Job Definition Format (JDF) is all “about doing more with less.” So says the Avanti website. Avanti is a company that provides JDF-certified business management software for the printing industry. Those few words sum up the concept of JDF technology as the print communication industry’s most highly anticipated standard since Adobe Postscript.  Because of its potential to increase efficiency, graphic arts professionals are looking to JDF as the new technology to automate workflow in an industry where cost and time efficiency are paramount. 

 

JDF technology can automate a print shop’s workflow and keep an ongoing and accurate account of each step in the process. JDF provides a standard set of data interface points between devices that link workflow steps and generate relevant information for every step—from sales to design, right through to post production and shipping.

 

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

Many graphics and print shops are faced with common day-to-day obstacles that affect productivity and costs. These issues may include: having to enter data multiple times, paperwork pileups, order tracking difficulties, quotation change problems, and outdated invoice and billing processes, among other bottlenecks. JDF seeks to streamline productivity by automating the accounting of these processes and linking them to the content files. As a specific aspect of the job is completed, JDF can automatically “preflight” the next step in the process. The end result is a seamless workflow and a complete record of each individual step of a job. 

 

Originally JDF was conceived as a standard for the printing and graphic arts industry to streamline information exchange between different applications and systems. However, JDF is not simply a piece of software or a workflow. It’s based on a special form of Extensible Markup Language (XML), which is basically a nonproprietary data conveyer that can link and connect files to multiple production devices. JDF can describe the intent of a printed piece and defines each step necessary to realize that intent. Also JDF can troubleshoot human communication errors. Every person who interacts with the file can have access to the electronic job ticket associated with that file—thus avoiding common miscommunications that can slow job completion.

 

The Adobe Systems JDF web page (www.adobe.com/products/jdf) describes it this way: “Think of it as a smart, self-directed electronic job jacket that holds not only the job content, but also instructions to interact with other JDF-enabled devices, automatically routing the job through each workflow step—from creation to final print production—for greater automation, speed, cost efficiency, and ease of use.” 

 

The analog version of a job jacket may be an envelope or folder that contains instructions and specifications about a job. It may originate with the sales department as a record of the customer’s contact and purchase information. 

 

As the folder migrates to the estimating and scheduling department, a detailed job description with the job’s specifications will be inserted in the folder, which will then progress into production, post production, packaging and delivery. Each employee does their part, as they sign off on work completed. JDF digitally and automatically accomplishes the same functions and attaches the information to the content files as a form of metadata so that any and all information about the job’s status can, at any time, be instantaneously accessed.

 

NUTS AND BOLTS

The JDF is coded in Extensible Markup Language (XML) The XML files run the scripts that automate workflows, but there’s more to it than that. While XML provides the rules of syntax and default data types, it does not require “validation.” Validation is critical to many applications, especially where data is going to be imported into a database. Therefore, JDF also has a Worldwide Web Consortium’s (W3C) XML Schema Recommendation component. By using a schema, JDF allows for validation of metadata. 

 

JDF also provides specifications for file naming and methods for linking or embedding JDF and content files. Both make use of hypertext transmission protocol (HTTP), which requires TCP/IP networking. A networking protocol and method of data exchange are as critical to automated information gathering as is the XML component of JDF. 

 

JDF file information includes the job’s name, its date of delivery, job parameters (size, quantity, color management, media type, etc.) customer data and production info, and any type of information relevant to its completion; from design to production, to printing and post-press finishing. All this information is embedded in the XML tags. When one system receives JDF instructions, it performs the task and then “preflight’s” new instructions for the next system in the process, forming a linked sequence of instructions throughout the entire workflow. 

 

Without JDF, each project has a labor-intensive custom workflow because each job has its own specific set of steps to completion. JDF automates and documents each step so that time and labor are reduced and materials are utilized more efficiently. JDF enabled devices are available to print shops of any size. For the most part, vendors implement JDF in the systems they manufacture. JDF is very flexible and custom workflows can be designed to suit the print shop’s workflow. Even if a shop has purchased JDF enabled devices they will not automatically start talking to one another, therefore like all equipment purchases, JDF device implementation must be configured and tested.

 

ORIGINS 

Originally conceived by Heidelberg, the initial concept for JDF was ultimately drafted by Adobe, Agfa, Heidelberg and Man Roland. An organization called the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press, and Postpress (CIP4) sets the standards for JDF. CIP4 is a not-for-profit standards association, whose mission is to foster the adoption of process automation in the printing industry. CIP4 includes a diverse group of printers, prepress companies, publishers, vendors of graphic arts systems and software, integrators, distributors, consultants and educators. Currently, CIP4 consists of about 1,600 individuals from more than 300 member companies. These individuals participate in one or more of 27 workgroups that focus on technical subjects and educational and automation promotional activities. CIP4 has defined standards for JDF input for conventional printing.  

 

CIP4 offers a very useful downloadable manual, the JDF Guide for Managers, which can be downloaded at www.cip4.org/marketplace/The_JDF_Marketplace.pdf. The 32-page instructional booklet makes JDF understandable in non-technical terminology. It explains the process, answers important questions and describes the steps for developing a JDF workflow. Especially convenient is the ongoing list of vendors who manufacture JDF-enabled equipment and software, and who can assist in the implementation of JDF into your workflow.

 

WIDE FORMAT JDF—IT’S HERE!

In June 2010, Hewlett Packard was selected to chair the Wide Format Workgroup of CIP4 to establish open JDF standards for wide-format printing workflows. This initiative focuses on interoperability between devices in the wide-format printing environment. As JDF makes its way into the wide-format printing industry, shops can gradually begin implementing automation into their workflow. JDF-enabled equipment and software can be purchased with the confidence that any new equipment purchased later will support JDF and neatly interface with their systems. 

 

HP has also initiated a certification program to standardize the inter-relationship of wide-format related products called “HP Certified for Wide Format Printing JDF Exchange.” This certification assures that the exchange of JDF information among certified devices will be seamless—or in other words, it allows various devices to “talk to each other.”

 

An example of this new trend in wide-format printing automation is PrintFactory, an HP certified JDF software solution and one of the first software suites to extensively support JDF for standards-based integrated production automation. 

 

“Heightened economic pressure and shortened job preparation requirements continue to increase the need for automation in wide-format printing workflows,” says David van Driessche, chief technology officer with Four Pees, the world-wide distributor of the PrintFactory. “The focus with PrintFactory has always been to increase efficiency while preparing, producing and finishing wide-format jobs; supporting JDF in all stages of the workflow is a natural move for Four Pees. As proven by the HP certification we just received, automation is not something we simply talk about; it’s there and PrintFactory users can start to take advantage of it today.” 

 

Other HP wide-format JDF certification program alliance partners include Onyx Graphics, Caldera, ColorGATE, EFI, EskoArtwork, MediaWide, GMG and Printable Technologies.