4 Ways to Manage Images in a VDP Workflow

When we think about data, we tend to think about text. Recipients are greeted by first name, and we adjust the messaging, offers, and locations based on information we have on the recipient from a database. Dear Sally. Dear Jim. If the recipient is in this income bracket, they get this offer. If the recipient is in that income bracket, they get another offer.

But what about images? Images can be variable, too. We don’t handle images the same way that we handle text, but we don’t talk about the process as much. In fact, if you Google “prepare images for VDP” or perform similar search, you come up with almost nothing.

There are four ways images can be personalized in a communication:

1. Recipient’s own image associated with their record.   

In some cases, you want an image (usually the recipient’s headshot) associated with their record. This is helpful, say, if you are printing materials for use by an organization producing materials for visitors, attendees, or participants in an event. A trade show company, for example, might want to produce badges, personalized maps, and personalized collateral (such as itineraries) for clients’ attendees.

Let’s take two attendees, John Smith and Mary Brown. In this case, the customer’s database would look like this:

Source: EarthColor

2. Agent or someone else’s image associated with the recipient’s record.

What if you want someone else’s headshot associated with each person in the database? Every time that person receives a communication, you want them to see the name, contact information, and headshot of the customer service rep, agent, or advisor they deal with most often.

In this case, the customer’s database would look like this:

Source: EarthColor

We tend to associate this type of communication with self-serve, template-based W2P workflows in which each advisor or agent creates his or her own customized communications so their templates are populated with their own headshots and contact information. However, larger marketing environments may choose to use a central VDP workflow to generate all of the documents from a single location.

3. Recipient’s name as an image

Another way we personalize using images is using software that creates the person’s name as an image—say, out of twinkling stars or as footprints on the beach. Common examples include DirectSmile and XMPIe’s uImage. This occurs in a batch process that incorporates the naming of the file.

In this process, the software pulls names from a data file, applies the appropriate filters, and flattens and saves the image. Regardless of the number of characters used, the software automatically sizes the letters to fit the allotted space. Each person’s name image is then included as part of their record. In this, case their records would still look like the fields in #1.

(There are character limits to what the software can accommodate, however, so always find the longest name in the database and check to make sure that it will fit the layout.)

4. Images swapped out based on business rules.

A fourth way to prepare images for VDP is to swap out product, demographic, or other images based on business rules. If someone is a homeowner in the Midwest, they receive the image of a family sedan. If they are a renter in Colorado, they receive the image of a bike. If someone is located in New York, they see the Statue of Liberty. If they are located in California, they see the Golden Gate bridge.

This workflow can present challenges depending on the specs of the images you receive. What if your image box is horizontal and an image is vertical? What if images are grossly oversized or undersized for the available space? (An image sized at 600x800 pixels will show a lot less of the image in a 100x200-pixel image box than one that is 200x300. The images will also trim differently.) Images saved at 300 dpi will look sharper than those at 150 dpi, even when they are printed at the same size.

If the images are not prepared in advance, strange things can happen in the final product.

Dave Krawczuk, vice president of digital technology for EarthColor, recalls a client for which images were coming in on a daily basis. “We had to work out an image management process because we received new images every day,” he said. “There were literally hundreds at a time. Some photos would be twice as big as others. They wouldn't position properly or they would trim a little too close. Or they would shift or offset.”

In scenarios like these, Krawczuk said, the best case is that the printed image won’t look quite right. “In the worst case,” he said, “It’s, ‘What on earth is that?!’”

4 Steps to Getting It Right

Regardless of the type of application you are deploying, the answer is to prep the images in advance so that you control the results. Whether it’s preparing the images themselves or setting up naming conventions, the goal is consistency. Here is a simple four-step process to getting it right.

1. Ensure that each image is the same size and resolution.

Watch for low-res and under-sized images that are used in web or email applications that can slip into the print workflow.

2. Pull each image into the image box into which it would go and size and trim it so that it looks the way you want it to.

3. Replicate this in Photoshop and save the image.

Do this with every image used in the campaign. If you use the same images in different campaigns and the dimensions of the image boxes change, you’ll need resize, retrim, and resave the images to fit the new boxes.

4. Double check that file names match the data fields.

Just as image files can be all manner of heights, widths, and resolutions, naming conventions can just as varied. Some companies will have standardized naming structures, but in others, it’s handled by individual designers or are assigned automatically by the software. Combine this with the need to match each image within the database and the VDP layout, and things can get complicated very quickly.

“If you are dealing with clients using asset management systems, they may have standardized naming structures in place,” noted Krawczuk, “but in many places, you see file names like outsidesunsetshotfinal2.jpg or 15-digit randomized numbers. It’s a mixed bag.”

Then there is the human element of matching file names to data fields. Although our brains can autocorrect when names are off by a character or letters are accidentally reversed, workflow automation can’t. When this happens, you can end up with the wrong image or even empty image boxes.

Matching includes file extensions, too. “One of the issues we face with variable naming conventions is when the extension in the data file does not match the furnished image extension,” said Bill Meason, communications consultant at ProGraphics Communications. “It is essential these match for the variable images to populate correctly.”

So double check every image, every time, before the job goes out. If you have a high number of images, set up a workflow to make sure you get it right and that nothing gets missed.

5. Proof, proof, proof!

Unlike some text snafus, which can be hard to catch in proofing, image issues manifest fairly readily in the proofing stage.  “With VDP it is imperative to test all scenarios,” said Jon Kenney, account executive with the Goodway Group of Massachussets. “If a naming convention isn't followed, the proof will show a blank space where the image belongs. If a sizing convention isn't followed, the proof will show that too.”

It’s also critical to have the right software for your job volumes and processing requirements. “Too often, processing times and image optimization are an afterthought,” noted Brady Manthe, business development manager at J-C Press. “Image personalization can be very processor-intensive and extremely slow. A bit of work optimizing and even testing printed versions of the images can pay for itself ten-fold.”

Manthe also noted that, when it comes to processing, not all software is created equal. “Some software is definitely better at others when scaling/placing images,” he said. “I have seen some disasters when images are set to size and the software will actually have the images bouncing all over the place during processing.”

Swapping out variable images doesn’t have to be complicated or unpredictable. It just takes pre-planning. So plan carefully. Surprises are great for birthday parties and anniversaries, but not for VDP workflow.