The Ghent PDF Workgroup has released its new specifications for the packaging industry, which differ from other GWG specifications because of the specific additional checks required.
Christian Blaise, Enfocus International sales account manager and co-chair of the GWG Packaging Specification Subcommittee, comments: "The subcommittee has worked extremely hard over the past two years to develop packaging specifications to meet the very specific needs of this segment, which involves numerous players. It was felt that there was a need for the process standardization and we have worked for almost two years, using real production files. The new specifications that we have just released optimize the working process and maximize control. The reduction in time to market reflects positively on the packaging industry," he adds.
The GWG specifications are PDF-X/Plus based (built on top of PDF/X standards). However, the Packaging Specifications don't always conform to PDF/X because these ISO standards don't necessarily apply to packaging environments. However, the ISO plans to release PDF/X-4 in mid 2007, where transparency and layers will be allowed. The GWG will use this new ISO standard in the next version of its packaging specifications.
The Packaging Subcommittee of the Ghent PDF Workgroup is studying and evaluating the implementation of Full PDF Workflows in the packaging industry worldwide. The committee works on the definition of best practices, including rules, guidelines, settings, workflows and structure, to define PDF as the ultimate exchangeable file format for the packaging industry, based on industry standards and market demands and needs. All of the definition criteria are generic for the packaging industry, so that they can be applied indiscriminately to the entire process, from design to print. They also cover all printing processes.
The Packaging Subcommittee has members representing more than 30 companies all over Europe and the USA, from prepress, converting repro organizations to associations, brand owners, vendors, consultants and educational institutions.
Roland Donzelle believes that the entire industry should benefit from the new specifications. "The production side of the packaging industry was lacking in workflow standards, in contrast to its business (administrative and operational) side, in which economic and regulatory issues are very important and have been addressed. Any solution that leads to faster file exchanges while making them more reliable is a significant breakthrough, he concludes"
The final version of the Packaging Subcommittee's specifications is downloadable free at the website: www.gwg.org
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