Automating Card Production for Hallmark

By Michael Peters · Published April 8, 2026

The Client

Hallmark is the UK's leading greetings card publisher, producing around 2.2 billion cards annually. Their Hambledon Studios division handles wholesale card production, managing approximately 8,000 card designs, each with up to 200 individual permutations and variations.

The Problem

Before working with Mapsoft, Hallmark relied on a paper-based, manual system for composing individual card design layouts. Graphic designers had to trawl through thousands of variants of editorial content and manually link them to the correct barcodes and design information.

The process was slow and error-prone:

• The same data was being inputted up to five times during the design and production process
• With five inputting stages, there were five potential occasions where errors could be made — especially with 8-digit barcodes being reproduced manually
• Designers were spending valuable time on data entry instead of design work
• The margin for error was reducing business efficiency and consequently business margins

The Solution

Mapsoft designed and built Card Create, a PDF-based, server-side solution that automated the entire process of composing individual design layouts onto card templates before printing.

Key aspects of the solution:

• End-to-end automation — barcodes, pricing, and editorial content are collated once at the start of the design process and inserted into individual cards automatically
• Server-based processing — the solution runs as a server application, handling high-volume production without manual intervention
• PDF-native — built on PDF technology to integrate directly into Hallmark's existing print production pipeline
• Handles complexity at scale — automatically manages designs with up to 200 individual permutations and variations

The Results

• Data entry reduced from five stages to one — information is entered once and flows through automatically
• Error rate drastically reduced — eliminating repeated manual input of 8-digit barcodes removed the primary source of production errors
• Designers freed up to do design work — Repro Graphics Operators were no longer tied up with data entry
• Streamlined administration — unnecessary paperwork and manual coordination eliminated
• Became a standard part of production — Card Create was adopted as an essential element of Hallmark's card production process

"As a registered Adobe business partner, Mapsoft had the experience and expertise to create a solution tailor-made to meet our specific business needs.

"Card Create has now become a standard and indeed essential element of the card production process. It has successfully reduced not only the margin for error, but also the amount of administration required. Our Repro Graphics Operators are now free to do what they do best — Repro!

"We hope to extend the solution to other business divisions within Hallmark, to further streamline and automate the production process, increasing efficiency and equipping Hallmark for the future."

Vanessa Redshaw
Digital Technology Manager, Hallmark

Watch the Video

Technology Used

• Adobe PDF Library for server-side PDF generation and manipulation
• Custom barcode and data insertion engine
• Server-based batch processing for high-volume throughput

Need a Similar Solution?

If your organisation handles high-volume document production with complex data requirements, we can build a solution tailored to your workflow. Mapsoft has over 30 years of experience building custom PDF and Adobe solutions for leading organisations worldwide.