AI-Druckwerk · Web2Print for print companies · DACH
Your Web2Print shop only generates sales
when people can find it.
That is why we combine both: the platform — and, optionally, the right visibility services. Automated artwork preflight helps your customers prepare files to meet your production requirements. We agree the scope and checking rules with you.
No share of your revenue. No cost per order. No extra charges when you sell more.
The platform price is public. Visibility is optional and costs an additional €2,300 net per month. Custom extensions and external provider services are agreed separately.
60-second form · reply within 24 hours · no obligation
- 30 years in print + 20 years in digital
- Fixed price, independent of revenue
- Developed and hosted in Germany
30 minutes, your file, our system. Afterwards you will know whether the preflight delivers what this page promises.
Platform and customer acquisition
Two tasks that belong together.
A print shop needs reliable ordering processes and customers who use it. AI-Druckwerk combines product configuration, design and technical artwork checks. You can commission additional services for visibility and customer acquisition.
Files and orders
Products, pricing rules, templates and artwork preflight are configured for your business. During the initial check, we review your needs and show what the standard includes.
Visibility as needed
SEO, content and marketing are agreed as a separate scope of work. You decide whether your team handles these tasks or receives support from KT-Digital.
Starting point · An ordinary Tuesday
Does this sound familiar?
RGB, 96 dpi, no bleed
The file arrives at 4:45 pm. Nothing about it is right. Two days and three emails later, the press is still waiting.
“We made it in Canva”
The design looks good but is unusable for print. You have to explain that — not Canva.
The press is underutilised
You have invested. The capacity is there. What is missing is orders — not efficiency.
The same calculation, again and again
The same business card, the same calculation, performed manually every time.
Nobody available after 5 pm
The order then goes online — just not to you.
Complaints are handled by email
Photos in the inbox, quantities kept in someone’s head, status unclear. Without a shared record, follow-up questions and extra work accumulate.
The first two issues are really the same issue. And it can be quantified.
The one number · Calculate it yourself
What does manual file correction cost your print company today?
This is not a KT-Digital price. The calculator shows your current internal staff cost for file correction and follow-up questions. Most print companies have never calculated this figure.
Both figures are starting values, not assumptions about your business. Replace them with your own.
Those hours do not disappear completely — but they shift. Automated artwork preflight moves error correction to where the error originates: to the customer, at the moment of upload.
We deliberately do not claim a percentage saving here. Anyone promising “70% less” without knowing your order structure is guessing. We will tell you what is realistic in your business during the initial check — after reviewing the files that actually arrive.
Lever 1 · The artwork workflow
Check artwork —
before production starts.
What your customer uploads or designs in the browser becomes a file checked against your agreed rules. Preflight checks technical properties and stops orders for the critical errors defined with you. Content errors that cannot be detected automatically and special production requirements remain part of your approval process.
| What is checked | What your customer sees |
|---|---|
| Format and orientation | Guidance when the file does not match the product ordered |
| Bleed | Guidance when the required bleed is missing |
| Page count | Comparison with the configuration ordered |
| Resolution and DPI | Warning when resolution is too low, with specific correction guidance |
| Colour space | Guidance on RGB, CMYK and PDF/X properties |
| File preview | Generated automatically and visible before the order |
Technical errors configured as critical stop the order automatically.
Technical errors configured as critical stop the order automatically. Your customer receives clear correction guidance. Technical preflight does not replace content checks or approval for requirements outside the agreed checking profile.
What we are working on next
We are developing the artwork workflow further. The following functions are planned extensions and are not generally included in the current standard price. If one is essential to your process, we check feasibility and agree the scope, fixed price and schedule before an order is placed:
A correction proposal instead of an error message
Not simply “resolution too low”, but a specific proposal — and automated correction wherever possible.
Import Canva and Figma designs
With automatic preparation of bleed, colour space, fonts and crop marks. Using the tools your customers actually work with.
Editable templates from static PDFs
Removes most of the setup work and shortens onboarding considerably.
What matters is not whether every function already exists as a standard switch today. What matters is whether it can be added to your operation cleanly, economically and in an update-safe way. That is exactly what we clarify in the initial check.
Lever 2 · Capacity utilisation
A shop that nobody can find
is just a website with a basket.
This is a separate task alongside the technology: the shop goes live and then needs suitable content, visibility and customer outreach. Together, we clarify which tasks your team handles and where additional support makes sense.
What a software vendor delivers
- The platform
- Initial setup
- Support for technical incidents
After that, it is up to you to promote the shop, write product copy, build visibility and encourage customers to use it. For most print companies, that is precisely where progress stops.
What we can additionally deliver
- Search-engine visibility for your shop
- Visibility in AI answer engines
- Product copy and content that sell
- Print preparation of customer files when internal capacity is limited
- Continuous support instead of a one-off handover
This is optional, not a requirement. But it is why this page begins with visibility rather than a list of features.
An honest qualification: visibility depends on language and region. We can deliver it in German-speaking markets. We could not deliver the same quality for a company in Brazil or Japan — and therefore would not promise it there.
Four components for your print shop
Four functions for your everyday work.
Complaints portal
Report directly from the order, upload photos, state the affected quantity and choose between a reprint or credit — all documented in the customer account.
Complaints remain linked to the relevant order. For every print company, it is a pure cost centre.
In-depth artwork preflight
Bleed, resolution, page count, colour spaces and PDF/X — with clear warnings, specific correction guidance and an automatic order stop for critical errors.
Checking rules and critical errors are configured for your production.
AI in the shop and editor
An AI adviser that guides your customers through the ordering process, plus image generation directly in the design tool.
AI functions are agreed with you during setup. Access to the AI provider and its usage costs are considered separately.
Tax and international-order logic
Validation of European VAT identification numbers, EU and OSS transactions, net and gross prices by customer group, and separate billing and delivery addresses.
We agree tax settings with you and your tax adviser. Relevant as soon as you sell across borders.
A frank note about AI image generation
You pay no hidden token charges in our licence. Image generation runs through your own account with the AI provider — giving you full cost control, no markup from us, and control over volume. We configure it together during onboarding, so you do not have to work through developer documentation.
The foundation · What every good vendor can do
And of course, a shop that works.
Configurator, editor, approvals and company portals are essentials, not differentiators. We still list them in full so you can compare.
Open Shop
Open to public orders
- Flexible product configuration with live pricing
- Quantity tiers and format-dependent prices
- Automatic start with the lowest-cost quantity
- Voucher codes and time-limited promotions
Closed Shop
Exclusively for your corporate customer
- Multiple users per company account, roles and approval rights
- Cost centres, budgets, order numbers and purchase orders
- Dedicated range, templates and agreed prices
- Approval links with comments and a complete history
Online editor and protected templates
Design directly in the browser using your templates · text, images, shapes, clip art, QR codes and tables · freely position, scale and rotate elements · edit text directly on the canvas · print-ready colours · automatic adaptation to different formats · preview images for the basket and order overview · generation of the print-ready PDF. In Closed Shops, you define which areas of a template can be edited — preserving your customer’s corporate design.
Product configuration and prices
Wide selection of print products, formats, materials and finishes · format-dependent prices and quantity tiers · flexible entry of custom order quantities · customer-specific products, templates and special prices · CSV import for extensive product, variant and pricing data.
Shipping, tax and international orders
Shipping costs by weight, format and zone · bulky and large-format goods supported · standard and express production · delivery or collection · multiple parcels per order · carrier and tracking number · realistic delivery windows. Also net and gross prices by customer group, German and European VAT, VAT ID validation, EU and OSS transactions.
Complaints, customer account and order management
Submit a complaint directly from the order, with photos, affected quantity, reprint or credit · registration and personal customer account · central management of company, billing and delivery details · order history and status · reuse of existing designs and artwork · multilingual interface.
Basket and promotions
Save baskets and continue later · voucher codes and discounts · time-limited promotions · quantity- and customer-specific pricing benefits · clear display of designed and uploaded products.
Context · Four models
Four routes to your own print shop —
and what really sets them apart.
“Shop system or online printer” is the wrong question. All four routes give you a shop. The difference lies in whose production is sold, who owns the customer relationship and how charges are calculated.
White-label shop from an online printer
A large online printer or platform operator provides a shop with its product range and its production prices. You sell under your own name and earn the trading margin. It is quick to launch and requires little effort — but your own presses remain idle.
Rent a Web2Print platform
Your range, your prices and your production — on a vendor’s platform. Often functionally strong. The question is the billing model: base fee, revenue share, charge per order, portal or user. The applicable combination is rarely shown on the website.
Standard shop system plus module
Shopware, Magento or WooCommerce with an added Web2Print or editor module. Full control and open interfaces — but you become the system integrator. Configurator, editor, preflight and approvals come from different vendors.
AI-Druckwerk
Your range, your prices, your production and your customer relationship — from one provider, at a fixed price with no revenue share. The artwork workflow is the core, with visibility available as an optional second component.
| Criterion | A · White-label shop | B · Platform rental | C · Shop system + module | D · AI-Druckwerk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who produces? | The vendor | You | You | You |
| Whose range and prices? | Their range, your margin | Yours | Yours | Yours |
| Your customer relationship stays with you | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes |
| Product configurator with tiered pricing | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes |
| Online editor for end customers | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes |
| Artwork preflight with automatic order stop | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes |
| Complaints portal | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes |
| AI in the shop and editor | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes |
| Closed Shop for each corporate customer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes, at no extra charge |
| Cost centres and budgets | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes |
| Visibility and demand | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Optional |
| Custom-build a missing feature | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | On demand, at a fixed price |
| Where your customer and print data is stored | With the vendor | With the platform vendor | Depends on the host | Data centre in Germany |
| Revenue share or charge per order | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | No — fixed price |
| Price shown publicly | Check the offer | Check the offer | Check the offer | Yes — €9,900 + €399/month |
Columns A to C describe business models, not vendors named individually. There are substantial differences within each model. Assess each specific offer individually.
Objections · The three most common reasons not to proceed
What you are probably thinking now.
“We simply send our customers to WIRmachenDRUCK.”
The most common objection — and the most honest. It works, costs nothing and can be implemented tomorrow.
The other side of the calculation: You exchange your own revenue for a referral margin and give up the customer relationship. For the next order, your customer remembers the shop, not you. Whether that is worthwhile depends on your order volume — and we calculate it together during the initial check.
“Our customers design in Canva anyway.”
Increasingly true. Many branch and franchise organisations now handle corporate templates with Brand Kits and approvals in Canva — leaving the print company as a pure fulfilment provider.
Design and print ordering are different tasks. Check how templates, file export, pricing, approvals and production integration work together in your specific workflow. true print colour management, a PDF/X workflow, price calculation, order and approval processes with cost centres and budgets, and production integration. We are working on importing Canva designs and making them print-ready — rather than fighting against them.
“We will have an agency build something for us.”
In German-speaking markets, this is the most common real alternative: a custom-built portal based on InDesign Server.
The pattern: What matters is maintainability, documentation, responsibilities and operating costs over five years. Ask for these points to be explained alongside the initial project scope.
Qualification · So neither of us wastes time
Who we are the right partner for —
and who we are not right for.
We are a good fit if …
- you currently have no functioning Web-to-Print system in use today
- orders arrive by email, phone and PDF
- your prepress team spends significant time correcting artwork
- you have a base of corporate customers who order repeatedly
- you have capacity that needs to be utilised
- you want a partner who remains available after launch
We assess particularly carefully if …
- You Obility, Lead-Print or a comparable system running productively today. Templates, customer portals and integrations depend on it — benefits and switching effort need to be assessed before a recommendation
- you need a system that controls production down to press scheduling. Deep estimating and production integration are not our strength
- you expect an out-of-the-box enterprise suite with preconfigured SAP PunchOut, Entra ID SSO or a DATEV invoicing workflow without a customisation project
- you are looking for the cheapest vendor. We are not, and do not aim to be
This list is here because an initial conversation that ends after ten minutes with “this is not a fit” costs both sides more than three lines on a website.
Extensible · Based on your needs
The configurator adapts to your business —
not the other way round.
AI-Druckwerk is not rigid off-the-shelf software. During the initial check, we establish which workflows, interfaces and functions you genuinely need. Something not yet included in the standard product is therefore not a reason to rule it out, but a clearly defined extension module.
Standard first; extensions only where they add value
- The standard product covers typical ordering and approval workflows
- Existing components are reused instead of starting every project from scratch
- We only build what genuinely improves your process
Typical extensions for your business
- ERP, MIS, DATEV and other integrations
- SAP PunchOut, single sign-on and custom permissions
- Custom documents, payment methods, logistics and warehouse processes
- Special template, data and import workflows
Custom extensions remain predictable.
AI-assisted development significantly shortens planning, implementation and testing. This allows customer-specific functions to be added economically without turning every requirement into a months-long major project.
Before work starts, you receive a clear scope, a fixed price and a realistic schedule. Functions useful to many customers can become part of the standard product; business-specific requirements remain clean, update-safe modules. Tell us what your process needs during the initial check — we price the extension before we begin.
Investment · No quotation process
What it costs.
You can see the platform price before the first conversation. Custom extensions and additional services are offered with their own scope, so you can assess ongoing costs and project work separately.
Component 1 · The platform
All amounts net, plus VAT.
- Setup in your design, with your products and prices
- Open Shop and Closed Shops in one system
- Editor, templates, artwork preflight, complaints portal and AI
- Operation, hosting, maintenance and updates included in the monthly fee
- No share of your revenue. No cost per order. No extra charges when you sell more.
Component 2 · Visibility
Your KT-Digital expert:
35 hours per week
net
A dedicated KT-Digital expert works for your company for a total of 35 hours across five days each week. For search-engine and AI visibility, product copy, content and ongoing support — plus preparation of customer artwork when internal capacity is limited.
This addresses one of the print industry’s biggest problems: finding qualified staff. You gain reliable operational capacity without having to recruit and fill the position yourself.
Optional, not a requirement. This component turns your shop into an actively managed sales channel.
View servicesThe price does not rise when your shop succeeds.
€399 per month remains €399 per month — whether you receive 20 orders or 2,000. What you sell belongs to you. For comparison, here is what a revenue share costs per year:
| in annual shop revenue | at 2 % | at 3 % | at 5 % | AI-Druckwerk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €150,000 | €3,000 | €4,500 | €7,500 | €4,788 |
| €300,000 | €6,000 | €9,000 | €15,000 | €4,788 |
| €600,000 | €12,000 | €18,000 | €30,000 | €4,788 |
| €1,000,000 | €20,000 | €30,000 | €50,000 | €4,788 |
€4,788 = 12 × €399. The percentages are calculation examples, not claims about specific vendors — enter the rate from your own quotation.
When commission becomes more expensive than our entire year
- At 2 % from around €239,000 in annual shop revenue
- At 3 % from around €160,000
- At 5 % from around €96,000
A percentage of revenue is not a percentage of profit
Revenue share is taken from sales, while your earnings come from the margin:
- At a 15% net margin, a 3% revenue share costs one fifth of your profit
- At a 10% net margin almost one third
- At an 8% net margin almost 40%
Three questions you should ask every vendor — including us:
- Is the price independent of my revenue and the number of orders?
- Are there fees per transaction, user, portal or product?
- What will the system cost in year three if the shop performs as planned?
Our answers: yes, no — and an agreed price guarantee keeps the amount predictable. The duration of the price guarantee depends on your contractual commitment and can extend to five years. If you take out the upgrade and maintenance subscription for five years, the agreed amount remains unchanged for the full five-year period. Updates and new versions are included for the agreed scope, with no additional update or version charges during that period. The contract term and notice period are set to match the commitment selected.
Process · Start small, prove the value
From the initial check to the first order.
Initial check
Free and without obligation. We begin with the question from the calculator above: how many hours do you spend correcting artwork? Afterwards, both sides know whether it is worthwhile. 30 minutes.
Requirements review
Product structure, pricing rules, templates, customer groups and systems. We listen rather than sell — and tell you honestly what is standard and what requires project work.
Fixed-price concept
You know in advance what you will receive and what it will cost, including any modules you may need.
Setup
Your design, products, prices and templates. Product and price data is supplied by CSV — usually the largest time factor. The duration mainly depends on the scope and quality of your product and pricing data. After the requirements review, you receive a binding schedule before implementation begins.
Testing with real users and orders
A limited range goes live and is tested by real people through the Test-it-Baby.com user-testing platform — in direct comparison with relevant competitors in your market. Structured feedback feeds into improvements to the shop. Findings are prioritised, released as updates and tested again. This creates continuous optimisation with the clear aim of outperforming the competition.
Full operation and capacity utilisation
The remaining product range and Closed Shops for your corporate customers follow. From this point, the question that opened this page becomes decisive: who can find the shop?
About us · Two founders, one process
Real print-industry expertise meets
modern digital and AI technology.
Thirty years in the print industry and twenty years running a digital agency come together in one team. For around fifteen years, the two founders have jointly developed Web-to-Print editors and online print shops. This combination is exactly why we can also address the second gap: visibility.
Thomas Schurzfeld
Thirty years in the print industry: first as an entrepreneur with his own offset and digital print company, then ten years leading e-commerce software development for a major printing-press manufacturer. More than 1,000 software projects are in use worldwide. When you speak with him, you do not need to explain digital print, packaging, labels or large format — he knows the process from plate to checkout.
Klaus Huber
More than twenty years in a digital agency: e-commerce, Web-to-Print, SEO, marketing automation and AI. With his former company, he developed an online shop that is still used more than 8,000 times today according to BuiltWith, built proprietary SEO and content tools, and operates a user-testing platform that continuously produces practical insight.
Frequently asked questions · From real conversations
What print companies ask us first.
What does AI-Druckwerk cost?
€9,900 once for setup and €399 per month for operation, hosting and updates — all amounts net. The price is independent of the number of products and your revenue. The optional visibility package costs an additional €2,300 per month. It provides a dedicated KT-Digital expert working for your company for a total of 35 hours across five days each week.
Do you charge a revenue share?
No. You pay no share of your revenue, no cost per order or transaction, and no extra charges when you sell more. €399 per month remains €399 per month, regardless of how much passes through your shop. For comparison, a 3% revenue share costs more than our entire annual fee once annual shop revenue reaches around €160,000. The price guarantee depends on the contractual commitment and can extend to five years. With a five-year upgrade and maintenance subscription, the agreed amount stays unchanged throughout that period. Updates and new versions for the agreed scope are included, with no additional update or version fees. The contract term and notice period match the commitment selected.
What exactly makes the artwork preflight better than others?
Two things: the depth of the checks and the action taken. Format, orientation, bleed, page count, resolution and colour space are checked, including RGB, CMYK and PDF/X properties. Your customer receives clear correction guidance instead of an error code. Critical errors stop the order automatically rather than displaying a warning that can be dismissed. The rules are defined for your products and production requirements.
What about customers who design in Canva?
This is increasing, and we take your customers’ existing design tools into account. Whether an export is suitable for your production depends on the file, settings and checking requirements. Automatic import of Canva and Figma designs with print preparation is a planned extension. If it is essential to your process, we check feasibility and separately agree the concept, fixed price and schedule.
We already have a Web-to-Print system. Is switching worthwhile?
That depends on your needs. If Obility, Lead-Print or a similar system is already in production, we consider templates, customer portals, integrations and established processes. We compare benefits and switching effort before making a recommendation. Sometimes a targeted improvement to the existing system makes more sense than a switch.
What exactly do you mean by AI?
Two specific functions: an AI adviser that guides customers through the ordering process, and image generation within the design tool. Image generation runs through your own account with the AI provider — there are no hidden token costs in the licence, you retain full cost control and decide the volume yourself. We configure it together during onboarding. In line with the transparency requirement in Article 50 of the EU AI Act, the shop makes clear that it is an AI system.
What if a function we need is missing?
Tell us — ideally in the form. During the initial check, we clarify the benefit, interfaces and exact scope. Functions useful to other print companies can become part of the standard product. Requirements specific to your business are implemented as clean, update-safe modules. AI-assisted development keeps the effort manageable. Before starting, you know the scope, fixed price and schedule — and if the effort would exceed the operational benefit, we tell you that in advance too.
Can the shop connect to our ERP or MIS?
Yes, provided the existing system supports suitable data exchange. Whether an API, webhook, file or CSV export is the best approach depends on your ERP or MIS and the desired workflow. We review the available options during the initial check and then define the connection as a clearly scoped module with a fixed price and schedule.
Can I reproduce my existing prices and quantity tiers?
Yes. Format-dependent prices, quantity tiers, customer-specific special prices and customer-group pricing are standard functions. We import extensive pricing data by CSV. The shop automatically starts with the lowest-cost available quantity, while customers can freely enter custom quantities.
Do my customers need design skills?
No. They can upload finished artwork or design in the browser using your templates. Templates can restrict editing to specific areas, keeping the layout and corporate design protected.
What happens after the enquiry?
You complete the short form, which takes around 60 seconds. We respond personally within 24 hours. This is followed by a 30-minute conversation beginning with one question: how many hours per week do you spend correcting artwork and answering follow-up questions? No marathon questionnaire, no sales script and no obligation.
The next step
Would you like your shop
to generate more sales?
Whether you already operate a shop or are starting from scratch, the free initial check covers how to win more orders, simplify artwork preflight and develop the shop around your operation. Together, we determine which steps make sense — specifically, without obligation and without rushing to judge your existing solution.
- 30 minutes, specific and peer to peer
- We begin with your figure from the calculator, not a presentation
- You speak with the founders — not a call centre
Prefer to talk directly?
✆ +49 176 19199914 ·
WhatsApp