A UK firm claims to have implemented the first mass-market Internet-based personalised printing system to produce greetings cards for football fans.


"We've built the middle bit between the client and the printer," said Digital Squared joint managing director Andy Houldsworth. "It's the ultimate application for digital print."


The firm is producing cards for Watford FC and is in talks with almost all Premier League teams, including eight at the final stages of discussion, about putting the system on their sites. It is also looking beyond football to other markets and beyond greetings cards to posters, calendars and brochures.
Printing is carried out by Leighton Buzzard firm CPM using its recently installed Indigo UltraStreams (PrintWeek, 22 September).


Digital Squared supplies CPM with PDFs generated automatically using PageFlex Mpower to generate the layout from a database of elements and customers' own text, which is entered online.


Everything is automated until the card is posted.


Story by Barney Cox