imail W eb & Print Client Guide

Transcription

1 Powered by imail Web & Print Client Guide Electronic to physical next day mail

2 Welcome imail is a complete print, production and mailing application for your general office and marketing mailings. Once your account is set up mail can be produced, printed and posted to any UK address direct from your PC! There are two flexible delivery services, next day and 2-day, designed to suit the urgency of your mailing requirements. And with imail providing a complete desktop to doormat solution, it gives you more time to get creative with your mail whilst we concentrate on printing and mailing it. For added ease and convenience, purchase highly targeted data lists via imail s unique canvassing tool, icanvass, and increase the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns. Expect response rates to soar!

3 Contents Logging into imail 1 Navigating imail 1 Quick Start - Letters / Drafts / Mailshot Letters 2 Quick Start - Mailshot 3 Quick Start - Postcard / Appointment Cards 4 imail Home Page - Overview 5 Write Letter 6 Address Book 7 Mail Merge 7 Draft Letter 7 Mailshot Cards 7 Postcard 8 Appointment Card 8 Left Hand Menu of Home Page - Services 9-10 Left Hand Menu of Home Page - Administration Helpdesk Contact 13 Appendix 1 - CSV Files Appendix 2 - icanvass 16

4 Logging into imail You can log in to imail at the website address and follow the Register Now button to be directed to our registration form. Complete the form and choose your own User Name and Password. The User Name must be at least 6 characters long. The Password must be at least 8 characters long, contain uppercase and lowercase letters and at least 1 number. After completing the registration simply click Sign Up. Navigating around imail After logging in, you will arrive at the imail home page. This allows you to navigate around the zones of imail. The 6 main zones are as listed below. Each will be explained in more detail later. See separate Customer Design Spec Guidelines for artwork set-up (downloadable through imail portal Write letter Here you can create, save and send your multi-page letter documents in full colour or black and white print. 2. Draft letter In this section you can open and send letters previously saved as draft. 3. Mailshot - Letters As per Write letter - Here you can send multi-page letter Mailshots in full colour or black and white print - pre-dominantly full page pdfs. 4. Mailshot - Cards Here you can create and send personalised double sided A5 marketing Mailshots with images on both sides of the A5 card. 5. Postcard Here you can create and send personalised postcards with an image on one side and a personal message on the reverse. 6. Appointment Cards As per Postcard - In this section you can create and post reminders with an image on one side and appointment details on the reverse. 1

5 Quick Start Guide... paste as plain text find Letters Draft Letters Mailshot Letters (DESIGN SPEC TO BE FOUND IN CUSTOMER DESIGN SPEC GUIDELINES) 1. Click Write Letter / Mailshot Letter / Draft Letter. 2. Select Delivery Service required and enter Letter Reference. 3. Enter complete address details manually, via address book, mail merge or purchase addresses through icanvass (See Appendix 2 for further details). 4. Type your letter in text box, or choose from a pre-loaded letter template. For adding additional sides and pages click Add PDF attachment and upload. (See Letter Template - Page 6, and separate Customer Design Spec Guidelines for further help). 5. Select Post, check preview and confirm if ok to send to print and post. 2

6 Quick Start Guide... Mailshot (DESIGN SPEC TO BE FOUND IN CUSTOMER DESIGN SPEC GUIDELINES) 1. Click Mailshot - Card. 2. Upload your pre-created 2pg Mailshot Pdf (See separate Customer Design Spec Guidelines for help). 3. Select Delivery Service required. 4. Enter complete address details manually, via address book, mail merge or purchase addresses through icanvass (See Appendix 2 for further details). 5. Enter a Reference for your Mailshot. 6. Click Preview to see your Mailshot. 7. If all ok click Post It. 3

7 Quick Start Guide... Postcard Appointment cards (DESIGN SPEC TO BE FOUND IN CUSTOMER DESIGN SPEC GUIDELINES) 1. Click Postcard / Appointment Card. 2. Upload your pre-created Jpeg (See separate Customer Design Spec Guidelines for help). 3. Select Delivery Service required. 4. Enter complete address details manually, via address book, mail merge or purchase addresses through icanvass (See Appendix 2 for further details). 5. Type your personalised message within the word editor section, including any variable data fields if required (See Appendix 1). 6. Click Preview to see your Postcard / Appointment Card. 7. If all ok click Post It. 4

8 Overview of the imail Mail Home Page When logged into imail you will be directed to the home page below. Refresh Page About imail dialog imail help pages Logout User Profile imail Home Page Certification of site security 5

9 Write Letter Click on the Write Letter icon to start to create your letter. The first task is to select the delivery service required. There are 2 delivery services available, 2-Day and Next Day. For our 2-Day service you need to create and send mail before 6pm. For our Next Day service you need to create and send mail before 3pm. To help keep track of cut off times use the Time Left to Post countdown. You are required to enter a letter reference in the letter reference area. The next step is to type fully the new addressee details within the address box. Or upload your CSV file for mailmerge (see appendix 1 and following mailmerge section). It is also possible to select and purchase addresses via our icanvass service (see appendix 2 for further details). Insert signature Insert page break Edit HTML Source Find Font customising Text Alignment List Ordering Insert Image Text Colour Paste as plain text Menu bar with formatting functions Now you are ready to create the main body of the letter in the text box. Use the toolbar to format the font, paragraph, insert images, signatures and page breaks. You can currently send a maximum of 4 pages or 8 sides. imail automatically prints your letter double-sided (unless you manually enter a double page break). We automatically set the margins and tabs for you. To cut and paste text from a Word document, you first copy the text you want to insert into the imail document, then select the Paste as Plain Text button from the toolbar. Select Control and the letter V at the same time. Click Insert and the text will appear in your letter. The maximum file size for a mailing is 3mb. The 3mb includes letter template and PDF attachment in one mailing. Save as Draft Letter Save as Pending Letter Post Letter Write Letter menu bar with processing functions Select Post, at which point a final preview is displayed. Due to the print on demand nature of imails service and fluctuation volumes it is advisable to submit mailings over 3,000 items before midday for same day printing. 6

10 You can click Save as Pending if you are not ready to send your letter alternatively click the Post Letter icon when you are ready to send - This is the last opportunity to modify your letter. Finally click I confirm my mailing is OK and I want to post it. A text box will appear to confirm the number of items that have been mailed. After this point your mailing/letter cannot be retrieved other than to view in Archive Mail. The delivery name and address of previously sent letters are stored in your personal imail address book. Any matches will be shown and you can click select to use that address. You can only select one address at a time i.e. you cannot mail merge addresses from the address book. It also stores addresses uploaded from.csv files. Mail Merge It is possible to send a letter to mailing list groups, databases or contact lists (see Appendix 1 for how to create a CSV file). To attach a CSV file click on the Mail Merge button. Next select Browse to find the CSV file and click Add. Draft Letter Click on the Draft Letter icon. This section stores non-delivered letters which have been saved as Draft. Amend the text, enter address details or upload a CSV file and Post as above. Mailshot - Cards Click the mailshot icon to create and send customised mailshots. First you need to create the double sided image (see Customer Design Spec Guidelines). Select Click Here to Upload your own. You will be prompted to read a legal statement. By clicking Yes you are agreeing to the statement. Click Browse to find your PDF and upload. Your image will now appear on screen. For best print quality your chosen PDF should be 300dpi Select Next Day or 2 Day Delivery. Now type in the addressee details. Finally click Preview to see a final proof of the mailshot. Click I confirm my mailing is OK and I want to post it to send. A text box will appear to confirm the number of items that have been mailed. To send multiple Mailshots to a pre-determined address or mailing list click on the Mail Merge button. Standard customising mailshot screen Customised upload image screen 7

11 Postcard Click on the postcard icon to create and send customised postcards. First you need to create the image on the front of the postcard. To use your own image select Click Here to Upload your own. You will be prompted to read a legal statement. By clicking Yes you are agreeing to the statement and wish to proceed. Next click Browse to find your image and Upload. Your image will now appear on the screen. For best print quality your chosen image should be 300dpi and in jpeg format. Select Next Day or 2 Day Delivery. Now click in the Recipient s Name and Address box, and type in addressee details. Then create your personalised message within the word editor section. The toolbar is available to format the text, insert images and a signature. Finally click Preview to see a final proof of the postcard. You will be presented with both sides of the postcard in its final form. Click I confirm my mailing is OK and I want to post it to send. A text box will appear to confirm the number of items that have been mailed. To send multiple Postcards to a pre-determined address or mailing list click on the Mail Merge button. Appointment Card Click on the appointment card icon to create and send customised appointment cards. First you need to create the image on the front of the appointment card. To use your own image select Click Here to Upload your own. You will be prompted to read a legal statement. By clicking Yes you are agreeing to the statement and wish to proceed. Next click Browse to find your image and Upload. Your image will now appear on the screen. For best print quality your chosen image should be 300dpi and in jpeg format. Select Next Day or 2 Day Delivery. Now click in the Recipient s Name and Address box, and type in addressee details. Then create your personalised message within the word editor section. The toolbar is available to format the text, insert images and a signature. Finally click Preview to see a final proof of the appointment card. You will be presented with both sides of the appointment card in its final form. Click I confirm my mailing is OK and I want to post it to send. A text box will appear to confirm the number of items that have been mailed. To send multiple Appointment Cards to a pre-determined address or mailing list click on the Mail Merge button. 8

12 Exploring the left hand menu of the home page - Services Panel The panel under the Time Left to Post is an alternative way of accessing the six different functionality areas. We will now explore each new aspect of this section further. These functions can be entered at any time, changed and modified as required. Tariff Account Menu Top Up Menu Pending Letters This section is for letters saved as pending. Select the mail item to open and send. Archive Mail Here you will find your sent items, this information is stored here for 60 days after posting. You are able to track your mail from this area - you will find details on printing, postage times, service and the consignment number. If you have a query or question regarding one of your mailings please note the consignment number and imailequiries@ukmail.com to contact the imail team. Prices (only viewable if a PAYP or Top Up customer) In this area you will find our current price list. Prices are quoted in Sterling and are listed as excluding and including Vat. 9

13 Undeliverable Mail With imail, everything has the UK Mail Leeds sort centre as the return address as a fixed default (this cannot be changed). Royal Mail return everything to us there on a regular basis. Any item of imail returned as undeliverable is scanned (using the barcode we print on the letter or card) and the failure code (gone away, addressee not known, etc) is entered. This automatically puts the pdf of that item of mail into the users undeliverable mail box with a reason for the non delivery. The user can then update their database and/or remove or change the address they have so they do not waste money sending mail to that address/person in the future. For larger users instead of having their mail going into the undeliverable inbox we send them a weekly report that is easier for them to read rather than going through each one individually! Check Postcodes This area will check the postcodes in your CSV file. Select Check Postcodes and attach your CSV file by clicking on Browse. Enter a password with a minimum of 8 characters and your address. You will be asked if you want the CSV files zipped together or encrypted. To request an uncompressed file enter NOZIP. A report will be ed to you. The attachment will have 2 CSV files and require the password to open (if requested). One file will contain the good addresses. One file will contain the bad addresses. The good postcodes are valid and ready to be posted. The bad postcodes will require some attention prior to mailing them. Simple errors may be a O rather than a 0 being entered, or no spaces between the 2 parts of the postcode. 10

14 Exploring the left hand menu of the home page - Administration Panel Here you can customise your account. Company details / User Profile The heading here will depend upon your account setup. Tariff Account Menu Here you can update your corporate or personal details, change your password and upload a signature. On a corporate account you can have multiple users under one imail account. To upload a signature, you need to first have your signature saved on your computer in jpeg format. Select the user that you wish to add the signature to. Click Browse to find the signature file and then Save. Top Up Menu Multiple Users (Corporate Account only) To register multiple users select Add New User and complete the details. Then click Save. Each user can have a customised profile. All registered users will be listed here. For each change made to a user profile press Save. 11

15 Letter Template Use this area to create personalised letterheads and templates. Simply click Letter Templates and then Add Template. Give your template a title. Template Home Page If your letterhead is saved as two separate jpeg files (header and footer) click Browse after the First Page Header box and find your file. Do the same for the footer. There is an option for adding Continuation Page Header and Continuation Page Footer if required. Click Preview to edit as necessary and then Save. The header and footer needs to be in jpeg format. If you are having trouble viewing the PDF please repair your Adobe program via the add/remove programme function within your computers standard control panel. Footer / Continuation Selection Combined Pdf Upload Selection If you have a combined pdf header and footer letterhead click the Attach PDF File icon, select Browse and find your file. You need to tick the box PDF as header & footer instead of JPEG images to use the PDF file as your letterhead. 12

16 Top Up Account In this area you can add funds to your imail account if you have selected the top up account billing method. Your imail account requires credit to be operational. To add credit to your account select Buy Now. All credit added is in Sterling and includes VAT. By selecting Buy Now the funds will automatically be debited out of your account. You will receive an to confirm each transaction has been completed. All receipts include full Vat details. For Corporate Accounts Here your account will be setup with 7 Day or 21 Day payment terms, subject to credit status. Invoices are sent out via our ebilling service. imail Print Client Here you have the option to use imail direct for Microsoft Word or any other windows program. You can download the Print Client from You can also find detailed operating instructions for the Print Client at: imail Print Client can be used with all the major Microsoft systems and web browsers Internet Explorer, Firefox Safari and Crome. At present the imail Print Client is not compatible with Mac users, but is soon to be made available. Mail Merge with imail Print Client Select imail Print Client to download the print driver to your PC. The print client will appear as imail within the list of printers. There are further options to print in black and white and attach pdf files to your main document. Select Print and find the imail Print Icon from the drop down menu. You will be asked to enter your imail user name and password to confirm your request. This confirmation can help restrict and monitor users using the imail print icon. By selecting the imail print icon your mail has been sent. To efficiently add names and addresses to a letter (known as mail merge) create your Word document and select the mail merge wizard within Word and follow the instructions. After you have completed the mail merge and are ready to send the document find the imail Print Icon from the drop down menu. Helpdesk Template Home Page enquiries to imailenquiries@ukmail.com to contact our imail team. 13

17 Appendix 1 - CSV Files If you are using an in-house system and the output is not in.csv format this will require conversion so it is suitable to use with imail. To create a.csv file which conforms to imail specifications please use the following instructions. Open a new spreadsheet in Excel and work on Sheet 1 (the active worksheet). In cell A1, B1 and so on enter the column headings Name, Address1, Address2, Address3, Address4, Address5, Postcode. In cell A2, B2 and so on enter the actual data under the column title. See below for a working example: Columns A to G are mandatory and create the address within the letter. (Column G must contain the Postcode data) For the recipients name details to be printed onto one line we need column A to contain the full name i.e Mr John Smith to prevent the address appearing as: Mr John Smith 42 Tree Road Yorkshire Y05 8SK To merge cells within the CSV file please follow these instructions: Click on column C, insert new column, then type (without the { & } ) {=A2& &B2} press enter then drag the cell down the column. Click on column D and insert a new column highlight column C and select the Paste Special function pasting the contents into column E (putting a check in the Values option. You should then have all the recipients names i.e Mr John Smith in one cell. You can now highlight and delete columns A, B and C. 14

18 Variable Data imail allows you to add personal information to each letter through the use of variable data. For example, variable data is used to ensure each recipient receives the correct amount owed and the date it is due when processing invoice runs. Instructions 1. Use columns H onwards for variable data - centre the title of the data in Row (i.e.h1=owed) 2. To ensure the data is placed in the correct position within the letter at the appropriate point within the body of the letter text. Columns H onwards where variable data etc. 3. Save the CSV file. 4. Upload using the Mail Merge button. 5. Click icon to create final preview. 6. Ensure all variable data has mapped correctly. IF YOU SEE ANY ERROR WITHIN THE PREVIEW SCREEN DO NOT POST ITEM AND RETRACE THE STEPS ABOVE. 7. If the preview displays an example of how the mailing should look then select I confirm my mail is ok and I want to post it. 15

19 Appendix 2 - icanvass 1. Log in to your imail account 2. Click on product you require and upload relevant jpeg/pdf 3. Click the purchase addresses icon 4. Follow the steps given in the window that appears to enter the relevant search criteria for your data selection Please note: There is cost of 10p (ex. VAT) per each address purchased. The minimum number of addresses you may purchase is 25 Search options for finding new addresses 1 - To mail to a specific street enter a full postcode. or 2 - To broaden your search substitute the last two (or final) character of the postcode for a question mark T A 1? 1?? T A 1? 1 J? 3 - To reduce the number of results by entering a street name (e.g. High Street) or locality (e.g. Lambeth) and also by excluding all addresses for organisations. Street: Locality: Postcode: Exclude organisations: Search Select All Deselect All Use Close icanvass search window 5. Select Use once the address/es you wish to use are located 6. Enter the Generic first line when prompted (i.e. Dear Homeowner) 7. Select Next Day or Two Day delivery 8. Select Post it! 9. Review product 10. Click I confirm my mail is ok and I want to post it and the mailing will be posted 16

20 For further technical assistance, or for further detail of our innovative solutions please contact: To find out more about any of our services, call: ukmail.com UK Mail, Express House, Wolseley Drive, Heartlands, Birmingham, B8 2SQ