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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