Sending a Unique Print File With Every Order

For personalized products where the content changes with each purchase.

How It Works

Some products change with every order. A custom card deck, a personalized journal, a made to order workbook. The production specifications stay the same, but some or all of the content is different for every customer. A product can be a single file, or several pieces combined, such as a stocked cover, a standard section, and a personalized section. This page explains how we make sure the correct file reaches the correct order, no matter how you send us that order.

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The three things that make it work

The whole system comes down to three things lining up:

1. Your order carries an order ID.
2. The print file is named with that same order ID.
3. The file is placed in your shared drive.

When those three things match, we connect the right file to the right order every time.

This works with any platform. Shopify, WooCommerce, GoHighLevel, another ecommerce system, a plain text email, or our API. You do not need a developer, and you do not need to use our API. You only need your order to include an order ID that matches your file name.

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Your order ID

Your order ID is the identifier your own system already assigns when a customer checks out. You do not need to create anything new. Whatever your platform calls the order number, that value is your order ID. Send it to us on the order, and use the same value as the file name.

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Naming the file

Name the file with your order ID, exactly as it appears on the order you send us.

Single file:

A-10482.pdf

If one order has more than one unique file, add the part each file belongs to:

A-10482_interior.pdf
A-10482_cover.pdf

Use only letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. No spaces. Please do not use customer names or order dates in the file name. Names repeat, they carry punctuation and spacing that varies, and a customer who orders twice in one day produces two files with the same name. Your order ID is unique by design, which is why we use it.

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Your part numbers

Every piece of your product has its own Vervante part number. A simple product has one part number for the whole item. A product built from several pieces has one for each cover design and one or more for the interior pages. Trim size, binding, cover, and finishing are set by each part number.

Each personalized part number covers a range of about 20 pages. Every file sent under that part number must fall within its range. If your product varies in length, we set up a part number for each range you need. A file outside its range is held, and we contact you.

Each order lists the part numbers that make up that customer's product, one per line, plus your order ID:

(V408XXXXXXX) X 1
(V408YYYYYYY) X 1
order_id: A-10482
fname: Jane
lname: Smith
address1: 123 Main Street
city: Denver
state: CO
zip: 80202
country: US

In this example the first line is the cover and the second is the personalized interior. The full order format is on our Email Format for Automatic Order Processing page.

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Upload the file before you send the order

Place the file in your shared drive and confirm it has finished uploading before the order reaches us. Orders can arrive in seconds. Cloud storage takes a moment to sync. If the order arrives before the file, production pauses and we have to reach out to you. Confirm the upload is complete, then release the order.

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Fees for personalized orders

The one-time file upload fee applies when you set up your product or revise its specifications. The print files you place in your shared drive for each order are not charged an upload fee, and there is no personalization fee when you supply finished, print-ready files. Order fees and postage are on our fee schedule.

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File requirements

Personalized orders print without a proof. We print the file as we receive it, so you are responsible for confirming the file is correct before you upload it.

• PDF format, press quality
• CMYK color
• Correct trim size, and a page count within the range for your part number
• Fonts embedded
• Images at 300 dpi
• Bleed included where the specification calls for it

Reprints caused by an incorrect file are billed as a new order. Print specifications, and templates for many of our products, are on our print specifications page.

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What happens on our side

When your order comes in, we retrieve the matching file from your shared drive, save a copy under your Vervante order number, and send that copy to production. We print from our archived copy, not from the live file in the folder. If the file in the folder is later revised or replaced, our copy still reflects exactly what was printed, and we can trace any question back to a specific version.

You can organize your folder however you like. We recommend moving completed files to a subfolder rather than deleting them.

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Quick checklist

• Print file is final and print-ready
• File is uploaded and fully synced
• File name matches the order ID exactly
• Order lists the correct part numbers for every piece of the product
• Order carries the same order ID as the file name

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Using our API (optional)

If you have a developer and prefer to send orders through our API, that works too. The API is one of several ways to send an order, and it is not required for personalized products. When you use it, populate the order_id field with the same value you used in the file name. Full details are on our API order processing page.

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Getting set up

To get your shared drive set up and to receive your part numbers, contact your Vervante representative. We will walk you through it. For how these products are built, see Build-Your-Own Planners and Hardcover Print On Demand.