User Manual

Amazon Transparency Codes

Updated on

In this article, you will learn

  • what an Amazon Transparency Code is,
  • where these codes can be generated in Workflow, and
  • how the codes can be used in the VDP Editor.

1. Introduction

The Amazon Transparency Codes functionality enables print shops to add variable data (Amazon Transparency Codes) to print jobs using consecutive numbering. To achieve this, the Amazon Transparency Codes can be retrieved from the Amazon Transparency Server in the Workflow and used directly in the VDP Editor. To query the codes, the print shop must obtain the necessary authorizations from their client, including the Client ID, Client Secret and GTIN.

For further details on the requirements for Amazon Transparency Codes visit Amazon Brand Services or consult your client.

Availability

The Workflow package that includes the Amazon Transparency Code functionality is available as an add-on and is exclusively offered to VDP Plus customers.

In order to create and print Amazon Transparency Codes for your customers, the following requirements must be met. Answer these questions to ensure a smooth production process:

  1. Is the VDP Plus package licensed in the Workflow license? This add-on is required to query Amazon Transparency Codes.
  2. Has your client provided the necessary permissions – Client ID, Client Secret, and GTIN? These credentials are essential for requesting Amazon Transparency Codes from the Amazon Transparency Server.
  3. Does Workflow have internet access? The Amazon Transparency Server must be accessible!
  4. Are there enough Amazon Transparency Codes available? Amazon Transparency Codes can be added to the license in increments of 100,000 codes.

Once these requirements are met, you can start the production. In just four steps, you can generate large quantities of Amazon Transparency Codes on labels. To proceed, follow these steps:

  1. Order the Amazon Transparency Codes in the Workflow via Administration > Amazon Transparency Codes.
  2. Upload or select the desired Print Item for an Article or Order in the Workflow. Then import the ordered codes in the Variable Data tab.
  3. Open the VDP Editor and generate the QR Code within the design layout using the imported codes.
  4. Create the desired Step & Repeat in the Impose Editor and define the sequence in the Settings area for the repeat.

2. Query Amazon Transparency Codes

The first step is to retrieve the Amazon Transparency Codes online from the Amazon Transparency Server. To do this, navigate to Administration > Amazon Transparency Codes.

2.1. User Interface

Before showing you how to query the codes, we will provide a description of the User Interface and the options of the menu entry. The Amazon Transparency Codes menu area consists of three sections. These are:

  • Filter and Search Bar [1] – enables you to filter, search, and sort the list of Amazon Transparency Codes Orders.
  • Action Bar [2] – enables you to process selected Amazon Transparency Codes Orders, place a new order, and customize the list view to your preferences.
  • List of Amazon Transparency Codes Orders [3] – displays the currently filtered Amazon Transparency Codes Orders.

Figure 1: The Amazon Transparency Codes menu item in detail

Filter and Search Bar

Use the Filter and Search Bar to filter, search, and sort the list of Amazon Transparency Codes Orders.

The following options are available:

Set Filter [4] – Click the Set Filter button to apply various filters to the list of Amazon Transparency Codes Orders. The following filters are available:

  • Created by – filter orders placed by the selected Workflow users.
  • Modified by – filter orders modified by the selected Workflow users.
  • GTIN - Global Trade Item Number – filter orders based on a specific GTIN.
  • Brand Identifier – filter orders received from the Amazon Transparency Server for a specific Brand Identifier.
  • Name – filter orders by their designation.
  • SKU - Stock Keeping Unit – filter orders received from the Amazon Transparency Server for a specific SKU.

Clear Filter [6] – remove all active filters by pressing the Clear Filter button. To remove a single filter, click the X [5] next to the respective filter criterion.

Order [7] – select an entry from the list and choose the desired field to sort the list. Click the button [8] to toogle between ascending and descending order. The following sorting criteria are available:

  • Created
  • Created by
  • Modified
  • Modified by
  • GTIN - Global Trade Item Number
  • In Use
  • Brand Identifier
  • Name
  • Production ready
  • SKU - Stock Keeping Unit

Full-text search [9] – use the full-text search to filter the list. Define the search parameters in the Settings Search Function [10].

Figure 2: The Filter and Search bar of the Amazon Transparency Codes tab in the Administration > Amazon Transparency Codes menu

Settings Search Function [10] – use these settings to parameterize the full-text search, allowing you to further redefine the search parameters. The following options are available.

  • Standard: searches for the entered characters regardless of whether other characters appear before or after them.
  • Exact: searches for the exact text characters. You can also use special characters like % and _ to make the search more specific.
  • Properties: select or deselect the properties in which or for which the search should be conducted.

Figure 3: The Settings Search Function dialog

Action Bar

The Action Bar contains actions that can be applied to selected list entries, as well as to create a new list entry. Some actions can also be applied to multiple selected entries. The following actions are available:

Figure 4: The Header and Action Bar of the Amazon Transparency Codes menu area

The following actions can be performed by the Action Bar:

  • Quick Filter [11] – filter the list of Amazon Transparency Codes Orders by usage status.
    • All – display all orders.
    • Not Used – display orders that have not yet been used in a VDP Job.
    • In Use – display orders that have already been used in a VDP Job.
  • Add [12] – place a new order for Amazon Transparency Codes.
  • Edit [13] – edit the name and comment for the order.
  • Delete [14] – delete the Amazon Transparency Codes Order. Please note, that the deletion is irreversible!
  • Refresh Display [15] – refresh the list display.
  • Additional Functions [16] – customize the appearance of the list view.
  • Select all / Deselect all [17] – select all entries in the list or deselect all entries.

List of Amazon Transparency Codes Orders

For each Amazon Transparency Code Order, an entry is created in the list. These entries can be filtered, sorted, and searched as described above. The entries displayed in the list depend on the settings applied in the Filter and Search Bar.

Figure 5: The list view of the filtered Amazon Transparency Code Orders in Workflow

The following information can be displayed in the list:

  • Comment [18] – displays the optional Comment entered when the order was created.
  • Requested / Received [19] – shows the number of codes requested and received for the order. Note that you should only proceed with using the codes once the requested codes have been received from the Amazon Transparency Server.
  • Code Classification [20] – displays the Code Classification, as determined and adopted by the Amazon Transparency Code Server.
  • Transfer Status [21] – displays the current Transfer Status of the order.
  • Brand Identifier [24] – shows the Brand Labeling for the codes, adopted from the Amazon Transparency Code Server.
  • GTIN - Global Trade Item Number [23] – displays the GTIN number entered to request the codes.
  • SKU - Stock Keeping Unit [22] – diplays the unique code assigned to this order.
  • Created [27] – displays the creation date and the user who created the code bundle.
  • Modified [26] – displays the modification date and the user who modified the code bundle.
  • Production ready [25] – indicates whether the codes are ready for production.
    • √ –  codes are ready for production
    • X  –  codes are not yet ready for production
  • Edit [28] – use this symbol to edit the respective entry in the list.
  • Delete [29] – use this symbol to delete the respective entry in the list.

2.2. Order Amazon Transparency Codes

Complete the Amazon Transparency Code Order in four steps:

  1. Open the order dialog – select the menu command to open the order dialog.
  2. Authenticate with Amazon – send the credentials to the Amazon Transparency Server for authentication.
  3. Request codes – enter the GTIN key and the number of codes to be ordered.
  4. Submit the order – click Get Codes and wait for the codes to be successfully transmitted.

2.2.1. Select Order Dialog

To open the order dialog, proceed as follows:

  1. Navigate to Administration > Amazon Transparency Codes.
  2. In the Action Bar, click the Add [12] button (Figure 4).
  3. The Request Amazon Transparency Codes dialog will open, displaying the Authenticate with Amazon [30] field.

2.2.2. Authenticate with Amazon

  1. To authenticate an order request, the Client ID and Client Secret must be transmitted to the Amazon Transparency Server. The sensitive data can be selected or entered in two different ways.
  2. Select the option Customer [31] if the access data is stored in encrypted form and is not visible to the user.
  3. Then, select the desired customer in Contact [32]. If you need to add the access data for a customer first, click Add [34] and proceed as described in Excursus – Save Access Data for Customers.

Figure 6: The dialog Request Amazon Transparency Codes in the Authenticate with Amazon step with selected option Customers

  1. Select the option Use Login Data [33] if the user needs to enter the Client ID and the Client Secret manually.
  2. Enter the Client ID [35] and Client Secret [36].
  3. Click Next [37] to proceed to the next step – Request Codes.

Figure 7: The dialog Request Amazon Transparency Codes in the step Authenticate with Amazon with selected option Use Login Data

2.2.3. Request Codes

  1. In the next step, Request Codes [42], enter the required information.
  2. Enter a Name [38] for the order.
  3. Optionally, add a Comment [39].
  4. Enter the GTIN – Global Trade Item Number [40], which will be provided by the customer or client.
  5. Enter the Number of Codes to be ordered [41]. Your client will specify how many codes are needed.

Figure 8: The dialog Amazon Transparency Codes in the step Request Codes

2.2.4. Request Codes

  1. Click Request Codes [42].
  2. The Workflow connects to the Amazon Transparency Server and submit the order. Once processed successfully by Amazon, the ordered codes will be transferred to the Workflow.
  3. The Amazon Transparency Codes Order will now appear in the list (Figure 5). The codes are now available for creating a variable layout in the VDP Editor.

3. Create Amazon Transparency Codes on Print Item

The corresponding Amazon Transparency QR Codes are created in the Workflow using the VDP Editor [45]. To access the previously ordered codes and use them as the basis for the QR code, follow these three steps.

  1. In the Add CSV File dialog that opens, select the Import Amazon Transparency Codes [49] checkbox.
  2. Select the previously ordered codes from the Amazon Transparency Codes [48] drop-down list.
  3. Click Save [50].

Step 1: Select Print Item

  1. Navigate to the desired Article or Print Item of a Production Job or Order.

Step 2: Import Amazon Transparency Codes

  1. Open the Variable Data [47] tab.
  2. Click Add CSV File [46].

Figure 9: The Variable Data tab of an Article

  1. In the open Add CSV File dialog, select the Import Amazon Transparency Codes [49] checkbox.
  2. Select the previously ordered codes from the Amazon Transparency Codes [48] drop-down list.
  3. Click Save [50].

Figure 10: The dialog Add CSV File with the selected option Import Amazon Transparency Codes

  1. After saving, the codes are displayed in the list [51] below in the Variable Data tab.

Figure 11: The Variable Data tab with the list of imported Amazon Transparency Codes

Step 3: Attach Amazon Transparency QR Codes to Print Items

To apply the QR codes containing the code data, open the VDP Editor [45] (Figure 9) to create the desired variable job with the Amazon Transparency Codes. Further information on this topic can be found in the following articles.

Further information

Find more information on the requirements for creation, please visit the following link Amazon Brand Services.

Excursus – Save Access Data for Customer

Access data for the Amazon Transparency Server can be stored encrypted in the customer's Workflow. You can create a new customer either directly in Administration > Customers or by clicking on Add [34] (Figure 6). To add access data for an existing customer, navigate to Administration > Customers, select the desired customer, and edit the details.

Whether creating a new customer or adding access data to an existing customer, follow these steps:

  1. Open an existing customer or create a new customer in Administration > Customers.
  2. By default, the Customers [52] tab will be selected.
  3. Enter the required information for the customer, with mandatory fields marked by an asterisk.

Figure 12: Left: The Company option in the Customer tab of the Add Customer dialog; Right: The Individual option in the Customer tab of the Add Customer dialog

  1. Select the Amazon Transparency Codes [57] tab.
  2. To enter the access data, activate the Enter Amazon Transparency Login Data [53] option.
  3. Enter the provided Client ID [54] and the Client Secret [55] key.
  4. Click on Test Credentials [56] to verify the entered information.
  5. Click Save [58] to store the access data for the customer. Note that once saved, the access data cannot be viewed. You can only overwrite or delete the stored access data.

Article update: Version 1.19.2 – 03/2025

Dealing with Variable Data

VDP Editor 1

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