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this is not strictly a server admin problem, but one I (as an admin) am tasked to resolve. Marketing wants to send out coupons with our packages. The code I thought up was something along the line: HITS-#MERCHANT#-#COUPONITERATION# So we can track which merchant sends out how many coupons (or at least how many are redeemed) and which iteration performs well. For every combination of the above I will be needing maybe 2.000-5.000 coupons. Unfortunately digitally printing 2.000 coupons is about as expensive as 5.000.

I would like to get 10.000-5.000 blank coupons and print the coupon code on them here in the office. I have several questions:
- is it feasible to run 2.000 coupons and add the codes with a laser printer? is this economical? - are there dedicated printers for this type of thing? label printers don't really work I think (imagine all the peeling) - how do "professionals" do this kind of work?

Thanks for any tips and help!


Thank you for the great advice!

It sounds like this is luckily a common problem, which should be outsourced to a specialist company. I have spoken to a few in the area. The number of coupons I was talking about is not very interesting to them, but they will accept an offer like this to get a new customer.

Regarding the data transfer, as long as the data size allows it I will generate a large PDF, as was suggested here. It is a bit of a waste, not just transferring the text information, but up to maybe 200-300 MB the companies are happier with that method.

Thank you again for your help!

4 Answers 4

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This is a whole industry, called "variable data printing". yeah, sounds trivial but there are lots of difficult cases. (After all, if you say that a DB just "stores records" it sounds trivial too).

There's a specific markup language for this, called PPML. Being XML-based, you can use XLST to turn your template + DB into a PPML stream that a high-speed RIP would consume.

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I've had more a few years working as a graphic designer/animator, and now I'm a full time system administrator.

I would like to get 10.000-5.000 blank coupons and print the coupon code on them here in the office

Make sure you don't get caught holding this bag. This sounds like a task you will be in charge of if it is even slightly complicated.

You'll also need to think about cutting each coupon if they're not full sheets. This will add up to a lot of work.

How do "professionals" do this kind of work?

They design the basic coupon, and leave a blank area for the coupon code. Then they start shopping around for a good printing company. Tell them your job in detail, and show them a finished example of what you want (a "mock-up"). Explain to them your coupon code needs, most will be willing to help.

Do this several times, and compare the prices/quality of each printer. Then go to press.

Get the printer to do as much work as possible for you. They do this stuff all the time.

If you need pre-press help and more specific advice try the Typophile forum.

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Having worked with printers quite a bit, my suggestion (assuming you don't need amazing graphic quality) would be to get someone (know any graphic designers? Maybe put an ad on Craigslist?) to design the cupon, leaving a blank spot for the code. Turn that into a PDF, and (either by adding a form field, filling it in, and then flattening or by just drawing on the PDF) write a script to create a PDF with as many cupons as needed, inserting the cupon codes. Get a quote from a printer to just run that massive PDF off on a color laser printer.

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I asked GPT (GPT-4 in my case) to write a script to generate an HTML page, and it actually worked out really well. Here's my prompt in case anyone else wants to go down the same route.

Note: You need to have node/npm installed for this solution, but you could modify the prompt to use whatever language you want (or even just output the HTML directly).

Write a typescript script that generates a simple html page that can be used for printing bulk coupon codes.  The script will read the list coupon codes from a file called `codes.txt` with 1 code per line.  The HTML should contain the coupons HTML and nothing else.

# Layout
 - Each coupon should look identicial, with the exception of the code
 - It should layout the page in a way that it will print codes without any overlap of cropping.
 - It should be styled to look professional.
 - There should be boarders to make cutting the codes easier

# Parameters

 - logo: Url to company logo
 - title: Title text
 - description: Details on how to use the coupon code
 - disclaimer: Limitations, expiration date, etc

I did have to make some very minimal css edits manually, but I probably could have asked GPT to make them in a followup prompt.

NOTE: I also used GPT to write a script to generate all the one-time-use coupon codes using the stripe api :)

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