A 'realistic' understanding of PDF production workflows Didier Haazen Chair Compliancy Testing Subcomittee

Topics

• A compliant flow? • Key components for a realistic and predictable workflow

• Where to begin • Other useful tools • Info and links

Intro: compliant wf’s

Intro: compliant wf’s

• The sometimes inconceivable approach − Take EPS − Place in Illustrator − Save as PDF/X-1a − Import in QXPress − Print to PS (HQ settings or PDF/X-4) − Re-render using Distiller − Place in Imposition tool − Send to RIP

Intro: compliant wf’s

• The sometimes inconceivable approach − And what… text goes missing???

Intro: compliant wf’s

• The sometimes inconceivable approach − And what… font problems occur???

Intro: compliant wf’s

• It may seem unrealistically • But we’ve seen situations that came pretty near…

Key components for a good PDF workflow

Key components

• What needs to be in place • What are the areas where things mostly go wrong, and that could have been avoided would they have been addressed upfront

Key components

• Tools • Settings • Awareness • Guts

Tools

• Microsoft Word ≠ Adobe InDesign • But also Mac OSX Preview ≠ Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.4) Mac OSX Preview (5.0.3)

Comparison

Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.4) Mac OSX Preview (5.0.3)

Comparison

Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.4) Mac OSX Preview (5.0.3)

Comparison

Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.4) Mac OSX Preview (5.0.3)

Comparison

Tools

• And the Adobe Reader mobile app ≠ the Adobe Reader desktop version

Tools

• But also other workflow components are equally important

Original PDF PDF after imposition

Tools

• The effect of missing an important software update

Settings

• ‘High Quality Print’ is not the same as ‘PDF/X-1a’ or ‘PDF/X-4’

PDF/X-4 presets

High Quality Print presets

Settings

• Be careful when reviewing pages in layout tools or PDF…

Overprint Preview OFF Overprint Preview ON

Settings

• Will these colors print well on e.g. a Newspaper printing press?

Awareness

• Can you visually see the eight major problems in this PDF?

Guts

• New technology (often) means new opportunities

• Stagnation can lead to decay − I work with IDCS3, can I also use Live Preflight

in that version? − Can I also use the GWG 2012 preflight profiles

in Enfocus PitStop Professional 6.5?

Where to begin…

Where to begin…

•GWG joboptions and preflight profiles − A set of settings files for many applications

to properly create and preflight PDF-files − Tested with more than 200 different

compliancy test files − Provided with documentation on how to

install and use − Completely free and downloadable from the

GWG website

Where to begin…

• Sc

Where to begin…

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Where to begin…

•GWG joboptions and preflight profiles − Developed and maintained by Publishers

and Printers from the industry − Ensure proper and predictable PDF

output

E.g. Current GWG v4 PDF presets (PDF creation)

E.g. Example of (future) GWG 2012 preflight check

Where to begin…

• Ghent Output Suite − Free test suite from GWG − Based on current standards and proven

technology (PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-4) − Separated in individual categories, important

areas to check • Those areas that often cause problems in live situations

Where to begin…

• Ghent Output Suite − Created by real people, with real software and

containing real issues • Not hand crafted laboratory conditions

− Used by many companies (including vendors!) − Goes beyond RIP, but also layout, imposition,

PDF-rendering, etc

Ghent Output Suite v3

Ghent Output Suite v3

Ghent Output Suite v3

Ghent Output Suite v3

Ghent Output Suite v3

Ghent Output Suite v4

• Shall contain new challenging aspects − Live Transparency − Optional Content (groups) − JPEG2000 patches − 16 bits image support − OpentType fonts

• Proposal that is developed by now (amalgamated page)

Why important?

• And the moment you think “This will never happen to us…”

Other useful tools

Other useful tools

• VIGC PDF viewer check − A ‘quick and dirty tool’ to check if the proper

PDF viewer / PDF viewer settings are used

Other useful tools

• VIGC Output Essentials − A key tool to simplify and check the entire

layout process • Custom panel for both Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop

(CS5/CS6) • Including link to VIGC Live Preflight profiles for Adobe

InDesign (CS4 and up)

Other useful tools

• And don’t forget to check the VIGC RIP audit ‘Passed’ and ‘Perfect’ labels during your stay at Graph Expo

Other useful tools

• Perfect (Graph Expo) − EFI Fiery, version FS100 Pro

Other useful tools

• Passed (Graph Expo) − Agfa :Apogee Prepress v8 (AP 8.0.0b3) − Océ PRISMAsync Color Controller Version 13

Other useful tools

• Passed (drupa 2012) − EFI - XF v4.5.5 − Esko - Esko Suite 12 − FujiFilm - XMF v4.1.0.6 − GMG - ColorProof v5.3.1.97 − Heidelberg - Prinect 2011 SR1 − Kodak - Prinergy 5.2.2.2 − Xeikon - X800 Digital Frontend

• No Perfect scores at that time!

Info & links

Info & links

• GWG joboptions and preflight profiles − http://www.gwg.org/applicationsettings.phtml

• GWG output test suite (v3) − http://www.gwg.org/ghentoutputsuite.phtml

• Stay informed (GWG) − http://www.gwg.org/future_specifications.phtm

Info & links

• VIGC PDF viewer check − http://www.vigc.org/vigc-pdf-viewer-check/

• VIGC output essentials − http://www.vigc.org/vigc-output-essentials/

• VIGC PDF RIP audit − http://www.vigc.org/vigc-pdfx-4-audit/

Thank You!