What is "variable-data printing and publishing"?

"Variable-data printing" is a kind of on-demand printing in which every document in a print run are similar but not identical. For instance, if you are printing personalized letters to be mailed to your customers, every document possibly has the similar basic layout, but there is a diverse customer name plus address on each letter.

When you make use of your word-processing software to do a mail amalgamate, you are doing an easy form of variable-data printing.

Lately, variable-data printing can go far away from printing different names plus addresses on a document. There are systems that allow you insert different graphics into a document, modify the layout and/or the number of pages, and print a unique bar code on each document, and use color widely . . . and more.

The theory of creating variable-data documents has been extended to non-paper documents for instance PDF documents and HTML documents. The term "variable-data printing as well as publishing" (or else just "variable-data publishing") encompasses both paper documents as well as on-line documents.
Variable-data printing and publishing is identified by several other names. Some of them are:

Personalized printing
Personalized publishing

Personalization

Customized printing

Customized publishing

Database publishing

One-to-one (1:1) communication

One-to-one (1:1) publishing.

Since variable-data printing/publishing systems are frequently used to create documents for prop up as well as selling products & services, the terms

Direct marketing
One-to-one (1:1) marketing

Are frequently used in connection by means of variable-data printing/publishing technology.