Practical PDF

In part two of our PDF feature, learn about some of the hurdles you'll have to leap to implement a PDF workflow in both the offset and toner-based environments. (See part one here.)

by Heath Cajandig

LAST MONTH, I discussed the history of the Portable Document Format (PDF) and the challenges it was created to overcome. But in the real world, can PDF files make things faster, easier and more efficient?

First of all, let's talk about PDF in the offset environment. The promise of the PDF is that it can be created by a customer and then RIPed and printed by the in-plant without any preflighting. In fact, most new raster image processors (RIPs) can RIP native PDF files, then trap, separate and image them to plate.

If only it was really that easy.

A good PDF is a combination of good design and correct Distiller settings. When it comes to creating a press-quality PDF, the process actually starts at the beginning of designing the layout.

On the positive side, PDF files do include all of the required resources. So it does deliver on the promise of making the exchange from the customer to the printer easier.

However, when moving from the digital toner world to ink, regardless of the file format, spot colors and other design elements must be properly set up. This is done in the applications themselves before a PDF is created. A PDF is only as good as the source file used to make it.

Other elements such as duotones, multi-channel spot color, multi-color gradients and multiple master fonts cannot be represented accurately in a PDF file. Don't try to handle these elements in a PDF file, as it will fail.

Use Industry Standard Software

Using an industry standard layout package such as Quark or PageMaker is very important when creating a solid layout. That sounds great, but all of us have customers that use programs like Microsoft Word, Publisher or WordPerfect to create their layouts.

These formats are device dependent. This means the file can actually look different from computer to computer depending on what printer they have installed and selected.

Getting a PDF from one of these customers is the only way to make sure that you get the same thing they sent. They may also find that the PDF conversion changes the look of their layout as it goes from a device dependent layout to a device independent one like the PDF format.

How do we handle the file exchange? We encourage our customers to visit our Web site and submit their layout files digitally.

Since our customers submit a layout file that is ready to print, we always ask for the application file, original photos or slides, supporting graphics and the fonts used. Remember, you can't "un-cook" a PDF; so we ask for all components so we can make sure the layout is finalized correctly.

Does this mean that we don't ever accept or use PDF files for press jobs? Not at all.

We use plug-ins like PitStop from Enfocus Software that allow us to accept PDF files from Microsoft Office applications and edit the colors, fonts, text and other elements. This gives us the flexibility to extract design components and content from the PDF and finalize the layout in a package such as Pagemaker. It also means our customers don't necessarily have to have a crash course in Pagemaker just to send one or two jobs a year.

We are fortunate enough to have a stellar staff of desktop publishing experts so this is a viable route. Otherwise, we would have to rely solely on the customer to create a robust layout

We continue to evaluate PDF workflows as they mature for our press environment, and we expect that the Portable Document Format will become even more important over time.

In The Digital Printing Environment

Let's move on to PDFs in the digital printing environment (toner based). Customers want to send digital files for printing; if they can't, they will go elsewhere for service by utilizing an out-of-house service or by purchasing their own digital device.

Because of the nature of a "quick copy" or fast-turnaround environment, the PDF file format is the key to getting a digital original.

Let's face it: Deadlines are accelerating. People need things yesterday. A customer can produce high-quality prints at 20 pages per minute or more from their desktop. So how fast do they expect you to produce 500? Speed has become so important that some customers are willing to ignore the higher ongoing costs of printing their own copies. Keep this in mind.

Another changing customer expectation is quality. Customers are getting used to printing quality color and black-and-white pages from their desktop to small printers. The only way to get consistent high-quality output is to print the document digitally.

The largest barrier to a successful digital transition lies in how to get the customers' documents to your output device easily and without it changing. You essentially need a digital original.

How do you facilitate this transfer and ensure that:

• It looks the same once you get it?

• It contains all fonts and images?

• It does not require prepress expertise?

• It will look the same when printed?

We are back to the exchange problem PDF files were supposed to solve. The good news here is that the PDF format does solve these problems in the digital arena.

When a proper PDF is submitted, it can be sent directly to a digital output device once the printer job options are programmed. Even better—all of the resources are included in the PDF so it is a complete, self-contained document. This file will remain unchanged until it is printed, and both the customer and the in-plant can view the file and see it the same.

It sounds great, and the PDF format really is the answer, but as we discussed in the offset environment, getting a proper PDF is the biggest challenge we face. Thankfully, for digital printing, PDF files can be of varying quality and still work.

Here are the pros and cons of PDF files in the digital environment:

1. An operator can easily be trained to open and print a PDF file—but don't necessarily expect him or her to be able to edit it.

2. A PDF file can contain high enough quality images to exceed today's digital hardware—but often people set Distiller to downsample. This affects quality.

3. The file size is compact—but it is still too large to send as an e-mail attachment in most environments. For a few jobs it may work, but it is not an organization-wide solution.

4. It's easy to use—if you have it installed.

5. It's easy to get—but it's not free.

Here are some other issues: Output devices are not all the same. A PDF with a full bleed will not print on many machines—what the customer sent is not what he or she will get.

Some printer vendors have bugs in the printing software that can affect output. Pick a vendor with strong post-sales support.

In a rapid-turnaround digital environment, the customer is the only one who can correct a PDF with mistakes. On the surface it seems no different than paper originals, but people expect things to be edited easily in the "digital world."

Getting Customers To Buy In

So how do you educate customers and get them to start sending solid PDFs? There are two key elements:

First, creating a solid PDF must be easy for the customer. Many of our customers have primary duties outside of design and layout. Additional complications to their jobs will not exactly inspire them to send only PDF files.

Second, creating a PDF must be cheap or free to customers. I'm not suggesting there is a "free" way to make PDFs, just that we can't expect customers to pay for Adobe Acrobat.

So what are our options?

• We could install and configure Acrobat for them or walk them through the process. (This could involve hundreds or even thousands of PCs and customers scattered throughout your organization.)

• We could install a specific print driver on every customer's machine that either creates PostScript or PDF files. (Same challenges as above.)

• We could create the PDF for them.

Installing And Configuring Acrobat

This solution requires great support and planning. What kind of resources do you have in your shop to install and configure software? Would your IT department be willing to do it for you? How much would it cost per copy?

And then what about newer versions or updates to the software? Who will maintain all of these installed copies? Finally, with employee turnover and new PCs, who will handle installation on those machines?

Installing, Configuring Print Drivers

You have the same deployment issues as Acrobat. What configuration options does the driver allow? Does the driver support devices other than the vendor's? Suppose you got hundreds of these installed: How easy would it be to switch vendors? What about the cost? Do you really want to buy hardware to solve a software problem?

Create The PDF For The Customer

Some vendors are pitching applications that allow a Web site to create a PDF for a customer after uploading their application file. This allows the customer to create the PDF (via a Web site) without paying for thousands of Acrobat licenses or deploying Acrobat across a network of machines.

The downside? It works best with non-standard layout packages like word processing software. Thankfully, users of page layout packages can usually make a PDF. The cost: solutions like this can be expensive. NowDocs and T/R Systems are two vendors that have shown impressive digital storefront technologies.

This final option is the one we are implementing at the University of Missouri. We have an agreement with T/R Systems to deploy its digital storefront product. This will enable us to dynamically create PDF files from Microsoft Office documents. It is currently in early testing and we expect it to be very active in the coming school year.

PDF standards and workflows will continue to evolve and change in the coming years. The best news of all is that the PDF format will continue to be easier for customers and print operators to deal with.

See part one of this article by clicking here.

-by Heath Cajandig

Heath Cajandig is the digital production manager for the University of Missouri-Columbia. Before joining the university, he was a digital printing and document management consultant for Xerox. You can contact him at:

cajandigh@missouri.edu