Investment in new software landed a Brighton digital printers one of its most unusual jobs where every copy in an 110,000 print run was different.

Digaprint invested heavily to provide the specialist service of personalised printing.

Using Darwin database-driven software and a Creo-Scitex Rip linked to its four-colour digital printers, the company undertook the project for Brighton and Hove City Council.

It had to print and mailsort 110,000 double-sided information cards informing residents of new rubbish collection days.

Digaprint was supplied with seven separate graphic files and databases according to collection day(s) and printed each card with a unique address linked to the designated collection day.

The cards were mailsorted into post codes, removing the need for the Royal Mail to do the sorting.

Council spokesman Tony Miller said: "It was going to be a very complex task to inform 110,000 residents their collection day was going to change. With 18 new rounds and each crew having different routes on five working days, it was a logistical nightmare.

"We drew on the help of a number of professionals from within the council, from the departments handling council tax and new technology, to get the data right. But without the capability of Digaprint being able to label each post card and get the day of the week right, we just couldn't have done it.

"We are extremely lucky to have this resourceful company based here in Brighton and Hove."

Digaprint director Chris Staples said: "This was a large and prestigious project for us. Personalisation and one-to-one marketing, utilising not just variable text but graphics as well, is an area where digital printing really comes into its own. The task set by the council was made relatively straightforward by our capable software and we are now assisting companies to expand and sustain their businesses with the use of direct marketing.

"Industries such as tourism, finance and the motor industry find the concentrated and focused aspects very helpful in making sure their marketing material reaches the correct targets."

Lynn Brazier, sales and account handler for Digaprint, said: "Direct marketing is nothing new but digital printing has provided an avenue for companies who require smaller print runs or wish to target certain areas of a database, such as specific age groups or districts.

"We are printing various formats and quantities as few as 50 and have seen a steady increase in demand on a wide range of products from simple personalisation through to variable-data requirements which highlight the flexibility of digital printing."