Digital Printing

GWG: new Landing Page and new
Preflight Profiles for Digital Printing

After the recent publication of the first specification for digital printing by the Ghent Workgroup (GWG), a new landing page for digital printing has now been released. A similar landing page has recently been launched for packaging and labels.

On the new digital printing page you can also download the new digital printing preflight profiles for Enfocus PitStop Pro and Callas pdfToolbox. The Callas profile can also be used with Acrobat DC Pro.

ATTENTION: The new profiles are called «GWG_Digital_Cutsheet_2015…». The year 2015 is justified by the fact that the new digital printing specification is based on the GWG2015 specifications for offset printing.

New PDF Layout Tool «Stepz»
for digital packaging and labels

Hybrid Software has announced a new PDF layout software for digital packaging and labels. 

As the name indicates, the main task of Stepz is the Step&Repeat function. Stepz is a slimmed-down version of Hybrid’s native PDF editor PACKZ.

The first version of Stepz is intended for users of HP Indigo digital presses with Global Graphics DFEs. (Finally, the Chairman of Hybrid Software has recently also become Chairman of Global Graphics…).

First specification for digital printing
from Ghent Workgroup

The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) has published their first specification for digital printing on cut sheet. The new Digital Print Specification is based on the GWG specifications 2015 for offset printing. Some requirements have been relaxed (e.g. overprinting) or lowered (e.g. minimal image resolutions). There is only one variant available for PDF/X-4 CMYK+RGB (images with ICC profiles allowed).

In the mean time the new Preflight Profiles for Digital Printing have been released.

PDFX-ready has already released a preflight profile for toner based digital printing in 2015. This is mostly identical to the new GWG specification.

First PDF 2.0 products
with Harlequin 12 RIPs

Global Graphics reports first products based on Harlequin 12 RIPs with PDF 2.0 support..

In April Global Graphics had announced Harlequin 12, the first PDF 2.0 RIP.

The first products featuring Harlequin 12 are Xitron’s Navigator RIP Version 12 and HP Production Pro for Indigo Labels and Packaging Version 7.1.

Martin Bailey, CTO and head of product management at Global Graphics Software, says “If your Digital Front End or workflow is not compliant with this new standard it will silently ignore the new features available with unexpected results in output, or may even error when processing PDF 2.0 files.  Upgrading your DFE and continuing to consume PDF 1.7 files is safe; not upgrading and trying to consume PDF 2.0 files is not.  We strongly recommend that print service providers and converters should start planning upgrades to support PDF 2.0 for all applications consuming PDF, starting with the end of the workflow, with their Digital Front Ends and working upstream. We all know that just saying “don’t send me PDF 2.0 files” does not prevent customers from doing so. Upgrading to support PDF 2.0 ensures that you can confidently accept their files and spend your valuable time concentrating on areas that can differentiate your business!”

Harlequin 12: First RIP with PDF 2.0

In the new version of their Harlequin 12 RIP Global Graphics supports PDF 2.0. It is the first major PDF RIP for production printing to offer compatibility with the PDF 2.0 standard, which was published in 2017 by the International Standards Organization (ISO 32000-2) and is billed as the first “post-Adobe” standard.

Harlequin Host Renderer 12 supports all of the features of the new PDF 2.0 standard that are relevant for production printing. If your Digital Front End is not compliant with this new standard it will silently ignore the new features available with unexpected results in output. Upgrading your DFE and continuing to consume PDF 1.7 files is safe; not upgrading, and trying to consume PDF 2.0 files may not be. Martin Bailey, the CTO of Global Graphics Software, has authored a White Paper The impact of PDF 2.0 on print production which is available for download.