its my job to find a customer who could use that.

[@robertmenlo2000]

You just saved so much time with this video thanks.

[@justaprinter]

Glad to hear it!

[@nate_riggins_photography]

This video showed up at the right time for me. I’ve been working on merging a 65,000 double sided page document onto a letterhead template through InDesign. I can’t go past 9999 pages on each so it’s creating a lot of files that take forever to create. We’ve used the VDP feature in Fiery before but couldn’t figure out how to make it work on a two page document. This will save me a ton of time and frustration!

[@justaprinter]

Great! I ran into the same issue only outputting a few thousand pages in Indesign. Those days are over!

[@aljosaopp]

So good. We also have Efi Fiery, but always using Indesign or Fusion Pro for variable data. Next time I'll try Fiery vdp. Tnx for all interesting videos.

[@justaprinter]

You bet!

[@PatrickDKing]

I did a few mailing a long time ago. I got lucky and was always able to get an office document version of the file and use mail merge. Some of the really big jobs like thousands pieces I'd take the material to a mailhouse and they could put the addresses on about anything. For me at the time it made sense to outsource that part but it worked out nicely.

[@justaprinter]

Yup, mailing is certainly a good thing to outsource. Software and equipment are expensive for just a few mailings. You need to be mailing items each week to justify the purchase.

[@theronroberts7082]

I have tried to have our service tech show us this, and even they were not able to figure it out. Thank you!

[@justaprinter]

Glad to help!

[@RobbieDigglers3rdEye]

Super cool! I do all my mail merges in InDesign and export to PDF in the data merge pallet.

[@justaprinter]

Yes I do a lot in Indesign too.

[@BrehonTL]

Discovered this myself under similar circumstances. Lead me to look into what else it can do, found EFI Freeform, which gas "some" uses, and of course Indesign which works very well, but you need lots of graphic, processor and Ram memory.

[@justaprinter]

Yes, the Fiery has lots of feature that most of us never touch. Its fun to explore when I have time. :)

[@saiphoshan1140]

Hi Dan, I love to watch yr video :) . .

[@justaprinter]

Good to hear, thanks!

[@LatitudeSky]

For small runs, or when you don't have a RIP to do it, you can build a master document in Word and link it to an Excel file with the variable data. Then print to printer or PDF to produce the merged output. This approach is useful when the run is a one-off and too small for a programmed job using Exstream or DocuMaker or whatever else is the flavor of the moment. The place where I work does it with in-house software feeding multiple print plants outputting about a million printed images a day, all variable. It's not a huge operation except compared to smaller shops. We're dwarfed by the likes of RRD.

[@justaprinter]

Interesting. Oh yes, RRD, would be very interesting to learn more about them.

[@worth-it9249]

Hi Dan, I like your video :)

[@justaprinter]

Hey, thanks!

[@IBTMetal]

Wow, very helpful! How do you create the PDF with the variable names/adresses? (I'm new to this and just getting in to it) I'm usually provided with an excel file from the customer for the different names/adresses. The only way I can think of is to create a document in InDesign using the data merge function. Is there a faster/easier way? How does everyone else do it? Thanks and best regards from Sweden!

[@justaprinter]

Yes, you can use datamerge in Indesign. For bulk mail I use software called SmartAddresser which automatically sorts the mail and provides the barcode for discounted postal rates.

[@robertscottphotography2287]

We use Fiery FreeForm Create (I think it's called that), it's a free download in the Fiery software manager. You just load your CSV and master pdf into that and it makes a VDP document for you

[@justaprinter]

Ooo, that sounds like fun, I'll look into that.

[@nickheaphy1278]

100% recommend looking at Freeform Create - allows you to do all this visually at the layout/design stage (and in the backend it uses Freeform to do the merging, but without you having to program it). Free from EFI and the tutorials on how to use it are good too.

[@philanderson1200]

Dan I’ve been using Accuzip for my mailing software. Curious what you are using? I have a Accufast K2 tabber. Double tabs in a single pass. Not a bad tabber.

[@justaprinter]

I have been tempted by those tabbers, currently watching on online. I use SmartAddresser, its expensive, but I like it.

[@lesptitsoiseaux]

Got the hundredth like!

[@justaprinter]

NICE!

[@mrwonk]

Looking at your tab machine, it looks like you could almost stick another roller assembly on the bottom half and have it run both tabs at the same time.

[@justaprinter]

I bet I could. I have been watching the auctions for a cheap machine. But I hardly use it so I'm not too motivated to upgrade.

[@keithshapiro]

I've got a C4080 and a Fiery IC-317 and the command workstation always says 100% toner, until one is empty then I get an indication on the copier. Does your software show current levels? The screen shot shows 100% on yours too. I'm just curious. Great video by the way

[@Shajirr_]

If you have InDesign, it has a Data Merge feature which allows to use variable data, and so you can have as many pages as you want in a copy, so making double-sided layout is not a problem. It supports raster image/vector files as variable data too. Of course as others mentioned if you need like 50000 different copies, placing background on each would probably take Fiery like half a day to process, so better to separate the master and use the method from this video.

[@justaprinter]

Yes, I do utilize data merge quite frequently as well.

[@sambrown801]

I can't figure out why it isn't placing the (single sided)master page/ data 2 up on the sheet

[@michaelfortuin5105]

Hi there, do you have a click charge on your digital machines in the U.S. or what system do you guys use

[@justaprinter]

You can either have a click charge or you can service the machines yourself. I service 3 machines and have one on click contract.

[@robelliott4551]

Have you been able to use mixed media? Six page news letter one colored sheet pulled from different try. I keep getting error message that I can't do mixed media. Love your videos ans any help would be appericated

[@justaprinter]

You should be able to do that by defining a specific paper to certain pages. It might not let you print that uncollated though. I know there are certain things it won't let you do.

[@rachidgana]

why you did not do the folding at the same time?

[@kabirpaul7677]

I’ve been doing it manually in InDesign and creating those large files with 1000+ pages😭 I shall try this for the next batch of mailings.

[@justaprinter]

I figured I wasn't the only one. :)

[@kabirpaul7677]

@@justaprinter yea specially when I do 2part or 3part invoices I end up having these huge 3000 to 6000pg files because I number them digitally.

[@FrankRoark]

Haha we do this with the rip but have always had problems with the speed of InDesign handling the file. I caught another write up that mentioned using export as PDF in the InDesign datamerge drop-down. I almost fell out of my chair. Much much faster. We used to split large 10,000+ barcode merges because it took so long (petitions require the barcode and number here). Your explaination of the VDP was really good. For us the snag is always getting impose different somehow. Bleed area off or gutter, just a little difference makes a right mess of a 8000 piece 8.5x5.5 political mailing on a tight deadline. Don't even get me started about when the indicia gets left off.

[@FrankRoark]

@@kabirpaul7677 we have an old program that we used to use. Auto-number pro. It does a PDF merge like the VDP rip and can do a ton of custom number layouts. Raffle tickets with tear offs were a common use. I think my artist now does most of the numbering in Adobe but I still drag out auto-number from time to time. I'm not an artist. I'm an old crippled auto mechanic trapped in a Printshop. :-)

[@kabirpaul7677]

@@FrankRoark yea I’ll do the ticket numbering in InDesign to it’s so easy in indexing takes literally 30 seconds

[@kalyanramang1315]

Hello bro. ( Kalakkal ) its a Tamil word means super. Keep rocking. Vanakkam.

[@justaprinter]

Nice! Super!

[@ddave7026]

Gonna have to try this We do it using in design i think? Im the only guy in the shop that knows nothing about mail merge and vdp

[@prathamsuthar7382]

Hii sir , i have konica minolta hc70 i do wedding album making and when my prints get into thermal(lamination) . A very bad emboos effects done plese help .love from india

[@justaprinter]

Hmm, it is difficult to understand the problem without seeing it. Could be a problem with your laminator.

[@rebeccasprague5750]

I would like to know how this method saves clicks.

[@elizabethbusquet6010]

Good

[@aficio63]

I tried doing this with a pdf master and xls address file. Once I get to choosing the master in the VDP tab I am unable to check the box for "Enable free form"...any idea why?

[@justaprinter]

You need both files to be pdf files. You can either use mailing software or indesign to create a pdf where each page is an address.

[@Shajirr_]

If you have the data in the form of a table, you can use it directly via Fiery FreeForm Create program, base version of which is free and fully functional. It also allows you to change layout of your VDP data, and some basic editing like adding regular text too. Although in my case I had problem with it producing broken files which often didn't print at all, but maybe it will work for you just fine.

[@sumeet0088]

Nice

[@justaprinter]

Thanks

[@Project-OriginalReiteratedHoly]

Good morning! What is the maximum pages you can print and bind? Can you bind a Bible? My translation is going to typeset, and looking for a "Collector´s Series" on 60 gr paper. The estimate is for about 2000 pages. 170mm X235 mm. Thank you.

[@justaprinter]

About 1200 pages would be the max that I do.

[@Project-OriginalReiteratedHoly]

@@justaprinter There is a new trend for Bibles in Brazil. Bible in a spiral. Would that change the outcome?

[@olahansen]

What is the price for sending those newsletter?

[@justaprinter]

Postage was around $300 I believe, non-profit postage.

[@michellewaite7905]

How do you get the file to create the master

[@justaprinter]

I'll have to do a start to finish variable data video. You have to send both files t the RIP. Then you open the file you want to be the master and click VDP on the left. Then there is a drop down window on the left where you can select an open spot. Then push print and it will save it as a master.

[@3AmigosMustang]

Word of advice: buy up all the 20A and 100A parts you can now or machines machines parts. Standard stops supporting for parts (not producing parts/not replenishing stock) after July 2021.

[@3AmigosMustang]

Specifically the electronics portions.

[@justaprinter]

Good to know. I have been very impressed in the lack of fixing I need to do on that machine. It doesn't break, but I must fix a few sensors. I'll look into that. Thanks!

[@andretinoco]

What is that machine doing at 8:05?

[@justaprinter]

Applying tabs to keep the piece closed.

[@mtm7031]

Hello sir I have one problem I don't know no best margin in book I mean insite margin Please suggest me any book size

[@justaprinter]

It's really personal preference. If you are perfect binding I would increase the inside margin a bit more than the outside margin. I like .75 inch.

[@mtm7031]

@@justaprinter thank you so much sir for your reply I mean many size book example latter sizes, Latter half, A4, A5, 6x9, 7x10, many sizes If you inside margin give only .75 inch?

[@justaprinter]

@@mtm7031 Some people do less, some more. Whatever makes the customer happy. :)

[@KireTheCat]

wait is that actually called the fun button?

[@justaprinter]

Its not. Sorry! I consider any button that creates fun a fun button. :)

[@user-jt5vm3mi1w]

aww bye at the end

[@justaprinter]

We didn't even rehearse it. LOL.

[@user-jt5vm3mi1w]

Quite Imposing has more options

[@justaprinter]

Yes, that is one I have been hearing about. I'll have to consider that when I need to upgrade.

[@flavioshb4276]

Please can you put some subtitles in brazilian portuguese!!! 😁

[@justaprinter]

I thought it was automatic. I'm not sure how to do that.

[@6r4metroman]

Bye :-)))))

[@justaprinter]

Agreed!

[@weizhang7870]

SHA FA

[@justaprinter]

I don't understand, but you're probably right.