Ghent PDF Workgroup

GHENT, Belgium—The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) will present an educational session at the Knowledge Centre Seminar Theater at IPEX 2010, taking place in May at the NEC in Birmingham, UK.

GHENT, Belgium—The Ghent Workgroup (GWG), a graphic arts best practice organization, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Chairperson David Zwang attributes the international association’s viability and solid credibility to the work of the group’s 45 members, all recognized as technological leaders and experts, and contributing their time and efforts on a completely voluntary basis. “The GWG deserves congratulations for its exemplary work. The GWG represents the best of our industry, in bringing together talented people, from all over the globe, who genuinely care about the success and progress of the graphic arts marketplace,” says David Kew of Business Cards Tomorrow (BCT). Kew is implementing a

GHENT, Belgium—The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) announced availability of the new Ghent Output Suite, designed to help professionals determine whether PDF workflows are handling PDF files as expected. The newest series in the Ghent Output Suite version 2.0 covers the most common issues relating to PDF for print workflows and consists of eight new PDF patches resulting in a total of 19 PDF test patches in all, along with revised manuals and individual readme files for each patch. GWG has also made some minor adjustments to some of the existing patches and documentation in order to make them clearer and easier to understand. Stephan

GHENT, Belgium—The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) announced availability of the new Ghent Output Suite, designed to help professionals determine whether PDF workflows are handling PDF files as expected. To download the free Ghent Output Suite visit www.gwg.org The newest series in the Ghent Output Suite version 2.0 covers the most common issues relating to PDF for print workflows and consists of 8 new PDF patches resulting in a total of 19 PDF test patches in all, along with revised manuals and individual readme files for each patch. GWG has also made some minor adjustments to some of the existing patches and documentation in order

GHENT, Belgium—The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG), the fast growing international association making it easy to produce and exchange reliable digital documents for use throughout the publishing workflow, announces four new GWG Specifications addressing two additional markets: large format digital printing and screen printing. The specifications answer the growing need for PDF best practices in these markets, which are rapidly moving to PDF workflows. The four new specifications are additions to the GWG 2005 v3 specifications offering best practices for PDF file exchange in graphic arts and publishing applications. To download the free specifications visit www.gwg.org According to Andy Den Tandt, technical product

GHENT, Belgium—The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG), an international association that helps produce and exchange digital documents for the publishing workflow, announced the availability of new GWG Packaging Specifications, offering best practices for PDF file exchange in packaging applications. The specifications developed by the GWG’s packaging experts were tested in North America by Kraft Foods Inc., and in Europe by France’s Square. The new specifications are downloadable for free at www.gwg.org. GWG Packaging Specifications Reduce Time-to-Market According to GWG Packaging Subcommittee co-chairs, Steve Carter, director of technology, St. Louis Division of Southern Graphics Systems, and Christian Blaise, international sales account manager for Enfocus,

In the beginning was computer-to-plate, which begat digital files, which begat much confusion among graphic designers, printers, and prepress service bureaus because customer files were full of errors and omissions. And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth until lo and behold, the miracle of preflighting came to pass. And there was great rejoicing because, henceforth, all digital files would be automatically checked and corrected before proceeding to the next step in the workflow, saving many costly remakes and much labor. Hallelujah. There’s no denying that preflight software has been a godsend for printers and prepress professionals everywhere since the concept was

For the first time XPLOR is organizing the international conference PDF FORUM for Print Production, February 1 - 4, 2006 in the Miami Beach Convention Center, Florida, USA. PDF has become the preferred format for the exchange of prepress data for print production. PDF is also the internal format of most of the production workflows for commercial and digital printing. Standards like PDF/X and JDF help streamlining these workflows. The chairman of the PDF-FORUM, well known PDF expert Stephan Jaeggi from Switzerland, has invited industry experts, advanced users and leading developers from the US and Europe to share their knowledge and experience about state

PDF (portable document format) may be the greatest thing since sliced bread (or at least since PostScript), but it takes more than bread to make a sandwich that will satisfy a hungry customer. TODAY'S SHORTER PRINT runs depend on reliable, high-quality print output, delivered with minimal turnaround. The addition of JDF (job definition format) production language to PDF-based workflows increasingly is seen as a way to dramatically reduce print production time and costs while ensuring consistent, reliable output—even when last minute changes are required. In packaging applications, the benefits of JDF-enhanced or JDF-enabled workflows show up in better customer service; faster time to

Automation in prepress can significantly improve time to market through workflow process integration. THE AIM OF workflow automation is to be able to respond to customer requirements quickly. This is accomplished by minimizing or eliminating, as completely as possible, the manual steps that can lead to the costly waste of time, materials, and labor. While developments in workflow automation for packaging tend to mimic those in the commercial printing world, software and equipment vendors continue to develop and refine a variety of integrated tools designed to accommodate the special needs of packaging operations. According to Jan De Roeck, marketing director for packaging