Basics Contents. PDF-Workflow / Basics B 01

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1 01 Basics Contents Table of Contents B01 Editorial B02 Prepress Trends B03 From Office to Prepress B04 PDF Generation B05 PDF Simply Universal B06 Industry Standard B07 PDF Output B08 PS and PDF Differences B09...and Similarities B10 Portable Job Ticket Format B11 Automated Output B12 Adobe Extreme B13 Prinergy System B14 Process Plans B15 Prinergy Workflow B16 New Output Philosophy B17 PDF + PJTF = CIM B18 Corrections B19 Remote Proofing B20 Further Applications B21 Summary B22 About the Author B23 Instructions for Use B24 Imprint FC2 Trademarks BC1 Addresses BC2 digital PDF-Workflow / Basics

2 02 To coincide with the introduction of their new PDF workflow system»prinergy«heidelberg and Creo have asked me to write on the subject of PDF workflows in the printing industry for Heidelberg s Editorial new range of specialist material,»vision+work«. The result is a series of four brochures directed at different target groups: Basics: An introduction to PDF technology intended for all readers. Management: Economic and organizational aspects of PDF for managers. Creation: The creation of PDF documents for data suppliers (advertising agencies, graphic artists, customers). Production: Processing and outputting PDF files for prepress technicians. The»Basics«brochure is available in printed form. All four publications are available in digital form on CD-ROM and on the Internet (see below for Internet address). The digital versions contain a number of hypertext links that lead to related topics in the other brochures. Each page deals with a separate topic, making it easy for the user to read individual pages and locate a particular topic at any time. My aim in writing these brochures was to provide practical guidance for the use of PDF in the print production process. The brochures are not intended to replace technical manuals, but rather to explain the concept of PDF technology, share my practical experience, and give tips to the reader. These publications describe the manual PDF workflow using»adobe Acrobat«and standard plug-ins. They also describe the new potential offered by automatic PDF workflow systems such as»prinergy«. I would like to thank Heidelberg and Creo for giving me the opportunity to publish these brochures. For a long time, I have wanted to take the knowledge that I share in my seminars and lectures and write it down to make it available to a broader audience. Particular thanks go to my friend, Bernd Zipper, who has provided great support to me on this project. I hope you will enjoy reading these brochures, and that PDF will be a success for you. Binningen, Switzerland August 1999 Stephan Jaeggi All four brochures can be downloaded as PDF documents from the Internet at

3 03 The move from proprietary typesetting and image processing systems to DTP technology has brought the prepress industry not only simpler and cheaper workstations, but also a new role in the Prepress Trends production of print originals. Graphic designers, advertising agencies and even customers now often produce their pages using a range of programs and data formats themselves. Employing this data for printing purposes has its problems. A new type of service provider imaging service bureaus has grown up that specializes in resolving these problems and images data from a whole range of programs onto film. This film are then transferred to the print shop where they are stripped manually into print signatures. Print shops are looking to go digital this step since it is both expensive and prone to error. Some are also planning to buy computer-to-film (CtF) or computer-to-plate systems (CtP). In order to benefit from these solutions print shops need to be supplied with digital files. Film as the universal medium of exchange between businesses involved in producing printed materials, has had its day. The industry now requires a digital replacement for film! The PDF data format is the ideal solution in this regard. It can be generated by all programs, is platform-independent and is perfect for incorporating all necessary data elements. PDF replaces film as the universal medium of exchange. Digital print originals are required for computer-toplate systems. Scanning films is only a temporary solution.

4 The PDF data format is developing into a universal standard for exchanging pages in print production. PDF is therefore the ideal basis for using modern workflow systems for automated output. B 04 From Office to Prepress The»Portable Document Format«(PDF) was originally developed by Adobe Systems for office communication. It was intended as a means of exchanging documents effortlessly between various computer systems without the recipient having to install all the software and fonts used to generate the original document. The initial version of the PDF format was optimized for output on monitors and laser printers. However, it lacked much of the information needed for imaging color separations on imagesetters or plate recorders. Constantly urged by the printing industry, Adobe has continued to extend its PDF specifications. PDF version 1.3 that was introduced with»adobe Acrobat 4.0«contains all the information that the author believes is important for prepress production. [Production P04] PDF was originally intended for use in office communication. It is now also being used for imaging in prepress production. PDF 1.3 contains all the information needed for film or plate imaging.

5 There are various methods of generating PDF files, but not all of them are suitable for producing high-end PDF files for output on a high-resolution imagesetter or platesetter. Today the most reliable method of converting PostScript files is using the»acrobat Distiller«that permits optimum setting of the size and quality of the PDF file. Because Distiller not only generates high-end PDF but also creates PDF for online applications, it is very important to set the Distiller options correctly. [Creation C19, Production P06] In the future, most publishing applications will be able to export PDF directly. Adobe is giving software developers access to its»pdf Library«so all applications will be able to generate PDF.»PDFWriter«is a printer driver for Apple Macintosh and Windows that converts graphic instructions of the operating system (QuickDraw or GDI) into PDF. However, since the operating systems do not support PostScript, it is not recommended to use»pdfwriter«. Other methods of PDF generation, such as»paper- Capture«and»WebCapture«, also do not generate PDF documents that are suitable for imaging either. B 05 PDF Generation PDF- Export Local data PDF PDF- Writer Acrobat Distiller PDF file»pdfwriter«is not suitable for the generation of PDF files for imaging purposes. WWW Web-Capture Plug-in Capture Plug-in Paper Original Acrobat Capture PDF files can be generated using various methods. Only Distiller and possibly the direct export of PDF from an application are suitable methods for generating high-end PDF.

6 06 Once created, PDF files are completely independent of the original application and of the computer platform on which the pages were originally created. Correctly generated PDF documents contain PDF Simply Universal all the data required for screen display and for output on a printer, imagesetter, or platesetter. In addition to text, graphics, and images, fonts can also be embedded in PDF. However, this requires that the options in the PDF creation process are set correctly [Creation C19]. Otherwise, Acrobat simulates the fonts, that sometimes can lead to undesirable effects. [Creation C23] Each PDF page is in itself complete. Consequently, it is very simple to divide a PDF document into individual pages. This is particularly important when going to imposition [Production P22]. PDF pages can also be easily replaced, something that is particularly advantageous if lastminute corrections are required just before imaging. [Production P12] Thanks to object-oriented data storage, editing individual objects on a PDF page is a simple task, and corrections do not affect the rest of the PDF document. [Production P13] Output reliability of PDF documents is very high, as the data has already been processed by a PostScript interpreter. Unpleasant surprises caused by unexplained PostScript errors, a problem with which any prepress operator is certainly familiar, are more or less eliminated. In most cases, output speed is also considerably higher with PDF than with the output of a PostScript file, since Distiller, as its name suggests, distills out all the important data during PostScript interpretation and eliminates unnecessary commands. A PostScript file that has been exported from Acrobat will therefore be smaller and will always be ripped faster than the original PS file, as it has already been through a pre-interpretation process. [Production P20] All types of data (color images, grayscale images, monochrome images or text/vector graphics) can be compressed individually using different methods. This means that PDF files are usually somewhat smaller than the original layout files and corresponding images. [Management M13] Artwork Images PDF Text Font Job data PDF files are complete and compact. A PDF document is a data container that holds all the data for a job.

7 07 The use of PDF enables standardization of page transfer. Regardless of the program and computer system used to create the layout, the result is always the same a PDF containing all the necessary data. Industry Standard This makes generating a PDF file a simple operation, even for non-experts. In the future, publishing applications will be able to generate PDF directly with the aid of the»adobe PDF Library«. PDF is recommended by the American standards committee»cgats«(committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards) as the standard for transferring advertisements and pages for printing. The»ISO«(International Standards Organization) is currently working on an appropriate ISO standard based on the PDF file format. In the future, print shops (or prepress service providers) shall only receive PDF files for processing. No longer will anyone have to struggle with files from different programs and program versions or search for missing illustrations or logos. Even the necessary fonts can be embedded in the PDF file. This obviously depends on an additional step being performed during the page creation process the generation of the PDF file. Today Distiller is usually used to do this, and is very simple to automate [Creation C27]. Version 4.0 includes a new feature that enables the Distiller settings to be customized by a prepress provider or print shop and passed on to all their data suppliers. [Production P07] EPS PHOTO Page creation Prepress PDF is the standard interface for transferring pages from company to company. This standardization creates greater reliability and flexibility. PDF is becoming the international standard for exchanging advertisements and pages for printing.

8 08 There are various ways of outputting PDF documents on an imagesetter or platesetter. The simplest method is direct output via a»adobe PostScript 3«RIP. This RIP can read PDF files directly via a hot PDF Output Direct placement of the PDF pages in the layout document using the Placed PDF function. However, a conversion to PostScript also takes place in the background with this method. [Production P18] Exporting the PDF pages into an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file in Post- Script level 1 format and placing them into the layout. [Production P17] Since separation of the CMYK colors is performed by the layout program, the EPS files have to be imported as PostScript level 1. This procedure can be used to color-separate complete pages as well as for advertisements! folder and convert them to PostScript. Color PDF documents are color-separated using the in-rip separation facility. RGB and Lab colors are also converted into CMYK. With older RIPs, the PDF files first need to be converted into PostScript before being ripped. This can be done quite simply using the print command in Acrobat. If an in-rip separation feature is not available, the pages also need to be color separated. [Production P15] What should be done if several advertisements, that have been delivered as PDF pages need to be placed on a newspaper or magazine page? Most modern layout programs offer two options for doing this: Composite PDF Acrobat Composite PS PS L2-RIP Hot Folder PS 3-RIP Acrobat Composite EPS Layout Sep. PS PS L1-RIP PDF output can be performed on any PostScript imagesetter. Color-separated output of PDF pages requires different workflows depending on the PostScript RIP used.

9 09 PDF is to a certain extent the younger brother of PostScript. The page description language PostScript was developed during the early 80s to enable personal computers then lacking in power to output complex pages containing text, graphics, and images on a laser printer or imagesetter. To do this, as much processing power as possible was transferred to the computer driving the output device, the Raster Image Processor (RIP). PostScript is a full-grown programming language, and every PostScript document is a program that has to be interpreted by the RIP. Of course, errors can occur during this process, and it is difficult to predict how long the RIP process will take. Moreover, PostScript files often contain device-specific commands that are not understood by every output device. Post- Script is therefore not particularly well suited to rapid, reliable display of pages on computer screens. PS and PDF Differences PDF, on the other hand, is a pure data format that only contains the information required to output the pages. It is no longer necessary to perform calculations or carry out other procedures prior to output. The output reliability of PDF is therefore considerably higher than that of PostScript. The greatest difference between Post- Script and PDF is the fact that PDF is an object-oriented data format, while Post- Script programs have to run sequentially from beginning to end. It is very difficult to extract individual pages from a PostScript file, since it is hard to know whether a resource (e.g. a font) defined on a previous page is required again on PS Rendering Interpretation Screening the current page. This is also one of the main problems for imposition programs, whose task it is to arrange the individual pages of a PostScript job in a different order on different print signatures. Object-oriented storage in the PDF data format simplifies this task considerably. A PDF file can be considered as a kind of database in which the user has direct access to all the elements placed on the pages of a document are in direct access. Individual pages can therefore be extracted from a PDF file and imported into another PDF file without any problems. All the resources including fonts required to display the page are copied along with the file. Acrobat 4.0 allows the user to directly move, copy or delete individual objects on a PDF page. These objects can even be edited using suitable utilities. [Production P13] Imaging PostScript is a programming language. PDF is an object-oriented data format. The RIP interprets, renders, and screens a PostScript file in one step.

10 The PostScript page description language and the PDF file format are based on the same graphic model. As a result, Post- Script pages can be converted into PDF pages very easily using»acrobat Distiller«, and it is even simpler to convert them back into PostScript again. [Production P20] preted, this process is usually much faster and more reliable than ripping the original PS file. With PDF, the interpreter and the renderer do not have to be in the same place at the same time. B 10 and Similarities The origin of the PDF data format lies in the display list that is created as an interim format in a PostScript RIP. It is in the display list that the PostScript interpreter stores all the calculated objects for a page in a uniform format. In the second phase of PDF generation, the objects in the display list are converted by the renderer into individual pixels (bytemap) in the resolution required for the targeted output device. Afterwards the contone pixels are screened. The»Acrobat Distiller«contains a complete PostScript interpreter from Adobe. It interprets the commands of a PostScript file and uses those to generate an object-oriented PDF document. Because Distiller does not have to generate bitmaps, it does not need as many system resources (e.g. storage capacity, processing power) as a complete PostScript software RIP. The bitmaps required to print a PDF page are generated just before output in the Renderer of the printer, imagesetter, or platesetter. Because the PDF file has already been inter- PS PS Interpretation Interpretation Display list PDF PDF file (objects) Rendering Screening Imaging Bytemap (contone) Bytemap (contone) Bitmap (screen dots) Rendering Screening Imaging Bitmap (screen dots) The display list is the precursor to the PDF data format. In the PDF file, all page elements are stored in an object-oriented format. In a PDF workflow, the interpretation process, that is prone to errors, can be performed much earlier than in a PostScript workflow.

11 11 Portable Job Ticket Format Unlike a PostScript file, a PDF document cannot contain any device control operators. This functionality is not provided for in the PDF specification. For this reason, Adobe had to develop a new method for PDF to permit storage of control information that is unrelated to the actual page content. For this purpose, they created a new data format called»portable Job Ticket Format«(PJTF) that is very similar in structure to the PDF format. As with PDF, PJTF stores information as hierarchical objects that can be accessed directly with a program. The separation of page content and processing instructions increases flexibility during production. If changes are made (e.g. paper quality) during the process, the individual data elements no longer have to be opened in the original application in order to accommodate the changes (e.g. new values for dot gain, screen frequency, trapping). Instead, the parameters are changed in the job ticket. The following information can be stored in a portable job ticket: Instructions for page processing (e.g. imposition layout, trapping rules) Output parameters (e.g. screen frequencies/angles, resolution) Media (e.g. name, size, weight, chrominance) Finishing (instructions for folding, cutting, binding, etc.) CIP3 information (inksetting defaults for printing presses) Delivery information (addresses, number of copies) Scheduling (e.g. deadlines) Administration (e.g. customer, customer or order number, person in charge) A portable job ticket contains information about the job and can be embedded in a PDF file, or stored as an independent file. The Portable Job Ticket Format (PJTF) is possibly even more important to the digital workflow than the Portable Document Format (PDF).

12 12 It is often not sufficient to simply output individual PDF pages. Instead, the pages need to go through various processes, that may include some or all of the following steps: Including high-resolution images (OPI), Checking data (preflight), Automated Output Optimizing images (downsampling the resolution, cropping the images), Generating trapping, Converting colors (Color Management), Outputting page proofs, Imposing pages to create print signatures, Outputting form proofs, Imaging. These repetitive processes can be automated. Various manufacturers have been offering output workflow systems for this purpose for a number of years. Most of them are closed systems that work with proprietary data formats and sometimes with PostScript. Thanks to PDF and the»portable Job Ticket Format«[Basics B11], a new generation of PDF workflow systems is now coming onto the market. These give the user the openness that he has come to expect from front-end systems. Adobe has developed a new workflow architecture for this purpose. It is called»adobe Extreme«[Basics B13], and is being used by leading manufacturers as the basis for their PDF workflow systems. Although they have the same basis, these systems differ in the additional modules that they offer. Refining Page proof Imposition Form proof Renderer Imagesetter Archive Modern workflow systems are based on PDF and the portable job ticket. In workflow systems all the processing steps from the individual page through to the imaging of imposed print sheets are automated.

13 13 Some years ago, Adobe developed a new architecture, code-named»supra«designed to automate workflows when outputting pages. Once released commercially, the system was named»adobe Extreme«. Adobe Extreme es that was of primary importance, but rather the automated sequence of various processes (such as trapping and imposition). They also wanted to apply the advantages of PDF to these tasks. Therefore, in 1998, Adobe Systems developed a variation on the»extreme«architecture especially for use in the prepress production. [Production P33] This»Extreme for Graphic Arts and Production Printing«is the basis of the workflow systems such as»prinergy«by Heidelberg/Creo. [Basics B14] This architecture was originally developed for digital printing, as Extreme permits a job to be prepared in parallel on several Renderers. This technique is necessary for fast digital printing systems capable of producing several hundred different pages per minute. Attaining this speed is difficult with PostScript because PS files must be processed in sequence. PDF documents, on the other hand, can be split up and processed on several Renderers. In Extreme, PS data is converted to PDF using the»normalizer«. Manufacturers of CtP systems were looking for a way to automate and speed up the workflow steps involved in outputting pages. However, it was not so much the parallel operation of process- Job Submission Client Normalizer Coordinator Sequencer PDF PDF PDF PDF Page Store Other JTPs Other JTPs Other JTPs Printer JTP»Adobe Extreme«is the basis for modern output workflow systems. The data format used by»adobe Extreme«is PDF. PostScript files are converted to PDF by the»normalizer«and stored in the»page Store«.

14 Within their joint venture, Heidelberg and Creo have developed an output workflow system based on»adobe Extreme«, the Portable Job Ticket format, and the PDF data format. The product the background. Process plans are used to control the workflows and set to the parameters for the various processes. The process plans are defined in the Portable Job Ticket format and then executed by the»job Ticket Processors«(JTP) in the»extreme«system. The instructions they contain are then executed. B 14 Prinergy System was pre-sented for the first time in September 1999 at the Seybold Conference in San Francisco, and is called»prinergy«. In addition to the modules licensed from Adobe, Prinergy also incorporates some exclusive components developed by Heidelberg and Creo. These include Color Management, the trapping functions (incl. an interactive Trap Editor), the»virtual Proof System«and a database for managing job tickets. Prinergy is a client/server system. Page processing is performed on one or more NT servers, and Java applications on any Macintosh or Windows computer in the network can be used for operation. The objective of the system is to let as many processing steps as possible run in Prinergy Primary Server Prinergy Secondary Server Mac/NT Client Signastation Iris Proof Form Proof Prinergy Render Station Delta Workstation Trendsetter Herkules Elite»Prinergy«is the first complete PDF workflow system. The»Prinergy«system is scaleable. Additional servers can be used to match performance to the needs of the user.

15 15 Every company has its own way of doing things. Even within a company, different jobs may require a number of specific workflows. That's why the»prinergy«system allows the user to set up their own Process Plans customized workflows in the form of process plans. These process plans control the job ticket processors (JTP) in»prinergy«. They determine the sequence in which a job goes through the processes, and they also contain the parameters for the control of the individual processes. The process plans are stored in the Portable Job Ticket format. The process plans are defined by the system administrator using the process plan editor [Production P34], independently of the individual jobs. The process plans are available to each operator (depending on his access status) and are activated by dragging the job onto the required process plan (see illustration). Splitting the definition of the workflows in the process plans (a one-off operation) from the actual production of the jobs greatly simplifies and standardizes the production process. It reduces errors and makes output a routine operation that can be performed by any team member. It is therefore quite conceivable that a printer on the late shift, without any special system training, might re-image a plate that has been damaged while being clamped onto the press. In a»prinergy«system, several clients can access the system simultaneously and process their jobs directly. Process plans contribute greatly to the automation and standardization of workflows. Process plans are user defined and can be shared amongst the team.

16 When a new job is set up in the»prinergy«database, the pages are loaded into the system. The data can be imported in various formats and are converted into PDF when necessary (see illustration). been made, an imposition plan is assigned to the job. Now a form proof can be printed on a plotter for final checking. If everything is as it should be, the job is sent to the Hi-Res renderer of the output process. The data for the CIP3/PPF file is also generated during this step [Production P42]. Finally, the job data (PDF pages, job tickets, imposition plan) are archived on DLT tapes. [Production P43] B 16 Prinergy Workflow The system also works with hot folders, that allow local users to print their data directly. Each hot folder is connected to a process plan. The pages are first put through the»refining«process to prepare them for final output. This step also involves checking the data for completeness. The result is a digital master containing all the data required for imaging. [Production P35] The next step is to output the pages on a page proofer for checking purposes. The integrated Color Management system is used to simulate the color space of the printing press. Once the proof prints have been approved by the customer and any necessary corrections have TIFF-IT DCS DCS DCS DCS Most prepress processes can be automated using»prinergy«. PS CEPSLink Copydot Toolkit PS PS Normalizer In addition to PDF pages, Prinergy also processes PostScript data. TIFF-IT and DCS files are first converted into composite PostScript using»ceps- Link«or the»copydot Toolkit«from Creo.

17 17 By separating interpretation and rendering [Basics B10], the»prinergy«pdf workflow system has enabled a whole new approach to output. The refining process creates a digital master, that New Output Philosophy dpi). The rendering process converts the PDF data respecting the abilities of the output device (resolution, color, screen). The quality of text and graphics is therefore much better than in systems that, prior to print-out on a proofing device, have to downsample high-resolution, preseparated data that is often already screened for the imagesetter. It is obviously important in this new procedure that the same software is used in the renderer for all output processes so that the same results can be achieved on different output devices.»prinergy«uses an original Adobe Renderer for this purpose. is already interpreted and contains all the elements required for high-resolution imaging. To output the PDF pages, all that is requires is to render them. [Production P41] In an output workflow system, the same page usually has to be output on different devices first on a page proofing device, and then on a plotter to create the form proof, and finally imaged on film or plate. The basis for all these outputs in»prinergy«is the digital master in PDF format. Before each output the page is rendered for the particular output device. In»Prinergy«this task is performed by a low-res renderer (for resolutions of up to 1000 dpi) and a hires renderer (for resolutions above 1000 Refining Renderer The new slogan is: Interpret once render many. The pages are only interpreted once and then optimally rendered for each output process.

18 18 The use of the two standard formats»portable Document Format«(PDF) for the definition of page contents and»portable Job Ticket Format«(PJTF) for job parameters permits considerable PDF + PJTF = CIM automation of the output process. Nowadays the job ticket is created in workflow systems such as»prinergy«and used primarily for system control and data storage. But there is a lot more to the portable job ticket than that. It also allows job information to be collected far earlier in the workflow and exchanged between all those involved in the print production process. This information can also be utilized in the steps following plate imaging, and can be used for automation. It is therefore essential that the portable job ticket will be used far more widely in future. Job tickets could be setup and partially filled in already by the customer or an MIS software (e.g. for job estimation). A considerable amount of information about the job that will be needed later on is already available at this stage (e.g. customer, number of copies, paper format, etc.). In future, all programs used in the production of print originals will need to be able to process job tickets. The objective is to store the job ticket information in the relevant data formats and pass it on with the page contents. With PDF this is already possible today. This is the only way that the printing industry can depart from its currently rather craftsman-like style of working and progress to industrial production. Thanks to the portable job ticket and PDF,»Computer-Integrated Manufacturing«(CIM) is no longer very far away. Digital job information is transferred alongside the digital pages. PDF and the portable job ticket permit industrialstyle production in the prepress stage.

19 19 PDF files facilitate communication between all those involved in the production of print originals. For example, a layout technician or designer can send the results of his work Corrections strikethrough, underlining, marker pen, note, stamp, pencil, rectangle and line. It is even possible to attach complete files to a PDF document or to record verbal comments and store them in the PDF document. The recipient can add his comments directly on an electronic layer laid over the PDF page (see illustration). He can send back the whole corrected PDF file or just the exported layer with his comments to the creator of the page. It is even possible to import several of such exported layers with comments from different people into a single PDF file (see illustration). electronically to his customers as a PDF document for assessment. [Management M10] Since PDF files are relatively small, they can be sent as part of a regular without any problems, even with large projects. [Management M14] The recipient does not need to have the same software used to create the pages, he simply opens the PDF file in Acrobat. The Reader, supplied free of charge with Acrobat, is sufficient to allow him to view and print out the pages. However, the Reader does lack a few of the interesting functions of the full program.»acrobat 4.0«contains special functions for adding notes and corrections. A range of tools is available, and includes With PDF, corrections can be exchanged electronically.»acrobat 4.0«offers a range of tools for making annotations. A comment can be entered for each annotation.

20 20 Remote proofing is certain to be one of the most interesting applications of PDF in prepress production. Remote proofing allows prepress service providers, advertising agencies and Remote Proofing printer also has to be characterized in a color profile. The quality of the inkjet printers available on the market has improved dramatically over the last few months. At the same time the prices of A3+ models are coming down. It will therefore not be long before these printers are within reach of anyone dealing with printed matter. Many print shops are even planning to make a printer available to their best customers free of charge. The savings made in proofs, transport costs and valuable time will more than compensate for this investment. graphic artists to transmit their layouts as PDF files via ISDN or over the Internet to a customer, who can output the pages a few minutes later on an inkjet printer that can now be purchased for just a few thousand dollars. True-color output is ensured by a Color Management system. In PDF 1.3, input profiles that characterize the colors in the PDF file can be embedded in accordance with the ICC standard (International Color Consortium) [Creation C25]. When printed on an inkjet printer, the ICC output profile for the printing press will be used with the correct paper, thereby harmonizing the color space of the inkjet printer with that of the planned printed product. Obviously, the color behavior of the inkjet Remote proofing is an interesting new application of PDF.»PressReady«from Adobe is a cost-effective remote proofing application for PDF files.

21 21 The»Acrobat Catalog«program can be used to generate a full-text index, that allows words or combinations of words to be searched and located in a few seconds in large PDF collections. Further Applications of PDF Possible applications for PDF CD-ROM with annual editions of magazines or technical manuals (with full-text search function). PDF is not just restricted to use in prepress production. It was originally intended as a data format for digital publications. With the use of PDF for digital publications the pages are created in various publishing programs and printed to a PostScript file. Converting PostScript into PDF using»acrobat Distiller«is a simple process that can even be automated. [Creation C27] The next step is to prepare the PDF documents for interactive use on the monitor. The Acrobat program is used for this purpose. This software allows users to define hypertext links to other pages or documents. In order to allow larger amounts of text to be read comfortably on the monitor, bookmarks and article threads can be added. The form tool can be used to add fillable fields and buttons that perform various actions, such as sending a completed PDF form to a web sever. PDF documents prepared in such ways can be used for a whole range of interesting applications (see box). Electronic catalogs with ordering feature. Publication of printed matter on the Internet (e.g. annual reports, sales brochures, magazine articles). Interactive publications with video and sound (e.g. product presentations). Full-page archives of newspapers, magazines, product information (with full-text search function). Electronic order forms PDF is the universal data format for print and new media. In addition to page transfer, PDF can also be used for a wide range of other applications in prepress like CD-ROM or the Internet.

22 22 Summary PDF technology is of vast importance to the graphic arts industry for a number of reasons. PDF is the direct digital replacement for film as an exchange medium and archiving. PDF will improve and simplify cooperation between all partners involved in the production of printed matter. It will also promote standardization and automation in production. In the future, the portable job ticket will extend this automation beyond output workflow systems. PDF also provides traditional prepress service providers with an ideal interface to new media such as CD-ROM and the Internet, opening up new areas of activity for these companies. The changeover to PDF is set to occur more quickly than the transition to Post- Script ten years ago. There are several reasons for this. This time, manufacturers and users agree that PDF is the right way. With PostScript and desktop publishing, on the other hand, there were a lot of initial disagreement. This time, the transition can take place smoothly, because PDF and PostScript workflows can be operated in parallel to each other. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that PDF is still in the early stages of development. Many publishing applications do not yet support PDF properly. Layout and graphic software need to improve the way they support composite workflow [Production P30]. Prepress applications (imposition, OPI, trapping) need to be able to process PDF directly without conversion into other data formats. Adobe needs to incorporate the major prepress functions directly into Acrobat (first of all color separations). Acrobat is set to become the basic application for professional prepress tools. In the future, software manufacturers will no longer have to develop complete applications, but will instead be able to program special functions as plug-ins for Acrobat. This makes it possible for small independent developers to develop innovative products aimed at restricted groups of users at a reasonable cost, and to bring them to market rapidly. PDF has a bright future in the graphic arts industry. It really is worthwhile getting a handle on this new technology! PDF is set to change the graphic arts industry just as radically as PostScript did ten years ago. PDF is not a remedy for all current prepress problems. But PDF is able to solve quite a number of known problems.

23 23 The author, Stephan Jaeggi, is a wellknown PDF expert in Europe. He has already introduced thousands of professionals to the secrets of PDF in over one hundred seminars and numerous lectures. About the Author He also receives regular invitations to the Seybold conferences in the USA to speak on the subject of PDF. Stephan Jaeggi is co-author of the white paper»pdf for prepress«presented in New York in March This white paper and a great deal more information about PDF can be found on Stephan Jaeggi's web server (Internet address as below). The German-language newsletter»pdf-aktuell«is also published on this server, and provides a summary of the latest news on PDF. Everybody can subscribe to this newsletter free of charge at Our author has been working on PDF technology since 1991, when he first heard about PDF and»carousel«(the code name for»acrobat«) at the Seybold conference. Shortly after, he set up his own business and founded the company PrePress- Consulting, based in Binningen near Basel in Switzerland. During its early years, the company offered a wide range of consultancy and support services for prepress companies and printshops. Since 1996, PrePress-Consulting has been concentrating exclusively on PDF. After leaving college in 1978, Stephan Jaeggi did a practical course in a printshop and went on to study at the Swiss School of Engineering for Printing and Packaging. He graduated with an HTL/ESIG qualification in print engineering. He then worked as a systems manager in a large print shop, where he was responsible for the evaluation, installation and operation of a large mainframe typesetting system (using HELL Digiset imagesetters). He was then appointed Secretary for IT at the Swiss Association of Graphic Arts Companies (now VISCOM), a position that enabled him to assist the 1200 member companies with the introduction of PostScript and DTP technologies. Further information on PDF and the»pdf-aktuell«newsletter is available at Stephan Jaeggi has been an enthusiastic advocate of PDF technology for some years. He is also well-known as an informed critic of vendors.

24 The electronic version of the "vision+work" brochures is very simple. The buttons on the right-hand side of the page are used to navigate between the pages. in the basic settings File>Preferences>General... CMD+K. These settings are only important for the off-line version. They have no impact in the Internet. Previous view Next page B 24 Instructions for Use Previous page The pages have an article thread. Clicking on a column enlarges the text to full screen width. Clicking again calls up the next screen fill. Hypertext links are built into the text. These lead to pages containing related topics [Basics B02]. Clicking on one of these links opens the relevant page. The top button Previous View takes you back to your previous page. The links not only take you to pages in the same brochure, but also to pages in the other files. Unfortunately, with its standard settings, Acrobat closes the first file when you jump to another one. It is therefore important to disable the Open Cross-Doc Links in Same Window option The Find button can be used to search for words in the brochures. A fulltext index is also supplied on the CD-ROM. This allows you to search through all the brochures. Unfortunately, this does not work on the Internet, so the normal search function of the Reader is called up in the Internet version of the brochures. You will find further information about how to use the Reader under Help> Reader Guide. The program is closed using the command File>Quit. Table of content Bookmarks Find Find again Help Print

25 Imprint Author: Co-author: Editor: Translation: Layout and Design: Illustrations: Production: Pictures: Prepress: Copyright: Stephan Jaeggi, PrePress-Consulting Bernd Zipper, ZIPCON Consulting GmbH Gabriele Butzke, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Kimberly Lawrence, Creo Products Inc. Derek Robinson, Linguatext Carolyn Healy Lemon Design GmbH Uwe Faerber, Designwerk ZIPCON Consulting GmbH Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, PhotoDisc Deutschland, Uwe Faerber, Designwerk, Adobe Systems, ZIPCON Consulting GmbH Prinergy, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Siemenswall D Kiel Greatest care has been taken in compiling the information in this publication and, whenever possible, checks were made to see that the information was correct. Despite this, errors cannot be fully excluded. Some information came directly from the manufacturers and could not be verified. Neither author nor publisher assume any warranty or liability for damages that may occur through the application of the information contained in this brochure. Please also note that software is the object of this application and as such is prone to errors and that problems in application of software can never be excluded. These pages were written in August 1999 and are based on Acrobat version 4.01, PDF version 1.3 and the preliminary version of Prinergy 1.0. Improvements in later versions could not be included. This brochure reflects the opinion of the author and must not coincide with that of the publisher. This brochure was originally written in German. Errors in translation cannot be excluded. Special thanks to Photodisc Germany GmbH for providing the images for this brochure series. Photodisc in the Internet:

26 Trademarks Subject to changes and modifications without notice. Quickmaster-DI, Signasetter, Heidelberg, Herkules, Signastation are registered trademarks; Delta is a trademark of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. Creo, Prinergy, Virtual Proof System, Copy Dot Toolkit, Trendsetter and other products are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Creo Products Incorporated. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Acrobat logo, Acrobat Capture, Distiller, Adobe Type Manager, ATM, Illustrator, PageMaker, Photoshop and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft- Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Apple, Macintosh, Mac, Power Macintosh and TrueType are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

27 Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft Siemenswall D Kiel Germany CREO PRODUCTS INC Gilmore Way Burnaby, British Columbia Canada V5G 4M1 vision+work is a series of practical support tools from Heidelberg. It serves as a platform for experts in new technologies and applications to offer useful advice and production tips. vision+work is available either on CD-ROM for PC and Mac, online on the Internet, or as a printed brochure.