Innovative, revolutionary software eliminates many of the obstacles associated with traditional methods of processing jobs.

In a way, it's like having your own print shop located in the business offices of every one of your clients. It's also a very clever way to promote your services online, basically without lifting a finger.

In April of this year, RACAD Tech Inc. of Toronto (www.racadtech.com), a leading provider of internet-based solutions, and more recently, a developer of cutting-edge software for the web-to-print industry, launched GoPrint2, an online custom-branded print driver designed to streamline the processing of orders.

Bottom line here: the technology represents substantial time and cost savings for printers - and toss in promotion of a printer's overall business as a bonus.

"Print service providers are well aware of the obstacles and bottlenecks when it comes to receiving, preflighting, approving, proofing and sending out jobs," says Reuben Ben Quesus, President and CEO, RACAD Tech. Inc.

"Our software is really a breakthrough in helping them save substantial time and money by streamlining job processing. There really is no such tool on the market today. It's definitely a new way of doing business online, one we feel offers huge benefits to small, medium-sized and large printers alike."

The technology itself is really quite fascinating, and in fact, places some of the responsibility for processing jobs on the client - if you call pressing a few buttons actual work!

Client-installed

Basically, the GoPrint2 print driver is installed by one of your clients. Once it's installed, that customer can send files directly to you just by pressing "print."

When he or she does this, GoPrint2 automatically creates a print-ready PDF and opens a proof window for your client to view. Once the customer approves the document on the screen, the job is submitted directly to you without the need for a separate submission tool. It's almost as if they were printing to their own desktop printer at work, except that the file is sent directly to you in an instant. An automatic e-mail verification is sent to the user, and all you need to do is the printing.

"All a client really needs to do is press a few buttons and then go and pick up his or her printed product," says Ney Bendayan, Vice President, Operations. "This is also an ideal way of creating an effective webfront that isn't going to cost a printer a small fortune. And the best news of all - the software can be totally personalized. Printers can incorporate their contact information, e-mail, logo, FTP details, overall design - whatever they like, in real time. This is really bonus promotion for a printer's business online," he adds.

From a marketing point of view, this indeed is a tremendous benefit. As each printer registers and provides their company name and other details, the information is integrated seamlessly into the GoPrint2 software and the personalized company information is attached to each product they produce, thereby promoting the printer online at the same time. The company information can also be updated in real time. There are no up-front costs because there are no installations, monthly or licensing fees.

"E-enabling graphic communications companies and printers, regardless of size, is not an option, it's a necessity," says Quesus. "Right now, many print service providers have been hesitant to adopt web-to-print technologies because of the cost, time investment and IT knowledge traditionally associated with these solutions. This driver gives printers a simple, easy-to-use and affordable solution."

Accommodating large files

Recent updates of the GoPrint2 tool include a desktop icon used for file submission to a desired print producer. The icon, sitting directly on the user's desktop, continuously promotes the business (as it's also customizable), and features a "drag and drop" option. In other words, clients simply drag their files into the destination box, and within seconds of approval, the job is delivered to their chosen printer. The difference between the "Drag and Drop" option and the print driver, is that the desktop icon feature allows documents in their native file format to be sent to the printer, and accommodates any file size, no matter how large.

"Having our company's icon (shortcut) right on my customer's desktop, has benefited both of us tremendously," says Isaac Osiel, owner of Source Imaging in Toronto.

"Sometimes I need to receive files in their native format. This feature also gave me the exposure I needed and the communication piece necessary to facilitate file submissions to me. I found it so convenient that I've also told my suppliers to utilize this feature."

One of Canada's largest print providers, Print Three, adopts the new technology.

One printer that definitely wasn't hesitant about incorporating this new technology, and is currently reaping the benefits, is the Print Three chain.

"We chose the GoPrint2 Driver because it gave us everything we needed. It was easy to set up and it gave us a Print Three branded way to further tie our customers to us," says Nick Daunt, Director of Major Accounts & eCommerce.

"We branded our GoPrint2 driver, 'Print It @ Print Three'. Now, Print Three customers across Canada have a direct, Print Three branded link to their preferred Print Three centre on their own computer. No more struggling with converting to a format the store can use, finding out if the e-mail attachment ever got to the store, and if so, whether there were any problems with the file.

Our customers expect quick, high quality turnaround of their work. In a busy shop, it might sometimes take an operator several precious minutes, if not hours, to open and assess a file submitted remotely by a customer. Using 'Print It @ Print Three' in conjunction with our custom FTP web-to-print solution, the file gets to us securely every time. And because of the built-in preflight capability, the customer is notified of any issues or problems with the file even before our print centre knows about it.

The truth is, we believe that having this branded space integrated into our customers' everyday desktop workspace is priceless. We always seek to position our technology tools as 'smart' ways to enhance efficiency for our customers and make it easier to do business with Print Three - Smart Document Centres.

Our tag line is 'The Intelligent Way to do Business' and we think that investing in the GoPrint2 Print Driver was an extremely cost-effective way of furthering this message and delivering additional value to our customers at the same time," he concludes.

OEM licensing agreements with Xerox Uruguay and Gravent S.A. Argentina

Besides Print Three, RACAD Tech. signed two international OEM license agreements in May of 2008. One with Gravent S.A in Argentina, the largest paper distributor in South America, and the other with Xerox Uruguay, to distribute the GoPrint2 print drivers. Both companies saw the added value to their companies through the effectiveness of the product, as well as the continuous promotion of their companies through the customizable print driver. RACAD has similar agreements in the works.

Currently, RACAD is offering a free 30-day trial to companies interested in trying the software. You can download your customizable print driver now and send it to your clients at no expense to you or them. The GoPrint2 print driver can be accessed at www.goprint2.com, and is also available in Spanish.

GoPrint2 Print Driver - Summary of benefits:

• No costly set-up or installation fees
• No monthly or licensing fees
• Improved client relationship by being on your clients' computers
• You're just a click away from receiving printing orders
• Standalone system that's simple to install and extremely easy to use
• Online proofing eliminates expensive color proof outputting and delivery costs
• Hosted at a tier IV facility for added security at no extra cost
• Online technical support for both you and your clients
• You only pay if a customer uses it
• Fully compatible with both Mac and Windows applications
• Free 30-day trial

Original article as featured in The Graphics Arts Magazine