PDF/X-4 for Packaging

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Gladys White
5 years ago
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1 Stephan Jaeggi, PrePress-Consulting, Switzerland PDF/X-4 for Packaging Novartis Pharma gains the advantage

Stephan Jaeggi, PrePress-Consulting, Switzerland Printing & Packaging Engineer since 1981 Professor at Swiss Engineering School for Printing and Packaging (15 years) Typesetting system manager at

2 Stephan Jaeggi, PrePress-Consulting, Switzerland Printing & Packaging Engineer since 1981 Professor at Swiss Engineering School for Printing and Packaging (15 years) Typesetting system manager at large printer in Basel (5 years) IT consultant at Swiss Printers Associations (5 years) Principal of PrePress-Consulting since 1991 Technical Expert to ISO TC130 (PDF/X) since 1998 Technical Officer of Ghent PDF Workgroup since 2006 Certification Officer of PDFX-ready since 2005 Member of the CIP4 Adivisory Board (JDF) since 2000 PDF Expert at Novartis Pharma Packaging Strategies Group since 2010

3 Digital Vision Control System (DVCS) Introduction of quality control systems at Novartis Manuscript Text comparison Bitmap comparison Bitmap comparison previous version Print file Printed product

4 PDF requirements for DVCS tools Text comparison tool Live text (not vectorized) Well defined font encoding (Unicode, standard encoding) Pixel comparison tool Minimum image resolution TrimBox/BleedBox is used to define area of inspection Clear identification of technical colors Cutting Braille Perforating Non-printing (Creasing, Varnish, VarnishFree, InkFree,...)

5 Analysis of existing artwork files Text of all artworks (except leaflets) was vectorized Each typesetter used diff. names for technical colors Automation is difficult.

6 Analysis of existing artwork files Problems with flattend transparency Conversion of spot color to process color Conversion of text to vector or images Overprinting problems

Analysis of existing workflow Many different

7 Analysis of existing workflow Many different file formats Print files Adobe Illustrator CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5 Adobe InDesign CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5 EPS Level-2, Level-3 PostScript PDF 1.3, PDF 1.4 PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3 Ready for Print (Approval) PDF PDF Preview (flattened CMYK) Vector Image

8 Novartis Artwork File Specification (NAFS) Create a common file standard for Digital Vision Control System (DVCS) Ready for Print (Approval) Print files Used for all printed packaging material Folding boxes, labels, foils, blisters, pouches, leaflets and brochures Increase predictability and reliability Make life easier for everybody DRA (manuscripts) AwOps (Artwork operation) Typesetter Printer QC (Quality control)

NAFS is based on international standards International Standards Organization (www.iso.

9 NAFS is based on international standards International Standards Organization ( ISO (PDF/X Standard for prepress digital data exchange) ISO (Graphic technology Vocabulary) Ghent PDF Workgroup ( GWG2012 PDF/X-Plus Specification Proof of Preflight (Preflight Audit Trail) Storing non printing contour (packaging) data in PDF

10 PDF/X-4 (ISO ) PDF 1.6 Native (live) transparency Reliable font embedding (Layers) Better compression (JPEG2000, object compression) Smaller files (no flattened content) Less display problems on monitors and desktop printers Compatibility with PDF/A (ISO standard for archiving)

11 PDF/X-4 Plus (GWG2012_SheetSpot) Color Spot colours with different names shall not have the same appearance. The appearance of a spot colour shall be consistent. Registration colour (spot colour All ) shall not be used inside BleedBox. Total Area Coverage (TAC = sum of all colour chanels) shall not exceed 320%. The colour values of rich black text (in CMYK or DeviceN) shall not be larger than K=85% and TAC=280%. The following colour spaces shall not appear as direct colour spaces, alternate colour spaces or as transparency blend colour spaces: DeviceRGB, ICCbasedRGB, CalRGB, ICCbasedGray, CalGray, ICCbasedCMYK, Lab. The transparency blend colour space shall be DeviceCMYK. Overprinting Print elements defined in grayscale shall not be set to overprint. White text shall not be set to overprint. White pathes shall not be set to overprint. Black text smaller or equal to 12 points and defined in CMYK shall be set to overprint. Black text smaller or equal to 12 points shall not be defined in DeviceGray. Black lines with a line width less than 2 points in CMYK shall be set to overprint. Black lines with a line width less than 2 points shall not be defined in DeviceGray. Miscellaneous No empty pages. Font Courier shall not be used.

Additional Novartis restrictions Live text (with embedded fonts) No layers Output Intent = Coated FOGRA39 CMYK and Pantone Coated only Novartis Technical Colors * Minimum image resolution 300 ppi

12 Additional Novartis restrictions Live text (with embedded fonts) No layers Output Intent = Coated FOGRA39 CMYK and Pantone Coated only Novartis Technical Colors * Minimum image resolution 300 ppi for CMYK and grayscale 1200 ppi for bitmap (1bit) Braille with vectors Bleed = 2 mm File name extension: _X-4 * Based on upcoming GWG specification "Storing non printing contour (packaging) data in PDF"

13 Four levels of PDF specifications Publication, company specific restrictions GWG2012 MagazineAds (GWG) GWG2012 SheetSpot (GWG) GWG2012 WebCMYK (GWG) PDF/A PDF/X standard (ISO) PDF specification (Adobe) PDF/E

14 Mandatory preflight check Typesetter must perform a preflight check with the Novartis preflight profile for each artwork

15 Preflight Audit Trail (GWG standard) Result of the preflight check is embedded in the PDF Generic digital signature to indicate changes of the PDF after the preflight check no changes with changes

16 Experience from 15 month production 10'000+ PDF/X-4 artworks created and printed Reactions of suppliers Acceptance by global typesetters was very good Only a few printers cannot (or want not) accept PDF/X-4 files Problems One label printer in the US One flexo printer needs AI files with vectorized text for trapping Creation Not able to create valid PDF/X-4 files because of.notdef problem (reason: bug in Creative Suite 5; finally solved in Creative Suite 6) Output Compatibility issues with old GhostScript RIP of a flexo imagesetter at a Novartis plant => conversion profile for Acrobat 9 Pro Disappearing objects because two printers used old PostScript workflow (transparency flattening and honoring overprinting) Communication is very important when a new standard is introduced!

17 NAFS benefits for Typesetters Must only create one file format No transparency flattening necessary Sophisticated preflight check for Printers Good quality print files (without flattening) Leveraging modern prepress workflow systems Standardized technical colors => automation possible for Novartis Good input for DVCS comparison tools Approval of real print files No display and printing problems anymore Check result of preflight without doing the preflight

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional The complete solution for document collaboration and PDF print production.

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional The complete solution for document collaboration and PDF print production. 2004 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 3 Extending Acrobat in the Enterprise Industry