Job Definition Format (JDF)
Automating workflows from desktop to final print production
JDF is the print communication industry's most highly anticipated standard since Adobe® PostScript® and PDF. Design, prepress, and print professionals are looking to JDF as an enabling technology to speed production, increase reliability, and enhance the quality and flexibility of printed output. In an industry where cost and time efficiency are paramount, JDF promises to usher in a new era of workflow automation.
What is JDF?
JDF is based on a special form of Extensible Markup Language (XML), a nonproprietary information carrier that can link and refer files to multiple production devices. Using JDF, you can describe the intent of a printed piece, as well as each process step required to achieve that intent. 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.
In addition to streamlining print production tasks, JDF expands workflow integration beyond the pressroom and into the enterprise itself. JDF-enabled systems can facilitate estimating and materials ordering and interface with other databases such as CRM software and supply chain information. With this capability, JDF further integrates the business of printing (process steps) with the print business (enterprise).
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Highlights
Featured case study
Consolidated Graphics Group
Integrated with Adobe InDesign® CS software, JDF describes every step in Consolidated Graphics Group's workflow for a particular project. Every person who interacts with the file has access to the job ticket, which helps avoid misunderstandings that could otherwise delay job completion. "With JDF, Adobe has done a wonderful job making sure that Adobe Creative Suite exchanges information both upstream and downstream," says David Minnick, Consolidated Graphics' chief technology officer.
Read the full story (PDF, 1.1M)
New JDF Marketplace brochure available
A new issue of the JDF Marketplace brochure (September 2007, Special Edition for IGAS ) is available for download from the CIP4 website.
JDF-enabled workflow: In a nutshell
This demonstration follows the path of a JDF-enabled PDF file from design to production. Learn how designers and printers use JDF and electronic job ticketing to improve communications, speed production, and increase reliability.
JDF Guide for Managers
This 32-page instructional booklet makes JDF understandable for nontechnical decision makers, explaining the process, answering important questions in business terms, and providing next steps for developing a JDF workflow. Download the JDF Pocket Guide (PDF, 165K) with excerpts from the booklet, or visit the PrintTools.org website to order the guide.
Adobe JDF white paper (PDF, 3.8M)
Learn how to create reliable JDF job tickets with Creative Suite and Acrobat 9 in this white paper.
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More information about JDF
Visit the CIP4 website for the latest news and information on JDF or to download the specification and schema.
CIP4 and the CIP4 logo are registered trademarks of the CIP4 organization.
