February 11, 2008
Printing Industry Center at RIT Releases Research on Use of Database And Digital Asset Management in Variable Data Printing

First monograph in 2007-2008 research agenda is released to the public

ROCHESTER, NY (February 11, 2008) – A newly released research monograph from the Printing Industry Center at RIT (http://print.rit.edu) investigates the application of database and digital asset management tools, techniques, and skills as they are used to prepare content for variable data printing jobs. Titled “Upstream Database and Digital Asset Management in Variable Data Printing” (PICRM-2008-01), the monograph is co-authored by Franziska Frey, Ph.D., McGhee Distinguished Professor of the School of Print Media at RIT, and Nicholas Barzelay, Adjunct Professor of the School of Print Media at RIT. The report details the theories and models behind database management, DAM (digital asset management), and VDP (variable data printing), looks at hands-on research trials conducted at RIT, and concludes with a preliminary list of skills needed to successfully implement VDP.

Other key findings include:

• VDP is very complex, requires sophisticated tools and professional skills, and is expensive and time-consuming to successfully establish and operate in order to produce effective quality communications with a production process that is documented, repeatable, predictable, measurable, traceable, and that results in outcomes that are reusable.


• A VDP solution requires the interplay of topical knowledge about business and marketing, information content (data and images), and printing applications across the entire print production workflow from inception to delivery.


• Most tools employed in VDP have some overlapping functionality. Therefore, it is important to choose the right tool for the given job. The decision to select one tool over another does not rest solely on the type of job to be performed, but also on the intent and functionality of each tool being considered.

The report is available for download as a PDF from http://print.rit.edu/research/index.php?page=item&id=112.

About the Printing Industry Center at RIT
The Printing Industry Center is a joint program of the RIT School of Print Media in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences and RIT's E. Philip Saunders College of Business, and was established in 2001 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as one of the Sloan Industry Centers. The Center is dedicated to the study of major business environment influences in the printing industry brought on by new technologies and societal changes, creating a forum for printing companies and associations worldwide to access a neutral platform for the dissemination of knowledge, to share ideas, and to build the partnerships needed to sustain growth and profitability in a rapidly changing market. For more information, please visit http://print.rit.edu.

Media Contact:
Ashley Walker
Marketing Communications Coordinator
Printing Industry Center at RIT
585-475-4231
aswppr@rit.edu