John Giles recently wrote an article for Quick Printing magazine discussing trends in digital and prepress for small printers. "This is a good time to be in printing. The new trends are making communicating between the customer and the printer easier. They can make one printer different from the printer down the street. The trends could lead to a new customer base that is more interested in value than price." The article covers Customer Created Files, Databases, PDF Rules, CTP, VDP and much more. Regarding databases, Giles writes:

"And now there are customer created databases. If printers thought handling customer created print files was tough, wait until they start to deal with customer created databases. There is a trend for quick printers to add mailing and variable data printing services. This requires handling a new type of customer information: the database. Printers face the challenge of teaching customers how to prepare database files properly. Printers will have to become database experts. The print shops will have to become experts in customer created databases and in commercial databases. These are purchased mailing lists that meet a specific criterion outlined by the customer. In many cases, the printer will have to lead the customer through the decision making process to build the right list for the project." See the full article.