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Open to all registered attendees.  All sessions will be held in English.

For an agenda, please click here. 

Open to all registered attendees.  The sessions will be held in Dutch, the local language.

For a Dutch agenda, please click here.

For an English translation of the agenda, please click here. 

Ghent Workgroup Opens Worldwide Survey on Cross Media

Calls on publishing and production professionals to lend expertise at pivotal point in cross media  technology development

Ghent Workgroup members will donate to international literacy charity for every survey completed 

October 12, 2011 -- The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) Cross Media Subcommittee is calling on publishing, production and creative professionals to participate in the second phase of its milestone Cross Media Standards and Best Practices Survey, available immediately at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GWG_Cross_Media_Survey. Findings will be used to identify needs and develop new standards and best practices for publishing, creation, processing, workflow, exchange and output in cross media environments.

The Cross Media Standards and Best Practices Survey averages 10 minutes to complete. Sections include:

• General questions, to uncover respondents' current involvement in cross-media 
• Receiving, creating, interoperability and sending mixed media jobs 
• Flow 
• File formats: XML, ePub, PDF
• Metadata and validation 

"Cross-media publishing has taken off with the recent proliferation of mobile devices," says Bart Van Looy, the ICT DTP Publishing Project Leader at Sanoma Media who serves as co-Chairman of the GWG Cross Media subcommittee, and is the author of the Survey. "It's essential that we get input from the industry's key stakeholders so that the GWG can help solve some of the problems creatives and publishers are encountering with cross media."

The survey covers general questions; and asks about receiving, creating and sending mixed-media jobs, specific workflow issues, and file formats used today and, potentially, tomorrow.

"The GWG and its members have an outstanding track-record and the right user base to help streamline and standardize tough processes in publishing workflows," says Van Looy. "We hope to do the same for cross media, based in part on the results of this survey."

The Workgroup expects to release findings in Q1 2012.

Cross Media Survey Toolkit for Enhanced Distribution

 If individuals have access to relevant organizations that have employees or other associates who can participate in the Survey, the Ghent Workgroup encourages use of its Marketing/Social Media Toolkit to "spread the word" with ease. Contactsmith@helenesmith.com to obtain the link to supporting materials.

About the Cross Media Subcommittee

 The rise in use of mobile computing/communications/reading devices has simultaneously increased requirements for content and effective/efficient production and delivery.

The GWG Cross Media Subcommittee has been established to review the use of technology to determine if new specifications/standards, best practices, and/or use of other formats (XML, PDF, ePub) are needed to guarantee quality and accuracy control of cross media files as they proceed through creation, processing, exchange and output workflows in these environments.

About the Ghent Workgroup

The Ghent Workgroup, formed in June 2002, is an international assembly of industry associations and suppliers from across Europe and the United States. The Ghent Workgroup's objective is to establish and disseminate process specifications for best practices in graphic arts workflows. Since its inception nine years ago, the organization has consistently produced numerous process specifications for PDF dissemination as well as developing useful tools for automating processes and establishing consistent PDFs for print and publishing - all available free at:  www.gwg.org.

Members are comprised of graphic arts organizations including: AIDO, Adobe Systems Incorporated, AdStream Pty Ltd, Agfa Graphics, Associated Newspapers, bleuprocess, BPIF - British Printing Industries Federation, BVDM - Bundesverband Druck und Medien e.V., callas Software GmbH, NUV - Cebucco, CGS Publishing Technologies International GmbH, CMBO - Brancheorganisatie voor de communicatiemedia, Dalim Software GmbH, DDPFF - Den Danske Presses Fællesindkøbs-Forening, Eastman Kodak Company/Graphic Communications Group, EFI, Enfocus bvba, ERA - European Rotogravure Association e.V., EskoArtwork, FE Burman, Febelgra VZW, FESPA Ltd, Four Pees bvba, FTA, GMG GmbH & C° KG, IDEAlliance, Inc., Litografia Rosés, S.A., Médiagraf, Medibel+ VZW, One Vision Software AG, PDFX-Ready, Phototype, Printing Industries of America, PublishingTools4You, Quark, rotasjon.no, Remote Director, Ryerson University, Sagamgraphic, Sanoma Magazines Belgium NV, Screen Europe BV, soluzionisubito, Square, Taga Italia, UNIC, University of Wuppertal, VIGC - Vlaams Innovatiecentrum voor Grafische Communicatie vzw, VSD - Verband der Schweizer Druckindustrie.

For more information about the GWG, visit  www.gwg.org.

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Media Contact:

Helene Smith, HSPR , +1 321-388-6511, smith@helenesmith.com 

Open to all registered attendees.  Please see link for further information click here.

Greetings from the Ghent Work Group Cross Media Subcommittee:

With the nearly lightning speed proliferation of mobile computing/communications/reading devices, the use of the PDF format to deliver content has surfaced significant barriers to effective/efficient production and delivery.

The GWG Cross Media Sub-Committee has been formed to review the use of technology in content delivery to these mobile devices and determine if a new PDF specification or use of other formats (XML, ePub,..) is needed to standardize the creation of files for this environments. 

The survey is designed to gather information to be used by the subcommittee in making this determination. 

Your participation is requested by completing the survey.

The estimated time to full fill the survey is approximately 10 min.

Click here to fill in the SURVEY*. The survey will be closed by Friday March 11th.

If you have questions, please contact either of the Co-Chairs Kirk A. Brauch or BArt Van Looy or at the following email addresses.

Once again, thank you for your participation in this endeavor.

Best regards,

Kirk A. Brauch: kirkb@adstream.com

BArt Van Looy: b.vanlooy@sanoma-magazines.be

David Zwang, Chairman of the Ghent PDF Workgroup, speaks during the Pira/Ipex Great Print Debates.

http://www.ipex.org/page.cfm/Action=Seminars/SectorID=1/goSection=4

The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG), with key vendor member Adobe Systems Inc. as its host, welcomes members and registered guest observers to the second ever North American meeting scheduled for October 29 and 30 in San Jose.

At this first meeting being held at Adobe headquarters, members will review and discuss specifications based on the latest PDF/X-4 release (including transparency and layers), discuss and extend ad ticket support for electronic ads and insertion orders, and solidify spectral color considerations (a key requirement of the packaging community) for spot color identification.

A limited number of pre-registered observer spots, for publishing, printing and graphic design executives, are available. If interested in attending the meeting, contact admin@gwg.org.

To make it easier and faster to get quality results in PDFs created from Office applications, the Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) has issued new best practice process guidelines. The new guidelines were developed in response to recent changes made to Office applications and the Adobe Acrobat family of products.

The new Office Printing PDF Creator Guidelines are available for free download at: http://gwg.org/Office_Document_Printing_-1.phtml

GWG member experts are scheduled to present a special session titled, "PDF: For Optimized Packaging Workflows" at the upcoming IPA Technical Conference on June 10, at 11 a.m. in Rosemont, Illinois.

GWG Chair and IPA member, David L. Zwang, Zwang & Co., will moderate the session with GWG experts Steven Carter, GWG Packaging Co-Chair and Director of Technology, Phototype; and Steve Smiley, Director of Color Technology at Vertis Communications. They will speak on the unique dynamics and challenges of the packaging industry, and how the current and future developments in PDF file exchange support the requirements of the packaging workflow. They will showcase how leading packagers are utilizing GWG specifications successfully, including case studies of Kraft Foods, Nestlé and L'Oreal.
 

Ghent PDF Workgroup member experts representing Europe and the United States recently addressed printing business leaders in Spain at a special session held by the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. The speakers discussed the various ways printers, prepress, designers, publishers, and brand owners in their countries are dealing with the current economic situation.
 
"We were very pleased to be able to share our individual and collective experiences in navigating the challenging environments that we all face in the print industry today at the Madrid Chamber of Commerce event.  The GWG's mission is to transcend borders and work together to develop common best practices that help to improve graphic arts workflows and foster business success," said David Zwang, GWG Chair.
 
The GWG also convened on May 7 and 8 in Madrid for its quarterly member meeting co-hosted by the Madrid Print and Media Cluster and Madrid Printing Association (AGM).

The

The new Ghent Output Suite 3; the latest set of Ghent Workgroup tests to determine whether PDFs will be processed as expected in real-world production environments, is now available at http://gwg.org/ghentoutputsuite.phtml. 

Both design and production PDF workflows can be tested using Ghent Output Suite 3. The new version adds testing for White Overprint, Rendering Intent, ICC-based Overprint and Source Profile consideration. Also, all of the test files and documentation have been adjusted to make them clearer and easier to understand.

New free GWG Ad Ticket v1.1, a standard way to include advertisement metadata in a PDF file, is now available for download.  The GWG Ad Ticket was developed in collaboration with AdsML, the international consortium supporting a global standard for end-to-end advertising workflows.  Download the new GWG Ad Ticket here: http://gwg.org/Jobtickets.phtml.

The

The world’s graphic arts experts have come together to release v4 of the Ghent Workgroup specifications (http://www.gwg.org/GWGversion4.phtml) for automated workflow efficiency in the range of application and output environments. v4 of the specifications supports Adobe Acrobat 9 – which itself includes Universal Proof of Preflight developed by the Ghent Workgroup. Heading the list of additional enhancements to v4 is a check for missing glyphs, one of the leading causes of preflight and page production frustration.  

Entering our 7^th year, we're pleased to announce newly elected executive committee officers and a revamped website. This website has been completely revamped to address the expanding population of GWG users and adopters.  Access to comprehensive, best practice workflow GWG specifications and resources are now easier than ever for printers, prepress professionals and designers.

GWG will be participating at DRUPA 2008 with a variety of speaking engagements and activities.

Download the complete guide

GWG released V1 of the Universal Proof of Preflight Specification which enables software vendors to implement a cross vendor solution that will allow users to verify that the files they receive are compliant with a specific preflight specification and have not been tampered with since its creation.

The Ghent PDF Workgroup has moved to new offices.  The new address is:

Ghent PDF Workgroup

Kortrijksesteenweg 1095

9051 Sint-Denijs-Westrem

Gent Belgium

Tel.  +32 9 216 96 05 (Monday & Friday)
Fax  +32 9 216 98 54

Getting PDFs created from Microsoft® Office applications to print properly is a difficult undertaking in the typical office environment.

The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) released best practices and downloadable specifications that can help hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Windows® Microsoft® Office users worldwide to automatically create final PDFs that are ready to print.

The Specifications can be found here

The GWG today announces the launch of the Soft-Proofing Ticket, an easy way for end-users to have additional, essential information about the approval conditions. The GWG Soft-Proofing Ticket uses Adobe XMP specifications to attach information to a PDF file. It provides both an easy-to-understand description about the user as well as accurate details about the viewing conditions in which the document was approved. It contains a list of user names and logins, approval date(s), description of the approval software; and essential detail including monitor serial number and set-up, brightness level, white point values, color temperature and calibration status.

Download for free - The new GWG Photography White Paper gives publishers and photographers a compact set of digital photography guidelines for print production. Correct implementation of ICC color management and standards is essential to ensure that maximum quality is maintained from the original capture through to the final printed result. The GWG recommends using these guidelines for digital photography projects for print production.

The value and use of Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) Specifications will be covered extensively in numerous PDF University sessions being hosted by Xplor International during the Graphics of the Americas conference and tradeshow, taking place February 28 – March 3, 2007 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Register at: http://www.pdf-university.org

IPA and the Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) are bringing the graphic arts community the necessary tools for improving workflow speed and accuracy in IPA’s “PDF Workflow Diagnosis” webinar. The “PDF Workflow Diagnosis” webinar will be broadcast live on Thursday, October 26 at 1 p.m. EST; David Zwang, industry expert and IPA representative to the Ghent PDF Workgroup, will lead the session. To register for the webinar, visit: http://www.ipa.org/knowledge/webinars/pdfworkflow.php