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PDF/X: in A Nutshell
PDF/X: in A Nutshell
■■ PDF/X-Plus
The use of any names, trade names, trade descriptions etc. in this work, even those not specially identified as such, does not justify the assumption that
these names are free according to trademark protection law and thus usable by anyone.
Text: PDF Association
Layout, cover design, design and composition: Alexandra Oettler
Cover image: Tomasz Pacyna, Dreamstime.com
Contents
Introduction: The history of PDF/X 5 PDF/X: Tools and usage 12
Adobe introduces PDF PDF/X Tools
Prepress became digital and open PDF/X Creation
PDF changed the prepress world PDF/X Conformance and Correction
Standardizing PDF for print Desktop solutions
Server-based solutions
PDF workflow and output
PDF/X: The key facts 6 Programming libraries
What’s not in PDF/X
PDF/A in a Nutshell
PDF/X Nutshell2.0 III
Introduction
Introduction:
The history of PDF/X by Dietrich von Seggern
PDF/X was the first ISO standard companies, and generated a need for PDF’s inherent flexibility made it
based on PDF technology. A subset of exchanging print layouts between clear that not every PDF file could be
the PDF specification, PDF/X was de- companies. used for printing, a fact that triggered
signed to constrain PDF files in order to At that time, I was working for the developers to create preflight tools
cater to specific use-cases. The first part, German newspaper marketing orga- to establish whether a given PDF file
PDF/X-1a, based on PDF 1.3, came out nization responsible for a network met the requirements of the printing
in 2001. Why did that happen? connecting advertising agencies with industry.
newspaper production facilities. EPS
Adobe introduces PDF (Encapsulated PostScript) was used Standardizing PDF for print
In the 1980s, Adobe invented Post- as the exchange format. It was – com- To streamline their own workflows,
Script, a standard page description pared to PDF – huge, no viewers were printers started to develop their own
language that allowed for connecting available, it was not easy to parse and requirements for PDF files, and they
any (PostScript) printer to any (Post- preflight, fonts were usually not em- shared these requirements with the
Script) layout application / computer. bedded and had to be sent separately, creators of the PDF files that they
PostScript serialized page description and so on. had to process and print.
commands so that a printing device Due to the limitations of EPS, we Technically this made a lot of sense,
could convert them into a printed were constantly searching for a re- but this approach had some major lim-
page without big processors or lots of placement. Unfortunately, all candi- itations: First, it required that a print
memory; at that time, a very import- dates (there was PDF 1.0 but also a file creator had to align their PDF files
ant requirement. However, PostScript few others) were too focused on doc- with the print house of choice, which
was not designed to be saved to a disk, ument processes and did not support meant that a PDF file acceptable to
it usually resulted in very large files the print color space with CMYK one print house might be refused by
and on screen rendering was – if at all and many other core requirements another. Discussing the print house’s
possible – time consuming. of prepress. When Adobe announced specific requirements, which might be
As the developer of Photo- PDF 1.2 – which would not only sup- necessary to alignment, represented
shop, FrameMaker and Illustrator, port CMYK, but in addition create overhead, and didn’t scale well.
Adobe had a strong graphic arts very small files even for high resolu- Even more important was the fact
background. However, when they tion images – it sounded too good to that print file creators were usually
designed PDF to overcome the be true. also the printer’s customers or at least
shortcomings of PostScript they closely affiliated with them. They dis-
initially thought of it more as an ex- PDF changed the prepress world covered that it is difficult to apply strict
change format for documents. What PDF 1.2 was a great step forward, but rules that potentially require addition-
Adobe did not see – at least not in there were still a few weaknesses and al work to an input when the supplier is
the beginning – was the desperate particularly one important shortcom- at the same time the customer. What’s
need for a data exchange format in ing: the lack of spot color support. more likely that the customer just goes
the print industry as well. PDF’s ability to change the whole pre- elsewhere to find a printer that con-
press production chain was nonethe- forms to the customer’s preferences
Prepress became digital and open less becoming clear. In 1998, a group rather than being forced to match pref-
In the 1990s, the print production of European prepress experts wrote erences with the print vendor.
marketplace was disrupted by desk- a white-paper on “PDF for prepress” It was clear that what was needed
top publishing technologies bring- and sent it to Adobe; almost all of this was a clear 3rd party specification – a
ing what used to be very expensive group’s recommendations were ad- standard – for both creator and receiv-
tools to the average user’s desktop. dressed in PDF 1.3. From that point er. This urgent need for independent
This change affected the cost and forwards PDF was a cornerstone of rules for print-ready PDF culminated
equipment used by print production graphic arts workflows. in the development of PDF/X.
PDF/A in a Nutshell
PDF/X Nutshell2.0 5
The key facts
PDF/X:
by Dietrich von Seggern The key facts
nate color must be the same for all oc-
PDF/X is a subset of PDF – see “Tech-
currences of the respective spot color.
nical side and requirements of PDF/X”,
page 7, for an overview. As such, con- ■■ Fonts must be embedded (either fully
forming with PDF/X means accepting embedded, or as an embedded subset
specific requirements and restrictions to in which all characters used in the text
the use of the PDF format. are present).
One principle of PDF/X is that con-
■■ Images must be present in the PDF
forming files must be complete, i.e. fully
(no external graphical content is al-
self-contained. In addition, nothing may
lowed).
PDF/X has to be complete and appear on a PDF/X page that is either not
everything on a PDF page has printable at all (such as video or 3D) or ■■ No password protection of any type.
to be printable. where print output is not fully defined ■■ No transfer curves (since they modify
(for example, if a font is not embed- appearance of colors).
ded). While the first rule is rather easy
to implement, the latter is more difficult. ■■ No alternate images (e.g. no low-reso-
PDF allows for many complex situations, lution alternates).
for example, colors in semi-transparent ■■ If the bleed zone is defined, the Bleed-
overlapping objects. In other cases, it may Box must be outside the printable area
not be clear whether objects on a layer (the TrimBox).
are to be printed. There are many other
cases of interdependencies in which it is ■■ No use of LZW compression.
difficult to determine whether the print ■■ No annotations in the print area.
result is unambiguously defined, or not.
Certain features needed only for some ■■ No audio, video or 3D annotations.
print applications (e.g., a bleed zone) are ■■ No form fields or JavaScript.
not required in PDF/X as they are not
■■ No embedded files.
required in all print products. Wherever
it makes sense in such cases, however, ■■ PDF metadata must indicate whether
PDF/X requires that if such information the PDF has been trapped, or not.
is present, it must be accurate. PDF/X re- ■■ PDF metadata must claim confor-
quires, for example, that if a bleed zone mance to PDF/X and to which part
is defined then that zone must not be en- and conformance level of the PDF/X
closed by the trimmed print product. standard.
Core principles of PDF/X What’s not in PDF/X
These requirements apply in all parts and PDF/X does not include provisions that
conformance levels of PDF/X. although important, may vary depend-
■■ An Output Intent must be present that ing on the printing conditions, e.g. the
uses an ICC profile to specify the in- minimum image resolution or the bleed
tended printing conditions (print de- zone.
vice type, paper type) when colors (or Other non-ISO standards have been de-
shades of gray) are defined. veloped based on PDF/X that cover such
production specific requirements (see
■■ Spot colors may only be used if they “Further quality requirements: PDF/X-
have an alternate color, and this alter- Plus”, page 14, for further information).
6 PDF/X
PDF/A in ainNutshell
a Nutshell
2.0
Technical side
PDF/A in a Nutshell
PDF/X Nutshell2.0 7
Technical side
PDF/X-4 includes two variations any such case an n-colorant ICC pro-
known as “conformance levels”: PDF/X-4 file must be specified in the Output
and PDF/X-4p. Intent; it can either be referenced as in
PDF/X-4p, or as an embedded file.
■ PDF/X-4 inherits the rules of PDF/X-3
for complete exchange in color man- ■ PDF/X-5g extends the PDF/X-4 stan-
aged workflows, with the requirement dard with the ability to use external
of always embedding the output intent raster and vector graphics. Like the
ICC profile. older PDF/X-2, a PDF/X-5g file can
contain temporary placeholders that
■ PDF/X-4p provides a form of partial reference an external resource.
exchange; it allows the ICC profile to
be maintained externally. This ensures ■ PDF/X-5pg takes PDF/X-5g one step
better efficiency in workflows where further. It offers the same method for
many files share the same output in- external graphics as PDF/X-5g, and
tent, or where embedding the ICC combines it with the PDF/X-4p’s op-
profile would substantially increase tion of the output intent referenced as
the file size. an external ICC profile.
8 PDF/A
PDF/X
in ainNutshell
a Nutshell
2.0
User segments
PDF/X:
Users/industry segments by Andrew Bailes-Collins
Where do all these different flavors of PDF/X file is just a matter of selecting
PDF/X fit, and for anybody wanting to the required PDF/X version, and en-
use PDF/X, which versions should they suring the file is compliant after cre-
investigate? ation.
For those considering moving to a If an artwork creator supplies a con-
PDF/X-based workflow it’s critical that forming PDF/X file, then any print
the chosen PDF/X version fits the capa- service provider should have the tools
bilities and objectives of that workflow. and knowledge to be able to process
If the workflow and output RIP are rel- and print that file without problems,
atively modern (purchased within the the key rationale and value proposition
last 3-4 years), it will almost certainly that underpins the PDF/X standards.
be able to work with the latest PDF
functionality such as live transparency Magazines and newspapers
and layers. In this situation, PDF/X-4 Magazines and newspapers often inte-
is highly recommended. grate content produced elsewhere (e.g.,
In an older workflow system that has advertising) into their products. Typi-
difficulty digesting some of the newer cally, these publishers produce very de-
PDF functionality such as transpar- tailed specifications on how a PDF file
ency, it’s probably not a good idea to should be created and checked before
attempt adopting PDF/X-4; an older they receive it. Due to the sheer volume What is most important for
PDF/X version is probably more suit- of content they receive and deliver, and anybody who wants to move to
able. the deadlines they work to, they nor- a PDF/X based workflow, is that
It’s important to leverage the free mally expect any incoming advertising the PDF/X version they use fits
dedicated test suites that allow users to files to be correct when delivered. their workflow and the capa-
evaluate their workflow for PDF/X-4 The production for these types of bilities of that workflow.
readiness; the Ghent PDF Workgroup publications is split into two distinct
(GWG) Output Suite is one such. areas, receiving files for advertising,
When testing, all applications w
ithin and delivering final pages for print.
a workflow must be considered, in-
cluding (but not limited to): imposi- ■■Receiving: PDF files of advertising
tion software, color servers, ink saving content are received from external sup-
software, trapping software, and out- pliers; these files are checked and then
put RIPs. incorporated with editorial content in
a layout application to create the final
Designers, creators and advertising pages of the publication.
agencies
The benefit for a design company in ■■Delivering: The completed publica-
working with PDF/X is that it’s easier tion is exported as a PDF file and sent
than coping with a myriad of PDF cre- to a print site.
ation settings from different printing
companies and suppliers. Since smooth workflows is of critical
The output settings needed to create interest to these businesses, magazines
valid PDF/X files are pre-configured and newspapers were among the very
into most professional page layout and early adopters of PDF/X. New York’s
design applications, so generating a Time Inc. is credited with the first
PDF/A in a Nutshell
PDF/X Nutshell2.0 9
User segments
10 PDF/X
PDF/A in ainNutshell
a Nutshell
2.0
User segments
es, which is fine for most commercial Labels and packaging printing
printing, but when you want to print a Label and packaging differs from other
poster that covers the side of a build- methods of print production for sever-
ing, this limitation becomes an issue. al reasons. A key distinction is that the
To overcome this size limitation the size of the final job is often not a square
PDF 1.6 specification included a func- or a rectangle, so it cannot be defined
tion called ‘UserUnit’ which effectively by a PDF page box. Additionally, in
enables the size of the PDF to be scaled packaging, the use of multiple spot col-
by a multiplication factor, allowing the or inks rather than just CMYK is very
creation of larger page sizes. common, with spot colors frequently
The PDF/X-4 specification is based used in image separations as well as in
on PDF 1.6, so if it’s a requirement that text and vector graphics.
PDF files are supplied at their correct Additionally, within modern pack-
size, then PDF/X-4 would be needed. aging production, extended gamut
However very often in this market, printing is becoming more prevalent,
files are supplied at a smaller size than especially with digital devices. Extend-
the final required size, and are enlarged ed gamut printing uses a fixed ink set
on output. This is a more traditional of CMYK plus additional spot colors
method of working, and has been the (orange, violet and green are typical)
case since the days when film supplied to produce a very large color gamut,
as a reduced size version would be pro- allowing a large range of spot colors to
jected on a large camera to the correct be produced without the need to run
final size. individual spot color inks.
Digital large format devices very of- All PDF/X formats require that an
ten have large multi-color ink sets to output intent is defined (see “Technical
deliver a wide color gamut. Some de- side and requirements of PDF/X”, page
vices have up to 12 inks to maximize 7 that uses an ICC profile to char-
the quality of printing, and can pro- acterize the intended output. Output
duce most available spot colors (ex- intents use normally CMYK ICC pro-
cepting special inks such as metallic). files, but for PDF/X-4 or PDF/X-3 that
The output RIPs on these devices of- can also be RGB or even Gray profiles.
ten have very sophisticated color man- To fully support multi-channel work-
agement functionality in order to work flows with PDF/X, a multi-channel
with these ink sets, and it makes sense color profile is required. Multi-chan-
that PDF files being printed should nel profiles are not supported by any of
maximize this capability. In this case the previously mentioned PDF/X stan-
PDF/X-3 or PDF/X-4 can be useful as dards. The only PDF/X version which
they allow color-managed color spaces that allows for multi-channel profile
such as Lab, CalRGB or use of an em- support is PDF/X-5n
bedded ICC profile. As of this writing, PDF/X usage in
When investigating PDF/X for large the label and packaging market is not
format, a key consideration is the out- widespread, but with PDF 2.0 and the
put RIP driving the printer. There are upcoming PDF/X-6, functionality will
a large variety of different large format be added to make adoption easier and
RIPs available, with different quality more beneficial.
and functionality. Thorough testing is
advisable to ensure the output of the re-
quired PDF/X level is correct and pre-
dictable, before implementing a PDF/X
based workflow. The GWG output suite
mentioned above usually proves to be
very useful in such testing.
PDF/A in a Nutshell
PDF/X Nutshell2.0 11
Tools and usage
PDF/X:
by Andrew Bailes-Collins Tools and usage
PDF/X Tools The graphic arts industry uses a specif-
The good news for anybody wishing to ic term for this quality control process:
start working with PDF/X standards, preflight. The term was inherited from
is that there are many tools available to the preflight checks that a pilot carries
support all aspects of PDF/X produc- out before taking off in an aircraft. In a
tion. The current PDF/X specifications similar process, a print service provider
are well established and mature as far as will thoroughly check a PDF file before it
software developers are concerned. enters the production process to ensure
it is of sufficient quality for the required
PDF/X Creation printed product.
PDF/X files can be created directly from Most PDF preflight solutions offer the
professional page layout packages such as opportunity for a Print Service Provider
Adobe InDesign or Quark Xpress. When (PSP) to correct a lot of the issues that can
Quality control and PDF/X con- exporting to PDF, the user can simply arise within PDF files. This can be done
formance are an absolutely key select the required PDF/X version (1, 3, as part of the service the PSP provides
part of the production process. or 4) and the software will guide the user, to its customer, or can be chargeable. In
allowing only configuration settings that newspaper or magazine production, it is
will produce a valid PDF/X file. not uncommon for publications to insist
It is not possible to directly export a on a ‘print ready’ PDF/X file. These pub-
valid PDF/X file using the output op- lications are not willing to take the re-
tions within office applications such as sponsibility for any potential issues that
Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. However, may arise if they correct the file them-
it is possible to export a PDF file that can selves.
then be converted to PDF/X using an ad- PDF/X preflight and correction solu-
ditional application capable of correcting tions are available in several different
the file to meet one of the PDF/X stan- types of application.
dards. These solutions can be desktop or
server-based, depending on the volume of Desktop solutions
files that need to be processed. These solu- For users who have a relatively low
tions generally begin by checking PDF/X number of files to process, a manual
conformance, and subsequent correction application will probably be the most
to PDF/X is part of this process. appropriate.
Desktop applications such as Adobe
PDF/X Conformance and Correction Acrobat have built–in preflight capabil-
Quality control and PDF/X conformance ities that enable PDF/X conformance
are a key part of the production process. to be checked and corrected. There are
It doesn’t matter if you are supplying files also third-party plugin applications for
to a print service provider, or processing Adobe Acrobat that extend those pre-
PDF files within a print company; quali- flight and correction capabilities.
ty control is paramount. Failure to ensure
that a PDF file meets the required stan- Server-based solutions
dard can result in missed deadlines, wast- For users who must check and correct
ed time, material and extra cost. The later hundreds or thousands of PDF/X files a
a problem with a PDF file is detected, the day, hot-folder driven and server-based
more expensive that problem is to fix. preflight solutions are available. These
12 PDF/X
PDF/A in ainNutshell
a Nutshell
2.0
Tools and usage
PDF/A in a Nutshell
PDF/X Nutshell2.0 13
PDF/X-Plus
14 PDF/X
PDF/A in ainNutshell
a Nutshell
2.0
PDF/X-Plus
parency blend modes is problematic in and preflight profiles for reliable PDF/X
PDF/X-4 since the Adobe PDF Specifi- workflows. The deliverables are freely
cation 1.6 on which PDF/X-4 is based available in German, French and (par-
doesn’t clearly specify how to process tially) in English at www.pdfx-ready.ch.
such objects. Since the goals of PDFX-ready are
The Ghent Workgroup has started very similar to those of the Ghent
working on an enhanced version al- Workgroup, PDF/X-ready joined the
lowing more color spaces and more Ghent Workgroup and is a very ac-
color managed objects using PDF/X-6 tive member. The preflight profiles of
(based on PDF 2.0) which will clearly PDFX-ready are based on the GWG
define processing of transparency with specifications but provide additional
color management. checks and information.
In addition to the GWG2015 spec- In addition, PDFX-ready offers a
ification for commercial printing, family of certifications for its members:
the Ghent Workgroup has also re-
leased GWG2015 specifications for ■■ Creator certification
packaging. These are also based on ■■ Output certification
PDF/X-4:2010 and cover the following ■■ Expert certification
variants:
PDFX-ready also publishes the pop-
■■ Packaging Offset ular PDFX-ready Guideline (over
■■ Packaging Gravure 250,000 downloads), which is updated
■■ Packaging Flexo every year (available in German and
English).
PDFX-ready in Switzerland The latest developments are the
In 2005, the PDFX-ready association PDFX-ready Online Tools which al-
(www.pdfx-ready.ch) was founded in low anyone to upload PDF files to a
Switzerland. The main goal of this or- cloud server for PDF preflight using the
ganization is to promote the use of PDFX-ready profiles, color preflight and
PDF/X standards by creators and re- a conversion from older color profiles to
ceivers of prepress data via easy in- newer versions (ISO Coated V2 to PSO
structions (called recipes), color and Coated V3 and vice-versa) using a free
export settings for layout applications, Connector for Mac and Windows.
PDF/A in a Nutshell
PDF/X Nutshell2.0 15
PDF/X and the other PDF standards
16 PDF/X
PDF/A in ainNutshell
a Nutshell
2.0
PDF/X in a Nutshell
PDF for printing – The ISO standard
PDF/X was the first ISO standard based on About the PDF Association
PDF technology. A subset of the PDF specification, The PDF Association promotes the adoption
PDF/X was designed to constrain PDF files in order and implementation of international standards
to cater to specific use-cases in the print industry. for PDF technology.
Contents: The activities of the PDF Association include
education and promotion of ISO 32000 (the
■
■The history of PDF/X international standard for PDF), as well as PDF/A,
PDF/E, PDF/UA, PDF/VT and PDF/X. We work
■
■PDF/X: The key facts
closely with ISO on the development of future
■
■Technical side and requirements of PDF/X PDF standards.
The PDF Association includes members from over
■
■Users and industry segments 20 countries world-wide.
■
■Tools and usage For more information go to www.pdfa.org
■
■PDF/X-Plus
■
■PDF/X and the other PDF standards