Opportunities Abound as Printing Industry Welcomes New PDF/X-4 Standard

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Ten years ago, in 2001, the ISO organization launched the PDF/X-1a standard, and since then, printing automation has entered a new stage of development. In fact, people have long been seeking a standard that can make job handoffs easier and smoother and allow quality control to run through every step from the client side to the completion of all postpress processing. The launch of the PDF/X standard is exactly the result of the joint efforts of all industries related to printing. Through continuous development, the PDF/X standard has also been continually refined. Today, PDF/X-4 has begun to see application, creating new opportunities for the future development of the printing and packaging industry.

PDF/X-1a is the first ISO standard for automation used in print production, and it is also the most widely adopted ISO standard to date. There are many reasons for this. First, this standard can be used directly; it can be adopted when files are created in prepress production. At the same time, this standard is also the fruit of cooperation with other organizations (such as the Ghent Workgroup), enabling quantitative quality control. In addition, this standard strikes a balance between strict management and practical operation and can be practically applied in today's print production workflows.

Perhaps when PDF/X or PDF/X-1a is mentioned, you may feel unfamiliar with it. That does not matter, because as long as the software you use daily has print quality control functions, it is very likely that these software programs already have PDF/X-1a built in. In fact, software from Adobe, callas, OneVision, and other vendors has already achieved this.

Ten years is a long time. Printing processes and technologies are developing, and the PDF file format is not immutable either. Gradually, PDF/X-1a also began to reveal its shortcomings. As a result, ISO has also been continuously improving it. Now, the more powerful PDF/X-4 has officially stepped onto the stage of history, and before long, PDF/X-4 will enter the workflows of printing companies.

Limitations of the PDF/X-1a Standard

The PDF/X-1a standard is based on PDF version 1.3. This version of PDF was developed by Adobe for its Acrobat 4 software, and it lacks many features that now appear highly meaningful and widely used, which is crucial for designers. For example, one of the most important and troublesome issues in current workflows is transparency. PDF/X-1a files do not support transparency effects, so if a design file contains transparency information, it will be automatically flattened (transparency flattening) in PDF/X-1a; all transparency effects will disappear as a result, and only visible appearance information will remain in the file.

For downstream printing and postpress operations, this is a potential danger, and it can sometimes even change the printing result. For example, when a PDF file with flattened transparency is printed, some visually visible errors may occur, such as white lines inside or outside the printed image, or colored "ghosting" outside the printed image; sometimes the image printed from such a file with flattened transparency is noticeably larger than the original image. These are print quality incidents that customers cannot accept. However, when generating files, restricted by PDF/X-1a rules, as long as there is a transparency effect, it will be forcibly flattened, with no exceptions.

In addition, PDF/X-1a files cannot carry additional content (such as hidden layers), and such content is common when used for different regional versions or different language versions. Therefore, PDF/X-1a files cannot achieve the above functions in the same file.

More critically, PDF/X-1a also has limitations in terms of color gamut information—PDF/X-1a can only use CMYK process colors and spot colors. Therefore, if other colors are used in the print workflow, such as fluorescent colors, metallic colors, or if the RGB color gamut is to be applied, even if these elements can be represented during design, after the PDF/X-1a file intended for printing is finally generated, the relevant content will also be automatically deleted.

Constantly changing workflows bring new requirements

Meanwhile, over the past decade, the way people use PDF has also undergone significant changes. PDF is no longer used only in printing; more and more fields have recognized the benefits of the PDF file format and begun applying it in their own areas, with today's red-hot digital publishing being one example.

In wide-format inkjet printing and packaging, PDF is also gradually gaining acceptance, while in other more demanding workflows (demanding perhaps due to production requirements or from a marketing perspective), attached content can make automation smoother and collaboration between different vendors faster.

At the same time, some content not required in traditional print production workflows, such as audio or video, has become indispensable in new applications such as mobile communication devices like Apple's iPhone and iPad. The old PDF/X-1a standard obviously cannot handle such content; even if forced into use, it would cause many problems.

Higher versions of PDF bring more advantages

The above problems encountered by PDF/X-1a can all be solved in PDF/X-4. PDF/X-4 is based on a newer PDF version; it can carry transparent layers and attached files, and can also faithfully reflect many color-managed gamut spaces. It can improve modern prepress workflows and RIPs, and provide ideal answers to many needs of packaging and mobile publishing. Clearly, many people have been more than a little eager for this standard to arrive.

Objectively speaking, all change is difficult. Just as in prepress, everyone knows PDF is much better than PS, yet getting people to accept PDF took a very long time. It is foreseeable that the adoption of PDF/X-4 will not happen overnight either, because applying PDF/X-4 also requires the cooperation of various software and hardware, which takes time.

There is another more important issue: the application of this new PDF/X-4 standard will force adjustments to existing business management. For example, if the file you receive has attached content, you first need to figure out how to operate on that attached content; if you receive an RGB file with color management, you need to convert it to a CMYK file during prepress processing. Moreover, in a complete workflow, generally the later the control, the better, because this allows printing companies to optimize output processes faster and more dynamically. However, this also changes the responsibilities of different positions throughout the workflow, making positions further downstream more responsible.

Embrace Change and Welcome the Future

From PDF/X-1a to PDF/X-4, recognizing the necessity of this shift is very important, and it also brings new development opportunities for enterprises. Now, more and more manufacturers are taking a positive attitude toward PDF/X-4, and some industry organizations are actively drafting relevant guidance to help enterprises smoothly complete this standard transition. One thing is beyond doubt: the new standard can not only improve the production efficiency of printing companies but also enable them to better serve their customers.

PDF/X-1a is becoming a thing of the past, but this transition will not be completed overnight. For printing companies, there is no need to panic when facing the new standard; the task at this stage is to learn as much as possible about the new PDF/X-4 standard and prepare for future changes. Embrace change and welcome the future; the PDF/X-4 standard lies ahead.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362042.html