WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.133 Hi! Welcome to the XMPie uCreate Print training. 00:00:04.133 --> 00:00:13.533 This is the first tutorial in the series during which will create a fully variable dynamic document using uCreate Print and InDesign. 00:00:13.533 --> 00:00:21.799 Our sample project is a self-mailer invitation for prospective students to attend the EDU University open day. 00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:27.000 The purpose of this first tutorial is to download and explore the tutorial files, 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:31.566 as well as to understand the customer brief and what we need to do. 00:00:31.566 --> 00:00:37.866 I will approach this like a real-world customer job so you can see some of the things you might need to check 00:00:37.866 --> 00:00:41.866 and plan for in your future VDP projects. 00:00:41.866 --> 00:00:48.066 To start, download the resources zip file. 00:00:48.066 --> 00:00:53.732 00:00:53.733 --> 00:00:58.766 There is a PDF included in the ZIP file that will go into more detail. 00:00:58.766 --> 00:01:06.099 You can read the document later at your leisure, but I will use this diagram to talk about the customer's requirements. 00:01:06.100 --> 00:01:15.033 Generally, I want to get an idea of what is changing in the document in terms of text, images or object visibility in this case. 00:01:15.033 --> 00:01:18.599 And importantly what is going to trigger the change. 00:01:18.600 --> 00:01:24.400 For example, these objects all change based on the School the student is interested in attending, 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:28.733 and this one changes based on the student's Grade Average. 00:01:28.733 --> 00:01:37.033 Understanding what changes will help you identify and gather all the right asset materials – the School images for example. 00:01:37.033 --> 00:01:44.999 And understanding what triggers the change will point you toward checking the data to ensure that you have the required information, 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:52.566 that it is consistent and in a format you can use. So, let's start by looking at the data. 00:01:52.566 --> 00:02:00.699 In this case, the data is CSV which is a bit hard to look at in a text editor, so I will import it into Excel. 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:08.500 When you are checking data like this with Excel, it is important not to re-save it unless you understand what might change. 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:14.866 I know that Excel is wanting to change these postal codes because they are missing a zero at the front. 00:02:14.866 --> 00:02:20.666 I'll change Excel so it treats this column as text. 00:02:20.666 --> 00:02:26.499 00:02:26.500 --> 00:02:32.733 And the same for the IMBSample data. This is the information for the Intelligent Mail barcode 00:02:32.733 --> 00:02:39.033 and because the number is so long, Excel will try to change it to scientific notation. 00:02:39.033 --> 00:02:43.366 For our project we need to change the School photo in the document, 00:02:43.366 --> 00:02:49.966 so here in the data, we can see that we need images for Medicine, Law and Engineering Schools. 00:02:49.966 --> 00:02:55.632 We can also see that there are records with blanks – so no School value is defined. 00:02:55.633 --> 00:03:00.033 This tells us that we will need to have a general or generic image 00:03:00.033 --> 00:03:05.666 and write a rule to show this image instead of the School image if there is no value. 00:03:05.666 --> 00:03:12.666 The other field to note was the Grade Average and it seems like there are scores for all students. 00:03:12.666 --> 00:03:16.832 While we are looking at the data, it is also a good idea to ask your customer 00:03:16.833 --> 00:03:23.033 if the data they provided has been cleaned and had the address verified by a mailing service. 00:03:23.033 --> 00:03:28.399 For a small fee, this kind of service can dramatically improve deliverability of mail, 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:32.966 and therefore increase the response or results of the campaign. 00:03:32.966 --> 00:03:42.666 The service can also add the code that needs to be added into postal barcodes like the USPS Intelligent Mail routing code seen here. 00:03:42.666 --> 00:03:45.766 Next, we need to gather those resources. 00:03:45.766 --> 00:03:55.066 The university has provided a folder of assets – the asset images are all provided – we have one for each of the Schools we saw in the data, 00:03:55.066 --> 00:03:58.199 and also a general one. 00:03:58.200 --> 00:04:05.500 There is also a folder of text file assets. These are the different agendas for each School's open day activities. 00:04:05.500 --> 00:04:13.400 Again, we have one for each of the required Schools and a general one. But the files are not names consistently. 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:20.900 We can write a rule to pick the right file, but personally I would consider renaming the files. 00:04:20.900 --> 00:04:24.500 A quick note here about the folder structure. 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:33.366 These files that will be pulled into the document based on rules are referred to as assets and should be located in one folder. 00:04:33.366 --> 00:04:36.832 In your future projects, you should do the same thing. 00:04:36.833 --> 00:04:42.666 Having to search through thousands of files will take time when it comes to processing your file, 00:04:42.666 --> 00:04:49.932 and if you will later work with the server, uploading unnecessary files will also cause you delays. 00:04:49.933 --> 00:04:58.633 Other files needed for the document – such as logos and other graphics that will be the same for all records – should be in a separate folder. 00:04:58.633 --> 00:05:03.066 XMPie refers to these as resources. 00:05:03.066 --> 00:05:07.699 Next, look at the sample document the university provided. 00:05:07.700 --> 00:05:13.400 First, I can see that no fonts were missing when I opened the document. 00:05:13.400 --> 00:05:23.233 00:05:23.233 --> 00:05:32.266 And, I can see that the Object styles have the School colors defined, so we don't need to worry about getting those color definitions. 00:05:32.266 --> 00:05:38.599 And the character styles have the blue and white styles that will be required for the variable text color. 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:42.500 Next, is general prepress best practices. 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:47.933 Check the size of the images in the document, 00:05:47.933 --> 00:05:55.666 and check the images in Photoshop to ensure the size and resolution is not too big or to small. 00:05:55.666 --> 00:05:59.599 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:07.100 Many customers new to VDP find it easiest to plan out all of the Content objects they need before they start. 00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:12.533 Listing down the name, type and some information about each of the Content objects 00:06:12.533 --> 00:06:18.499 helps to make sure that everything has been covered and anything missing is found before you start. 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:27.600 A list is even more important if you have several people working on the same project – it will help keep everyone on the same page. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:34.033 The 3rd module in the tutorial PDF gives you a sample Content object list for this project. 00:06:34.033 --> 00:06:38.799 uCreate Print is very flexible and you can add and edit things as you go. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:44.400 When you create a list for your future projects, use the process to help you plan - 00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:49.033 don't feel that you must have everything documented before you can start.