This article is sponsored by Aurigma as part of WhatTheyThink’s Print Software Product Spotlight series. In preparing this article, the WhatTheyThink Print Software Section editors conducted original, in-depth research on Aurigma's Web-toPrint Solutions. This Product Spotlight describes what the editors feel are the product’s strengths in the marketplace. Aurigma reviewed the final article for accuracy but had no editorial control over the content.
(Watch Pat McGrew’s video interview with Aurigma CEO and Founder Dmitry Sevostyanov here.)
The debate over whether or not to sell goods online is over. Market tracker Statista says that global retail e-commerce sales are expected to grow over 11% from 2022 to 2025, cementing the importance for printer service providers (PSPs) to have a robust online presence and storefront that customers can use to order printed materials effectively. Not all customers are created equally. Selling direct to consumers (B2C) has different requirements than selling to other businesses (B2B) or even the selling to other businesses who sell to consumers (B2B2C). The challenge is to know the needs of your buyers and find a technology solution provider that can deliver on that vision.
The Consultation Creates the Process
The team behind Customer’s Canvas, technology solution provider Aurigma, knows web-to-print (W2P) solutions are not one-size-fits-all for PSPs. They focus on understanding and fulfilling the business needs of clients using their consultative approach before identifying the technical components and software to make it happen. The process starts with an initial consultation between the client and the sales team who capture the business goals of the project. Then the technical team finds the best technology-based approach for the customer and creates a proof of concept. Wireframes, or examples of how the technical solution will work, are developed at Customer’s Canvas, and reviewed with the customer. This process minimizes miscommunication between parties, highlights changes or improvements not considered initially, and provides a framework for timing and costs. From here, Customer’s Canvas brings more than a decade of experience in implementing software solutions and providing support to get PSPs up and running, regardless of the scale required. One of their customers using the solution as part of their marketing automation generates approximately 500,000 print-ready PDF files a day during their peak season.
Free Your Customer’s Creativity
The next wave in W2P is to empower customer creativity. The standard for uploading a completed file for preflighting and printing is a given in W2P, but customers want more capabilities. An online editor allows users to edit and personalize a product without prior design experience by leveraging pre-designed templates and within brand guidelines if required. The online editor has all the expected editing features, including the ability to import and adjust images, modify text, and place design elements like shapes and barcodes.
For applications where advanced editing is needed, like multi-page documents, Customer’s Canvas offers a collection of advanced editing capabilities. Images editing tools allow users to crop, apply image filters, remove backgrounds, and change the color settings, to get the right look. The font and style can be changed for text along with size, color, line spacing, kerning of letters, and alignment. Elements can be expertly positioned using visual guides and gridlines in addition to layering.
Online Editor with Simplified Options
Online Editor with Advanced Options
Some examples of how PSPs can use the Customer’s Canvas solution set are:
- A corporate site for employees to select product templates that prefill with their unique information for simplified products like business cards, name tags, brochures, and other marketing collateral.
- A consumer-facing website for personalizing printed gifts including photobooks, canvas prints, magnets, and phone cases.
- An online portal for franchisees to order customized signage and marketing materials, and other standard fulfillment items like uniforms.
Flexibility to Fit Any Need
Whether the solution calls for a complete W2P implementation or enhancing an existing storefront, Customer’s Canvas flexibility fits any need. As an API-driven solution, it can be integrated with existing e-Commerce and other software solutions from digital asset management (DAM) to print management information systems (MIS). Integrating Customer’s Canvas with existing solutions can ensure accurate pricing, improved ticketing, and workflow, as well as ability for clients to manage and use approved corporate artwork.
For situations where many variations of a product are required, the Product Information Management (PIM) feature from Customer’s Canvas makes the process faster and more manageable. For example, business cards represent one product type, but you may want to offer several variations for customers to choose from.
Variations could include:
- Orientation (horizontal and vertical).
- Sizing (3.5" x 2" or 3.3" x 2.2").
- Substrate choices.
- Finishing options (rounded edges, colored edges, die cuts).
Instead of creating a new product for each unique variation, the PIM associates the options to one product. Those variations can be presented to the customer in a product configurator to choose their options or the PIM can automatically create individual product pages for all the variants—flexibility that’s best for the customer.
A one-size-fits-all W2P solution with limited customization options and closed system architecture does not work for today’s printing environments. PSPs serve a diverse set of clients offering an intentional mix of digital and printed products. Your web-to-print solution must also be flexible and adaptable to your customer needs whether they are another business, franchise, or end consumer.
Features of Customer’s Canvas Solutions
- API-driven to fit into any existing or new system
- Responsive HTML5 adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes
- Robust online design editor for simple to advanced multi-page and unique shape editing
- Upload templates created in Adobe InDesign and Photoshop
- Integrations with other critical business systems like your print MIS or DAM
- Output for digital or print with PixelPerfect rendering
- Unrestricted format size
Setup a consultation with Customer’s Canvas to explore solutions that will free the creativity and value across all your unique customers.
