Is JDF the Future of Catalog Print Production?
By Gretchen Peck
Maybe. So here's what you need to know about the Job Definition Format protocol.
The printing and publishing industry's transformation into a computer-integrated manufacturing platform continues unabated.
"The artificial intelligence that's being incorporated into technology reduces make-ready times, reproduces color consistently and provides feedback on performance — ensuring the finished product is of the highest quality," says George Ryan, executive vice president and COO of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF).
The artificial intelligence communication protocol Ryan is referring to is known as the Job Definition Format (JDF). And it's a term you are sure to hear more about in the future.
What is JDF?
JDF is based on XML (eXtensible Markup Language), a standard in and of itself, which dictates the electronic tagging of elements within a document.
JDF is the brainchild of CIP4, the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress, a group comprised of a worldwide roster of print industry professionals responsible for rolling out the standard. Although vendors largely contribute to CIP4, JDF is an open-systems, vendor- and platform-neutral, data format.
JDF is intended to make for a more efficient and cost-effective printing process. How can it perform such a feat? By marrying and automating the once-disparate segments of the client/printer relationship: the content workflow and the business information workflow.
You can think of JDF as fundamentally an electronic job ticket that can contain as much or as little information about the print job as the cataloger and printer need. The JDF file may include specific information such as how the digital file was prepared, verified and normalized, and where in the imposition it should fall — all digital directives that automatically will drive the job through the rest of the printing course.
According to Frank Romano, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, JDF simply is the "macro-data about your job. … It's another file that says the job is going to go on this type of press, on a certain type of paper; it's going to require these sorts of resources. … [The JDF information] is going to control the entire printing process automatically."
As a catalog print job progresses through your printer's workflow, data can be gathered by the printer's MIS systems. For example, the printer may choose to track how long the job took to process through prepress or how long it occupied a specific press. The result is a printer far more intimate with the minute details of its operations — a printer that can strive for better efficiencies for you, faster turnaround times and happier customers.
JDF hardly seems to be one of those fly-by-night standards that never really takes off. It appears to be here to stay and already has garnered the support of several key industry associations, as well as big hardware/software names in the printing sector (e.g., Adobe, Heidelberg, Creo, MAN Roland).
The Cataloger's Role in JDF
Romano suggests that workflow responsibilities have shifted as a result of desktop publishing and computer-to-plate imaging.
"Before all of this, the printer controlled the workflow," said Romano. "But starting in 1985 ... the creative person controlled the workflow.
"Control is an interesting word," he continued, "because it means you now have responsibility for the workflow. What you create is going to govern what happens with the rest of the process. ... What's the role of creatives in the new workflow? More involved, with more responsibility, not less."
This trend began as printers converted their catalog customers to digital workflows that involved digital file submission rather than film. As a result, it became the cataloger's duty to supply digital files prepared according to printer specifications. And it also became the creative professional's responsibility to check these files before they were submitted, namely through the pre- or post-flighting processes.
Most catalog creators gladly accepted these new challenges and responsibilities because, if done correctly, the final printed result would be of higher quality and less cost. Others fought the shift to some extent, reluctantly agreeing to supply digital files but in their native form (e.g., QuarkXPress files), rather than accredited-standards-based files. But the numbers of those folks are dwindling, and most digital files now submitted for print are in PDF format.
The point is that things continue to move quickly in the printing world. And as quickly as digital file exchange became the norm, pundits predict the same for JDF. Printers will lead the march for their customers.
Upon Further Study
While the vendor and supplier side of the business is hard at work creating and implementing new JDF-compliant solutions, you'd be wise to start investigating the standard to understand how it undoubtedly will affect your catalog production workflow in the future. And it will, for JDF is not just about back-end processes. The bulk of the JDF information captured about your job will happen on the front end, at the creative level.
"The problem with JDF, by the way, is that the press has to be computer-controlled," Romano cautions, "and presses made before 1995 are not. So you're limited by the number of printing companies that can do it. Then, of course, they also must have computer-controlled cutting machines and bindery systems."
Depending on the workflow you've established with your printer, now may not be the best time to dive head-first into JDF. If your printers were ready, they'd probably have you testing a workflow by now. But it's not too soon to ask your printer about its future JDF plans and track it on your own radar screen.
While the JDF specification is an intimidating 700-plus pages, it boils down to this: If those in the catalog industry — and all facets of it, including catalogers, prepress suppliers, printers, vendors and developers — band together in support of the standard, the result promises to be a more consistent and economical way to print catalogs.
Gretchen Peck is a freelance writer and consultant specializing in the graphic arts and printing industries. She welcomes comments at gpeck1225@msn.com.
This article originally appeared in the March 2004 issue of Catalog Success.