A sneak peek at the future of WSU printing

After searching for a new project management software package that would allow for greater transparency, an easier customer experience, and convenient ordering all in one place, Design and Printing Services (DPS) is ready to share a first look at the future of printing at WSU.

The store

Currently, if someone wanted to order business cards and branded promotional items like metallic poms, they would need to go into 2 different websites and place separate orders. With the new online store, everything will be in one space.

Navigate through the shop’s categories to find preexisting items like envelopes and other stationery, or browse to see what other, new items are available! There are options to order predesigned items like postcards and brochures, and if you need help with design, there are buttons on these pages to get you in touch with someone who can help.

Another exciting opportunity that comes with the storefront is the ability to create printed items with fillable templates. Right now, this is seen easiest within the business card templates. Every customer has a profile that saves their contact information, which in turn can be loaded into the business card template (and then further customized if needed). Changes to the template can be viewed in real time so you can see exactly what your business card will look like.

The possibilities for this technology are endless, and DPS is excited to explore this part of the shop further in the future!

Along with the catalog that will be available to the general University audience, this new software also gives DPS the opportunity to curate specific catalogs that offer the items your campus, department, or unit needs that others do not.

These custom catalogs will evolve over time. If you have ideas for things you’d like to see in your space, email Jessica at jessica.schloss@wsu.edu; we’ll be compiling a list!

The customer space

Along with the power to order items online, you will also have your own space. In this area, you can access all of your orders, both the ones that you order through the storefront and the ones your project coordinator places on your behalf for things created outside of the storefront.

Did you run out of cards and just need to order some more? As long as the project was created since the software started being used in November 2020, you’ll be able to find it in your order history and click a reorder button to get the project going again. (And if it was ordered before November 2020—don’t worry, we can still take care of you!)

You’ll also have access to the invoices of previous jobs and see the status of current jobs. This means you’ll be able to access financial information regarding billed jobs but also see the quantity ordered, the paper used, etc. Tracking information will be more readily available for items that have to ship somewhere.

The customer space will also allow you to upload files directly into the platform. This can be done either specifically for an order where you’re providing content and images for a project, or in a more general sense where you may use the same images across different projects (like logos, photos, signatures, etc.). How you want the file to be used will determine where it gets uploaded.

Besides uploading files, customers will now have the ability to upload their lists directly into the customer space too. Both mailing and email distribution lists will live here—you can even go back to the database and update a given list to account for unsubscribes or new people you want to include in the circulation.

The storefront is going live June 14 but may change depending on how the beta testing goes.