Information

Ghent Workgroup Members 2008 (click to enlarge)

Take a cross-section of the international graphic arts community’s best minds, and have them work together to develop best practices for the benefit of the profession worldwide. This is The Ghent PDF Workgroup.

What Does the GWG Do (For YOU)

Also known as the GWG, The Ghent PDF Workgroup is an international organization made up of graphic arts users, associations & developers building best practices for publishing workflows. The resulting recommendations and specifications are making it easy for increasing numbers of professionals around the world to successfully create, process, and exchange graphic arts files for numerous applications.

Building a Premiere Graphic Arts Think-Tank

Perhaps the fastest growing, global best practice organization for graphic arts; GWG was founded in June 2002. The idea for the GWG took hold among a group of professionals representing Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, at that time working toward consensus on PDF creation and preflight settings. The process was complex, and it became clear that a more coordinated approach was needed then and for the future.

Industry experts from around the world joined the GWG in increasing numbers, and a unique, collaborative infrastructure for creating and testing international specifications was born. The results have been so positive that the group is on the way to significantly expanding the scope of projects it can undertake on behalf of the worldwide graphic arts community.

13 Countries & Growing

Today GWG members span the full gamut of graphic arts industry entities, including associations, printers, publishers, design agencies, prepress houses and more. Vendor members are software and hardware companies who have proven they care about being actively involved in supporting the process specifications developed by the Workgroup. Currently, GWG membership numbers 21 industry associations and 18 vendors representing 13 countries worldwide.

What You Get

Since its inception, the GWG has successfully produced and made available free, by download, specifications for the use of PDF/X-1a PLUS and PDF/X-3 PLUS in vertical graphic arts segment applications.

The GWG has also published several white papers and the Ghent Output Suite, used to test the ability of workflows to correctly handle PDF files in production.

And there’s more on the way…always.

What Do You Think?

Tell us what you think about the GWG site and the specifications. We’re all about working together, and so we want your input. Tell your friends and colleagues what we’re about, too. The more of you involved, the better for all of us.