Maybe. So here’s what you need to know about the Job Definition Format protocol.

By Gretchen Peck

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.