Caitlyn Easter

For this assignment, we built upon our previous work with XMPie. In InDesign, we were given a static bakery shop coupon. We had to customize the coupon that would double as a postcard using the XMPie software. We changed the following instances in to dynamic variable fields:

•     Customer name
•     Favorite food
•     Discount
•     Mailing address
•     Intelligent barcode
•     Design colors

The intelligent barcode was based on an XMPie string was given to use. This would produce a unique code for the customer. We also had a regular barcode which was unique to the customer. When the customer brought the coupon into the shop, the barcode would be scanned, and the customer's information would be added to the database. If they were a returning customer, then their information would be updated to keep track of their visits. We had to use a few IF ELSE scripts in XMPie, to calculate dynamic variable such as the discount. The discount script was created based on how many items the customer bought.

Once completed, we used dynamic print in the XMPie window, to create a single file of all the postcards. We wanted to use is little paper as necessary, but also allow for bleed. So what we did was imposed all the cards on multiple sheets, and set up the row and column spacing. We ended up with a 2x4 of postcard ready to be printed. Since the cards were front and back, when printing it was important to make sure you printed the pages of cards double sided, turning on the short edge. This will make sure that the front and back of the correct cards aligned properly.