Free Download Spreadsheet Day: Template for VDP

Today is Free Download Day, and Print Lord is celebrating by making your first Variable Data Printing campaign genuinely achievable. No jargon. No mystery. Just a simple, ready-to-use spreadsheet template that shows you exactly what you need to get started with personalised print.

If you’ve been thinking about VDP but felt overwhelmed by the technical side, this changes everything. Because here’s the truth: the hardest part of VDP isn’t the printing, it’s the data. Get your data right, structure it properly, and Print Lord handles absolutely everything else.

Why Data Structure Matters

Variable Data Printing sounds complicated until you understand that it’s really just automation applied to print. Every piece unique, powered by a spreadsheet. Names change. Addresses change. Offers change. Images change. QR codes change. All because your data tells the system what should be different on each piece.

But here’s what trips most people up: they don’t know how to structure their data properly. They have customer names scattered across three different systems. Addresses are incomplete or incorrectly formatted. Offer codes are inconsistent. Images are filed in ways that don’t match the data.

Then they try to work with Print Lord and discover their data is a mess. Suddenly, what should be straightforward becomes complicated.

That’s why we’ve created this template. It shows you exactly how to structure your data so that when you send it to Print Lord, we can take it and immediately start producing personalised print. No back-and-forth. No corrections needed. No delays.

What’s Included in the Template

The VDP spreadsheet template covers everything you need for a complete personalised print campaign.

Customer Name. First and last name, formatted consistently. This is the foundation of personalisation. Every recipient sees their name on their piece.

Address. Full postal address, broken into separate columns for street address, city, postcode. Why separate columns? Because Print Lord’s design templates reference specific fields. If your address data is jumbled into one column, we have to spend time separating it. Structured data means faster setup and fewer errors.

Personalised Offer. What unique value does this recipient receive? Is it a 10% discount, a free gift, a special meeting invitation, or something else entirely? This field shows exactly what varies from recipient to recipient. One customer might see “15% off your next purchase.” Another might see “Free consultation, valued at £200.” The template makes it clear that offers can be unique to every single person.

Image File Name. If your personalised print includes images (a before-and-after photo, a customer testimonial photo, a product image), this field tells Print Lord which image file to use for each recipient. Maybe your local map mailer shows different maps for different postcodes. Maybe your case study mailer features different industries. The image file name field connects each recipient to their specific image.

QR Code URL. If you’re using personalised QR codes (and you should be, because they’re incredibly powerful), this field contains the unique URL that each QR code links to. Jim’s QR code links to printlord.co.uk/offer/jim-2026-a. Sarah’s links to printlord.co.uk/offer/sarah-2026-a. Same campaign, completely different digital experience for each recipient.

Tracking Code. Maybe you’re not using QR codes, but you still need to track response. This field contains the unique code printed on each piece. Voucher code VOU-001, VOU-002, VOU-003 for each recipient. When they redeem, you know exactly who responded and can measure campaign ROI with precision.

Additional Personalisation Fields. Depending on your campaign, you might have other fields. Company name (for business-to-business campaigns). Industry (so you can personalise messaging). Previous purchase history (so you can personalise offers). Customer tier (so loyalty level is reflected). The template includes space for these, but you only use what matters for your specific campaign.

How to Fill Out the Template

Filling out the template is straightforward, but there are important guidelines to follow.

Data Cleaning is Non-Negotiable. Before you start, clean your data. Remove duplicates. Correct misspellings, especially in names and addresses. Ensure postcodes are valid. Ensure dates are in consistent format. Garbage data in means garbage results out. Print Lord can help you clean data, but it’s far simpler if you do it first.

Names Should Be Formatted Consistently. First name and surname in separate columns. Titles (Mr, Mrs, Ms) in a separate column if you’re using them. This flexibility allows Print Lord to personalise in different ways. Your letter might read “Dear Jim” or “Dear Mr Cunliffe” depending on how you want to personalise.

Addresses Must Be Complete. Full street address, city, and postcode. If any address is missing information, that recipient can’t be mailed. It’s worth spending time on address validation before you send the template to Print Lord.

Offers Should Be Clear and Specific. Don’t write “discount.” Write “15% off your next purchase” or “Free £50 voucher.” The clearer your offer description, the easier it is for Print Lord’s design team to integrate it into your template.

Image File Names Must Match Your Files Exactly. If your template says “before-after-jim.jpg” and your actual image file is named “before_after_jim.jpg” (different naming convention), the system won’t find the image. Consistency and accuracy matter.

File Format Requirements. Save your completed template as a .csv file (comma-separated values) or .xlsx file (Excel). Both work perfectly with Print Lord’s systems. Don’t use fancy formatting or formulas, just clean data in simple columns.

Data Cleaning Tips

Here’s what Print Lord has learned from processing thousands of customer data lists.

Remove Duplicates. Use your spreadsheet software’s built-in duplicate removal feature. Sending two mailers to the same person is wasteful and reflects poorly.

Standardise Postcode Format. UK postcodes should be in standard format: X9X 9XX or XX9X 9XX. If your postcodes are missing spaces or using inconsistent formatting, clean them now.

Validate Addresses. Use an address validation tool (many are free or cheap online) to check that postcodes match the street addresses. Invalid addresses mean mail that doesn’t arrive.

Check for Encoding Issues. If your data includes special characters (accented names, for example), ensure your file is saved with UTF-8 encoding so those characters display correctly when printed.

Create a Master List, Then Segment. Start with your complete customer or prospect list, then create segments for different campaigns. This prevents accidentally including the wrong people or missing the right people.

Document Your Segments. If you’re splitting your data (segment A gets offer one, segment B gets offer two), clearly label which rows belong to which segment. This helps Print Lord execute your campaign correctly.

Real-World Example: How This Works

Let’s walk through a practical example using the template.

You’re running a customer reactivation campaign to 300 lapsed customers. You want to send personalised mailers with their names, a reference to their purchase history, and a win-back offer.

You export your customer list into the template. Your spreadsheet now has:
– Column A: First Name (Jim, Sarah, Michael, etc.)
– Column B: Last Name (Cunliffe, Smith, Jones, etc.)
– Column C: Street Address
– Column D: City
– Column E: Postcode
– Column F: Last Purchase Category (“Garden Supplies,” “Kitchen Equipment,” “Tools,” etc.)
– Column G: Personalised Offer (“20% off Garden Supplies,” “15% off Kitchen Goods,” “Free Tool Rental,” etc.)
– Column H: Tracking Code (VOU-REACTIVATE-001, VOU-REACTIVATE-002, etc.)

You clean the data. You remove three duplicates. You correct five postcodes. You validate that all addresses are real. You save as CSV.

You email the template to Print Lord with a brief note: “300-piece customer reactivation campaign. Personalised mailer with name, last purchase category, and offer. Unique tracking codes for measuring response.”

Print Lord receives your template. We review it. We design the mailer template showing where name, offer, and tracking code go. We integrate your data with our design. We proof a sample piece to ensure everything looks right. We print 300 unique pieces, each one personalised to that specific customer. We manage the mailing or hand it off to your preferred fulfilment partner.

Your job was straightforward: gather data, structure it, clean it, send it. Print Lord handled the complexity.

Why Print Lord Prefers Clean Data

You might wonder: can’t Print Lord just clean your data for you?

Technically, yes. But here’s why it matters that you do it: when data is clean and well-structured before it reaches Print Lord, there are no delays, no back-and-forth, no surprises. Your campaign goes from brief to print in minimal time. If your data is messy, Print Lord spends days cleaning it, and your timeline stretches.

Moreover, when you clean your own data, you learn things about your customer list. You discover how many invalid addresses you have. You spot patterns (maybe certain postcodes have higher data quality than others). You understand your data better, which helps you make smarter segmentation and targeting decisions.

Clean data is faster data. Faster data means faster print campaigns. That’s Convenience and Flexibility in action.

The Template is the First Step

This downloadable template is literally the first step in any VDP campaign. It’s where you move from “I want to try personalised print” to “I’m actually doing this.”

Download it. Fill it out. Clean your data. Send it to Print Lord. That’s it. You’ve done the hard part. Everything else is our responsibility.

You don’t need to understand Variable Data Printing software. You don’t need technical expertise. You just need a list of people, a clear offer, and a simple spreadsheet. If you have the data, we can do anything.

Getting Your Template

The VDP spreadsheet template is free and ready to download right now. It includes:

• – Pre-formatted columns for all essential data fields
• Clear instructions for each field
• Data cleaning checklist
• File format requirements
• Real example showing how a completed template looks
• Troubleshooting guide for common data issues
• Print Lord’s contact details for questions

Download the template. Spend an hour cleaning your data. Email it to Print Lord. That’s all you need to do.

Within days, you’ll have personalised print ready to send to your customers, prospects, or audience. Every piece unique. Every piece tracked. Every piece working harder than generic mail ever could.

From Data to Results

This template represents the bridge between thinking about personalised print and actually executing it. It removes the mystery. It shows you exactly what Print Lord needs from you. It makes VDP feel achievable, not intimidating.

And here’s what’s genuinely exciting: once you complete this template and send it to Print Lord, you’re not just getting a one-off campaign. You’re establishing a process. You can use the same template structure for your next campaign, and the one after that. You learn what data structure works. You understand what personalisation drives results. You optimise based on experience.

VDP becomes part of your marketing toolkit. Reliable. Repeatable. Measurable. Profitable.

Ready to Get Started?

Download the free VDP spreadsheet template right now. Fill it out with your customer or prospect data. Clean it. Send it to Print Lord with a brief note about your campaign vision.

We’ll take it from there. We’ll design your template. We’ll integrate your data. We’ll print personalised pieces that feel made for every single recipient. We’ll set up tracking so you can measure response. We’ll guide you through the entire process.

If you have the data, we can do anything.

Download your free VDP template now. Fill it out. Email it to Print Lord. Your personalised print campaign starts today.

Print Lord. At your service. On brand. On time.