How to Design VDP: Sand, Sky & Sports Cars



Skewed Basic Text



Last week, we were taken aback somewhat when we recieved numerous requests for samples of variable data printing jobs. Aren’t there hundreds and hundreds of samples of VDP on websites like FusionPro or Direct Smile? There are names written in the sand, in the sky and on sports cars, just for starters. We even provide links to more than 20 websites with samples and VDP ideas. So, exactly what types of samples were we expected to produce?

Then, it occurred to us that rather than providing samples of VDP, it might actually be better to explain how one goes about designing a VDP piece. Something along the lines of - “Give a person a VDP sample and you have solved today’s issue. Teach a person how to create VDP and he/she can be making and selling it!” Given that thought, we start here a multi-part blog to explain how we look at designing VDP pieces.

Sand, Sky & Sports Cars



As you look through the array of Expressions (FusionPro) and Smilys (Direct Smile), you need to be able to recognize how the various text effects are created. There are three basic techniques used in virtually all VDP jobs: basic text, font fill and 3D font effects.

The basic text technique is just that - a plain TTF font text placed on top of an image. This is the simplest and most common technique used. A slightly advanced version of the basic text technique is to shape and skew the properties of the text placeholder so the flat text appears to follow the contours of an object in the underlying image. This simple technique can have very stunning results, as the text appears to be on almost any type of object such as cups, airplanes, footballs, skin, paper, sports cars, etc.

Font Fill

The most recognized example of the font fill technique is probably the name spelled out in puffy clouds. This technique also uses standard TTF fonts but in a slightly different way. The font is applied transparently in a layer over the image. Small GIFs or other image types are used as the fill for the transparent font. If you want the text to appear to be formed by clouds, you have the font automatically filled with your collection of cloud images. If you want flying ducks, fill the font with flying duck images. You can control the density and other characteristics of the fill to achieve the desired effect. This technique allows for some interesting and some unusual designs. Round, amorphous fill images (e.g. clouds, diamonds, water drops) can make for a natural looking image. Fill images with an obvious orientation (e.g. animals, people, etc.) often look surreal because the repetition of the fill images becomes more obvious. The font fill technique is also relatively simple if you have the right fill images.

Handwriting 3D Effect

3D font effects are one of the biggest challenges in VDP design. A name written in the sand is the most common example of this technique, and it is too often done very poorly. What makes this effect so difficult is that each text character requires its own texture, depth and shadowing. When using a custom background image, it is often necessary to generate a unique character set where each character is a separate image. Multiple character sets are desirable when the text is supposed to be handwritten so that repeating characters are not exactly the same (e.g. so the n’s and a’s in “Hannah” would be slightly different). Obviously, creating custom character sets is quite time consuming and not something to be offered to customers without considering the time involved.

3D Effect with "Extruded" Text

When using 3D font effects with a standard (non-handwritten) font, things get a bit easier. Font extrusion tools can create some very nice effects, although you will still have to do some amount of tweaking to get the right look.

What Now?

Practice! Now that you know about the different types of text effects, examine a variety of VDP until you can readily recognize how the effects were created. This will help demystify a substantial portion of VDP design work. It also makes it easier to visualize options for creating text effects as we go forward with the design process.

We want to thank the CPrint staff for letting us participate in their Annual Production Conference last week. That’s where all the questions came from. It was a very educational event and a great group of people. We already make the VDP process as easy as it can be. The next challenge is to provide the tools to make selling VDP easier. Thanks for the inspiration.

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