Considering XMPie purchase
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PrepressNC
Jan 10, 2008, 11:26:19 AM1/10/08
to XMPie Interest Group
Hello -- I am new to this group and will probably lurk primarily as I
have nowhere near the technical expertise that I see in the posts
here.
My company is trying to get into variable data printing. We have a
Xerox 6060 with a Creo Spire RIP (v.4.1, SP2). I am trying out XMPie
and DesignMerge. XMPie seems like a HUGE product and I am wondering if
it will be too much, too soon -- or, is it likely that we will build
into the web and cross-media products, once we get started?
My background is in graphics and prepress, though doing prepress for a
commercial printer, I have had to learn a lot of programs so, a steep
learning curve is not too much of an issue. What I see though, is a
tough path to "get into" things -- the only upgradeable version of
XMPie starts at $8000 -- and, from what I understand, getting into the
cross-media aspect can go into much more. But, the "low end" of XMPie
($2000) and DesignMerge ($2995) offer no product growth.
Any comments or input on getting started with these products, how to
decide which product, newbie info, etc. are greatly appreciated. Hope
this is an o.k. question for this group.
Judy In NC
have nowhere near the technical expertise that I see in the posts
here.
My company is trying to get into variable data printing. We have a
Xerox 6060 with a Creo Spire RIP (v.4.1, SP2). I am trying out XMPie
and DesignMerge. XMPie seems like a HUGE product and I am wondering if
it will be too much, too soon -- or, is it likely that we will build
into the web and cross-media products, once we get started?
My background is in graphics and prepress, though doing prepress for a
commercial printer, I have had to learn a lot of programs so, a steep
learning curve is not too much of an issue. What I see though, is a
tough path to "get into" things -- the only upgradeable version of
XMPie starts at $8000 -- and, from what I understand, getting into the
cross-media aspect can go into much more. But, the "low end" of XMPie
($2000) and DesignMerge ($2995) offer no product growth.
Any comments or input on getting started with these products, how to
decide which product, newbie info, etc. are greatly appreciated. Hope
this is an o.k. question for this group.
Judy In NC
Tim Perrett
Jan 10, 2008, 7:07:36 PM1/10/08
to XMPie Interest Group
Hey Judy, welcome to the group!
Your right, XMPie is a large product set and its important to
understand the differences between entry level and server products.By
the sounds of it your just venturing into VDP, in which case I would
suggest you look at uDirect professional (or studio) - it will get you
started and has a positive migration path to the x-media servers if
you so require it.
I would suggest looking at your sales strategy might help you come to
conclusion in selecting a product - i.e, if your looking to push
heavily into x-media right away, then sure, your going to need a tool
to deliver those to clients you have who are ready to make that step.
Whilst I cant comment on the US marketplace, its certainly the case in
the UK that selling x-media into clients takes some time, so certainly
initially, to dip your toe into the water as it were, uDirect would be
perfectly fine.
Cheers
PS: Yep this is a perfectly acceptable place to be posting these types
of questions, everyone is welcome, so by all means fire away!
Your right, XMPie is a large product set and its important to
understand the differences between entry level and server products.By
the sounds of it your just venturing into VDP, in which case I would
suggest you look at uDirect professional (or studio) - it will get you
started and has a positive migration path to the x-media servers if
you so require it.
I would suggest looking at your sales strategy might help you come to
conclusion in selecting a product - i.e, if your looking to push
heavily into x-media right away, then sure, your going to need a tool
to deliver those to clients you have who are ready to make that step.
Whilst I cant comment on the US marketplace, its certainly the case in
the UK that selling x-media into clients takes some time, so certainly
initially, to dip your toe into the water as it were, uDirect would be
perfectly fine.
Cheers
PS: Yep this is a perfectly acceptable place to be posting these types
of questions, everyone is welcome, so by all means fire away!
Bill
Jan 11, 2008, 9:47:24 AM1/11/08
to XMPie Interest Group
Hello Judy,
The XMPie offer is basically split into two separate families: the
"Desktop" one, and the "Server" one (the only one which can manage
Dynamic Web, emails and SMS). The "Server" family is HUGE, as you
said, but the "Desktop" one is not, as far as I am concerned.
Even though some posts on this Group may appear technically complex,
this is mainly due to the fact that people were talking about the
Server family (which involves knowledge in databases - such as SQL,
Web developement such as ASP.Net C#, Web security, etc.).
Fortunately, most XMPie customers I know here started using the
"Desktop" family and, once they have mastered it, can move to the
"Server" one (if they decide to).
"Mastering" means mastering the technical side, but also the
"Marketing" and the "Sales" sides (as it is a little more hard to find
a customer interested in Cross-Media campaigns than a customer
interested in "only" VDP). But success on the Print side often
generates growth and success on the Web side.
Starting with uDirect Studio seems to me the appropriate strategy, as
the product is worth the price and the Tutorial available for download
on the XMPie Web Site will let you discover both uDirect, uImage and
uChart in less than half-a-day if you already know InDesign and
Photoshop. With these 3 modules, you will have all the XMPie print
technology available (anyway, the "Server" family is based on the very
same modules for the Design part of the job).
If you have got a Creo Front-End, you will certainly appreciate
uDirect's VPS output (which allows you to send the print file and the
resources separately to your 6060). I don't know how the products are
bundled by XMPie / Xerox in the US but, here, the price of the uDirect
Studio product includes this 3rd output (in addition to the optimized
PDF and the JPEG "standard" outputs).
Regards,
Bill
The XMPie offer is basically split into two separate families: the
"Desktop" one, and the "Server" one (the only one which can manage
Dynamic Web, emails and SMS). The "Server" family is HUGE, as you
said, but the "Desktop" one is not, as far as I am concerned.
Even though some posts on this Group may appear technically complex,
this is mainly due to the fact that people were talking about the
Server family (which involves knowledge in databases - such as SQL,
Web developement such as ASP.Net C#, Web security, etc.).
Fortunately, most XMPie customers I know here started using the
"Desktop" family and, once they have mastered it, can move to the
"Server" one (if they decide to).
"Mastering" means mastering the technical side, but also the
"Marketing" and the "Sales" sides (as it is a little more hard to find
a customer interested in Cross-Media campaigns than a customer
interested in "only" VDP). But success on the Print side often
generates growth and success on the Web side.
Starting with uDirect Studio seems to me the appropriate strategy, as
the product is worth the price and the Tutorial available for download
on the XMPie Web Site will let you discover both uDirect, uImage and
uChart in less than half-a-day if you already know InDesign and
Photoshop. With these 3 modules, you will have all the XMPie print
technology available (anyway, the "Server" family is based on the very
same modules for the Design part of the job).
If you have got a Creo Front-End, you will certainly appreciate
uDirect's VPS output (which allows you to send the print file and the
resources separately to your 6060). I don't know how the products are
bundled by XMPie / Xerox in the US but, here, the price of the uDirect
Studio product includes this 3rd output (in addition to the optimized
PDF and the JPEG "standard" outputs).
Regards,
Bill
Judy Jordan
Jan 11, 2008, 9:51:58 AM1/11/08
to xmpie...@googlegroups.com
Hi all,
Thanks so much for the responses. Any info I can glean from folks "in the
know" puts me a step ahead. It is tough to know what software to buy when
you are venturing in a new direction as it is usually only after you have
been travelling in that direction for a bit before you know what you need
and don't need.
I also am always so delighted when corresponding with those across the
ocean (or around the world) -- one of those things I love best about the
internet --
Thanks again,
Judy
--
-
Sir Speedy Printing
1011 Burke Street * Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 722-4109 * FAX (336) 722-5446
mailto:ju...@sirspeedywinston-salem.com
http://www.sirspeedywinston-salem.com
Eliot
Jan 11, 2008, 4:45:44 PM1/11/08
to XMPie Interest Group
Hello Judy,
The key to selecting the best software for your business is not to
base your decision on a product feature set or price, but decide what
you want to do with VDP and how want to use to do it.
Do you only want to offer simple personalisation applications? How
about incorporating personalised images into your applications? Will
you want to offer your customers (now or later) the ability to deploy
integrated direct marketing campaigns across online and offline media?
What page layout software do you currently use? InDesign? QuarkXPress?
What version? If you're a die-hard Quark user and receive the majority
of customer files as Quark docs, then XMPie probably isn't the best
solution for you. If you use InDesign CS3 or plan to use CS3 in the
future, then DesignMerge isn't the right solution for you either (as
DesignMerge only supports CS2).
While I'm guessing (and suggesting) that you should start with an
entry-level solution, you should definitely be investing with your end-
goal in mind. You commented that "the low end of XMPie offers no
product growth" -- as Bill points out, you can take a document created
in uDirect Standard and upload it to uProduce for use in a
PersonalEffect workflow.
My advice would be to take DesignMerge and uDirect Standard/Studio for
a test drive to make an informed decision on which solution best fits
where you want to go and grow.
Good luck!
Eliot
The key to selecting the best software for your business is not to
base your decision on a product feature set or price, but decide what
you want to do with VDP and how want to use to do it.
Do you only want to offer simple personalisation applications? How
about incorporating personalised images into your applications? Will
you want to offer your customers (now or later) the ability to deploy
integrated direct marketing campaigns across online and offline media?
What page layout software do you currently use? InDesign? QuarkXPress?
What version? If you're a die-hard Quark user and receive the majority
of customer files as Quark docs, then XMPie probably isn't the best
solution for you. If you use InDesign CS3 or plan to use CS3 in the
future, then DesignMerge isn't the right solution for you either (as
DesignMerge only supports CS2).
While I'm guessing (and suggesting) that you should start with an
entry-level solution, you should definitely be investing with your end-
goal in mind. You commented that "the low end of XMPie offers no
product growth" -- as Bill points out, you can take a document created
in uDirect Standard and upload it to uProduce for use in a
PersonalEffect workflow.
My advice would be to take DesignMerge and uDirect Standard/Studio for
a test drive to make an informed decision on which solution best fits
where you want to go and grow.
Good luck!
Eliot
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