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

2. Topics
• A compliant flow?
• Key components for a realistic and
predictable workflow
• Where to begin
• Some other useful tips and tools
• The complete picture
• Info and links

3. A compliant workflow?

4. A compliant workflow?
• 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

5. A compliant workflow?
• The sometimes inconceivable approach
− And what… text goes missing???

6. A compliant workflow?
• The sometimes inconceivable approach
− And what… font problems occur???

7. A compliant workflow?
• It may seem unrealistically
• But we’ve seen situations that came
pretty close…

8. Key components
for a good PDF workflow

9. 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

10. Key components
• Tools
• Settings
• Awareness
• Guts

11. Tools
• Microsoft Word ≠ Adobe InDesign

12. Tools
• Microsoft Word ≠ Adobe InDesign
www.pacificrenaissance.ca

13. Tools
• And Mac OSX Preview ≠ Adobe Reader

14. Comparison
Mac OSX Preview (5.0.3) Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.4)

15. Comparison
Mac OSX Preview (5.0.3) Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.4)

16. Comparison
Mac OSX Preview (5.0.3) Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.4)

17. Comparison
Mac OSX Preview (5.0.3) Adobe Acrobat X (10.1.4)

18. Tools
• And please… Be careful with content
approval on mobile devices

21. Tools
• All workflow components must be
compatible
Original PDF PDF after imposition

22. Tools
• The effect of missing an important
software update
?

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

24. PDF/X-4 presets

25. High Quality Print presets

26. Settings
• Please consider aspects like ‘overprint
preview’, ‘Default Transparency
Blending Color Space’ etc.
Acrobat 11 Page Display preferences

27. Overprint Preview ON Overprint Preview OFF

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

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

31. Guts
• New technology (often) means new
opportunities
− Competitive advantage
− Faster turnaround, higher Q.
• But also possible threaths
− Do all the new features really work (e.g. live
transparency, PDF layers)
− Do they tie in seamlessly with other
components of my flow?

32. Where to begin…

33. 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 them
− Completely free and downloadable from the
GWG website

35. Where to begin…
• Sc

36. Where to begin…
• Ghent Output Suite
− Free test suite from GWG
− Based on current standards and technology
(PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-4)
* In the making
− Separated in individual categories, important
areas to check
• Those areas that often cause problems in live situations

37. Where to begin…
• Ghent Output Suite
− Created by real people, with real software and
representing real situations
• Not hand crafted laboratory conditions
− Not only for testing RIP’s, but also page layout,
imposition, cooking (?), etc.

38. Example LFP print (1)

39. Example LFP print (2)

40. Example tablet result

41. Important?
• The moment you think “This will never
happen to us…”
GWG GOS v3 patch

42. Ghent Output Suite v4
• Shall contain new challenging patches
− Live Transparency
− Optional Content (groups)
− JPEG2000 patches
− 16 bits image support
− OpenType fonts

45. Other useful tools

46. Other useful tools
• VIGC PDF viewer check (1)
− A ‘quick and dirty tool’ to check if the proper
PDF viewer / PDF viewer settings are used

49. Other useful tools
• VIGC Output Essentials (2)
− 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)

50. VIGC Output Essentials (Adobe ID)

51. VIGC Live Preflight profiles (Adobe ID)

52. The complete picture

53. The complete picture

54. The complete picture

55. The complete picture

56. Info & links

57. 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

58. Info & links
• VIGC PDF viewer check
− http://www.vigc.org/vigc-pdf-viewer-check/
• VIGC output essentials
− http://www.vigc.org/vigc-output-essentials/
• Other VIGC tutorials
− http://www.vigc.org/tutorial-files/

59. Thank You!