Although it's been around for many years, VDP (Variable Data Printing) still confuses many people.

It refers to a printing application that lets you customize your print campaigns, so that every printed sheet has different information on it somewhere.

Think of it this way: on a conventional offset printing press, every copy of your print job is the same - same content, same photos, same graphics. It's static.

On certain digital printing presses, you can customize your print job. Data from your database gets merged with a design template, enabling you to personalize each copy. VDP is dynamic. Typically, the copy that changes is a name. Surely you've gotten those direct mail pieces, where your name is sprinkled liberally throughout, like salt on an ear of corn.

Here are some examples of VDP that I've received:

• Direct mail pieces from PRINT 09 and The Mailworks use my company name or my own name.

• A customized magazine with content that reflects my personal preferences. Recently, Time launched mine magazine, which includes customized content as well as personalized messages for each subscriber, targeting their specific interests.

• A postcard from my dog Charlie's vet to let me know it was time for his next appointment. (A certain curly-haired rascal ate said postcard. No, not me. I'm showing you a snapshot of Charlie instead.)

• A calendar from an exhibitor at one of our Conferences had "Margie" appear in the photo for each month of the year. Really nifty.

VDP is made possible by the ability of certain digital presses to 1) merge data from a database with a design template and 2) generate unique content on the documents that are printed. The emphasis is on unique content.

VDP can be simple or sophisticated.

If you've ever done a mail merge, where you insert address information into a letter template so you can mail the letter to a list, that's simple VDP.

If you sell products to different markets and develop different versions of your materials for each market segment, that's more difficult.

VDP is a specialty not offered by every printing company. If you're a corporate or agency print buyer or designer, I'll bet at least one of your printing partners or marketing firms offers it.

Although unit costs are higher for VDP jobs, this technology is said to greatly boost your ROI, because it increases the effectiveness of your marketing message.

Have any of you produced VDP campaigns for your company? I'd love to hear if these campaigns were successful for you. Please post comments to this Print Tip.