On the Evolution of PDF – Adobe PDF/X-5g with OPI type prepress workflow
PDF Prepress with FlightCheck
PDF prepress can benefit greatly from using FlightCheck preflight software to check Adobe Acrobat and more PDF documents for quality control before output. Markzware FlightCheck preflight technology even lets you set your OPI preferences.
PDF Compatibility and FlightCheck
PDF compatibility can also benefit from the use of FlightCheck, which can preflight several PDF file formats. PDF/X-5g (see below) is an OPI similar prepress workflow involving a PDF. Here was an interesting download from an Adobe Blog titled, “On the Evolution of PDF“. It goes over PDF compatibility issues with Acrobat reader, Acrobat and what will be addressed in the next Adobe update or future Adobe updates. Here was the section that is most relevant us in electronic publishing, prepress and printing:
6.0 PDF Profiles (i.e., subsets)
Many proper profiles of PDF have become ISO standards. They allow support for various vertical markets more effectively than open-ended PDF might. These standards efforts also bring together a group of knowledgeable and experienced people in those vertical markets. Here is the current list of ISO standards that are subsets of PDF:
6.1 PDF/X (ISO 15930) – targeted for prepress workflows.
• ISO 15930-1:2001: PDF/X-1a:2001, Blind exchange in CMYK + Spot Colors, based
on PDF 1.3
• ISO 15930-3:2002: PDF/X-3:2002, Allows CMYK, Spot, Calibrated (managed) RGB,
CIELAB, with ICC Profile, based on PDF 1.3.
• ISO 15930-4:2003: PDF/X-1a:2003, revision of PDF/X-1a:2001 based on PDF 1.4
• ISO 15930-5: PDF/X-2, An extension of PDF/X-3 which allows for OPI-like (external
linked) data to be included
• ISO 15930-6:2003: PDF/X-3:2003, revision of PDF/X-3:2002 based on PDF 1.4
• ISO 15930-7:2008: PDF/X-4, Colour-managed, CMYK, gray, RGB or spot colour data
are supported, as are PDF transparency and optional content. A second conformance
level named PDF/X-4p may be used when the ICC Profile in the output intent is exter-
nally supplied.
• ISO 15930-8:2008 PDF/X-5,a collection of three conformance levels:
- • PDF/X-5g: An extension of PDF/X-4 that enables the use of OPI-like work-flows.
- • PDF/X-5pg: An extension of PDF/X-4p that enables the use of OPI-like work-flows in conjunction with a reference to an external ICC Profile for the output intent.
- • PDF/X-5n: An extension of PDF/X-4p that allows the externally supplied ICC Profile for the output intent to use a color space other than Grayscale, RGB and CMYK.
Pretty amazing all of the PDF sub-sets. Thus, I end with this August 19, 2009 document intro about Adobe Systems Incorporated (ADBE on the stock exchange):
1.0 Introduction
The Portable Document Format (PDF) was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated
and the first PDF specification was published in June 1993 at the same time that Adobe
announced its Acrobat product line. PDF has flourished since then and Adobe updated the
PDF specification 7 times, moving it from PDF 1.0 to PDF 1.7. Each time more features
were added but seldom was a feature removed. The specification went from 230 pages for
PDF 1.0 to 1310 pages for PDF 1.7.
This document summarizes some of the objectives that Adobe had while updating the
PDF specification and also describes the various techniques that had been used to meet
those objectives.
Source: http://graphicstart.com/item.php?itemid=1099629
FlightCheck Preflights Portable Document Format (PDF) Documents
Portable Document Format or PDF (as opposed to Portable File Format or PFF) can be checked for quality control with FlightCheck. To preflight PDF files and more, use FlightCheck for quality print output.
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