www.gwg.org NEWS RELEASE Ghent Workgroup releases new specification for digital print GHENT, BELGIUM – 6 March 2019 - The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) today releases a new specification to cater to the growing small format digital print segment. The new specification provides standardized guidelines for PDF file creation and quality control for the segment and has already been adopted by leading preflight vendors to enable rapid acceptance in today’s workflows. “In a recent Ghent Workgroup survey, digital print was identified as a key area missing good guidelines for the usage of PDF,” says Elli Cloots, Vice- Chair at the Ghent Workgroup and Senior Product Marketing Manager at EFI. The small format digital print segment is similar to traditional commercial print, but the methodologies and equipment used are different enough to require specific guidelines. “Having this new specification helps significantly to improve standardization, and thus the possibility for automation, in this growing segment,” continues Ms. Cloots. The digital print specification is released under the umbrella of the Ghent Workgroup’s 2015 specifications, as it builds on the same principles. The specification describes the rules PDF files used for digital print should follow. Software and hardware vendors can then use the specification to finetune file creation and quality control in their workflows and output devices. Elli Cloots
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Digital Print PR - Ghent Workgroup NEWS RELEASE Ghent Workgroup releases new specification for digital print GHENT, BELGIUM – 6 March 2019 - The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) today releases
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www.gwg.org
NEWS RELEASE
Ghent Workgroup releases new specification for digital print
GHENT, BELGIUM – 6 March 2019 - The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) today releases a new
specification to cater to the growing small format digital print segment. The new
specification provides standardized guidelines for PDF file creation and quality control for
the segment and has already been adopted by leading preflight vendors to enable rapid
acceptance in today’s workflows.
“In a recent Ghent Workgroup survey, digital print was identified as a key
area missing good guidelines for the usage of PDF,” says Elli Cloots, Vice-
Chair at the Ghent Workgroup and Senior Product Marketing Manager at
EFI. The small format digital print segment is similar to traditional
commercial print, but the methodologies and equipment used are
different enough to require specific guidelines. “Having this new specification helps
significantly to improve standardization, and thus the possibility for automation, in this
growing segment,” continues Ms. Cloots.
The digital print specification is released under the umbrella of the Ghent Workgroup’s 2015
specifications, as it builds on the same principles. The specification describes the rules PDF
files used for digital print should follow. Software and hardware vendors can then use the
specification to finetune file creation and quality control in their workflows and output
devices.
Elli Cloots
www.gwg.org
Due to the nature of digital print, the specification is significantly different from what is used
in other segments such as offset printing or packaging. Rules focusing on overprint problems
for example, have been significantly relaxed because the output devices in this market can
handle those problems natively. The specification also sees relaxed image resolution checks,
due to the nature of the work often printed in digital. Other requirements remain of
paramount importance. These include PDF/X-4 compliance, basic PDF file integrity
verification, ensuring overprinting white objects don’t disappear, all the way up to avoiding
color shifts when using the wrong transparency blending color space. And of course,
companies can always add additional requirements on top of what the Ghent Workgroup
already suggests, but now there is a good set of base rules to build on.
Availability
The specification and application settings built from it, are available from the Ghent
Workgroup web site today. As is everything else created by the workgroup, they are available
for free.
To see which applications are compatible already, and download application settings, visit
the Ghent Workgroup’s application settings page: https://www.gwg.org/application-settings/
If you are interested in reading the technical specification document, this too is available for
free from the GWG site: https://www.gwg.org/digital-print-specification/
About Ghent Workgroup
The Ghent Workgroup, formed in June 2002, is an international assembly of industry
associations, suppliers, educators and industry members from around the globe. The Ghent
Workgroup’s objective is to establish and disseminate process specifications for best
practices in graphic arts workflows.
www.gwg.org
Since its inception more than fifteen years ago, the organization has consistently produced
numerous process specifications for PDF exchange, as well as developing useful tools for
automating processes and testing and establishing consistent PDFs for print and publishing –
all available free at www.gwg.org.
Members are comprised of graphic arts associations including CIP4 (Switzerland), CMBO (the