Expresso® Tips and Tricks: Print-Ready Workflow
Expresso offers tremendous flexibility for creating personalized, data-driven customer communications, and it also makes it fast and easy to manage print-ready documents created by alternative systems. While Expresso may not be used for composition, our print-ready workflow preserves the ability to print and mail or distribute documents via email or text and leverage Expresso’s built-in archive and reporting features.
Why use a print-ready approach rather than create the document in Expresso?
Some companies choose this option because they already have a solution that composes and prepares PDF print-ready communications. For example, many law firms use specialized legal document management software that includes specific compliance language. In these instances, clients simply send a PDF file and corresponding index file to Expresso. The index file identifies the customer record for each PDF and their delivery preference ‒‒ print, email and/or text.
What types of print-ready documents can Expresso process?
The system can accommodate two types of documents: 1-to-1, customized by account or customer, or 1-to-many, which is the same document to all or a subset of customers.
An example of 1-to-many is a generic (non-variable) privacy notice. An example of one-to-one is a personalized billing statement. In both cases, clients send pre-composed PDF files with a corresponding index file which is processed via Expresso, produced and delivered via print/mail or digital (by including a link to the PDF in an email or text). The files are then preserved for the client-defined archive period during which documents can be retrieved using search and view or presented back to the client’s system using our API functionality. Users can also use Expresso’s built-in reporting features to determine when jobs were processed, and the results of file processing and email delivery.
How does it work?
We work with clients to set up print-ready workflows tailored to their needs. Implementation includes adding a field for the PDF file name. If it’s a one-to-many mailing, the PDF file name is the same for all records. Otherwise, you would indicate the specific PDF file name for each customer.
Print-ready PDF documents can be merged with Expresso-created documents, sent via regular mail, Certified Mail, email and/or text, and preserved in an archive based on the client’s document retention requirements.
Nordis sets up a driver page that prints a separate sheet with return and mailing addresses for print communications that do not include return and mailing addresses on the document itself. It prints and inserts the address page along with the printed PDF document, just like any other print run.
Your Nordis client success manager will explain how to set up the formatting for print-ready documents that do include addresses so these addresses show through the envelope window.
If you’d like to discuss how to make the most of these features, we can help. Please contact us.