Many of the companies that have entered the large format digital print-for-pay world have not previously been a part of the traditional print world. Approximately one-third are from the screen print market, one-third from the commercial photo lab market, and the remaining third are either new digital print companies entering the market, or are from other short run markets, such as reprographics.

These companies, loosely gathered in the specialty poster, sign, and graphics arena, are fairly lucky that they haven’t been bothered by the standardization going on in the page-oriented print world, through Job Definition Format (JDF). Most had a significant learning curve just to become profitable when accepting, printing, and finishing files from their customer base. And, many of their customers are more technologically attuned than they are.

Many of these new players are now beginning to face the same issues as others before them. How do you create efficiencies in the workflow to reduce costs and become more competitive in a price conscious world? Many have learned that they could charge more for digital finishing than for the print alone, so they have made strong investments in digital finishing equipment.

The Workflow Connection
Many have turned to workflow for their salvation. For example, one digital printer has decided to standardize his entire operation on a single RIP—Onyx Poster Shop—because it handles so many different printers. With this one RIP, all of his prepress through print workflow can be handled within a single, standard interface. New printer purchases can fit right in as a result of the effort spent on learning the common RIP. Workflow can be fully optimized with each new printer purchased. Therefore, the company can continue to grow without worrying about additional training, except on how to use the new hardware itself.

This company was pleased to learn that the Onyx RIP was also fully functional with the Mikkelsen Graphic Engineering i-cut die cutting system they already had in place. The i-cut system includes a graphic description language called i-script that allows cutting instruction files to be generated directly by the RIP at the same time that the print file is ripped. And, the cutting related information can be placed into a hot folder on the network. This allows the designer to provide control for the production finishing process early in the workflow and to have it transferred with the job to its intended part of the production cycle. Now, with one RIP, many printers, and a digital finishing system, information readily moves from design through finishing. This workflow process makes it easier to train production operators because it leaves most of the intelligence where it belongs—at the design stage.

Why JDF?
JDF is billed as a common approach to defining and executing jobs, and is supposed to take some of the confusion out of the production process. This is part of the global customer-based intent to take away opportunity for error, and to streamline print into a true manufacturing process. The vision for JDF is to completely encircle the design-to-production process so that every facet of production from marketing input, to design concept, to prepress/premedia, press, finishing, and distribution, is included. Every process can communicate the details of the print job through the digital workflow process. The intention is to be an open standard, and to allow applications and systems—even from different manufacturers—to seamlessly interact with one another, without the need to re-enter information.

Of course, JDF is much more than this. Information is continually going back and forth between processes. This can impact the determination of what production process is available to further process the job, as well as providing job data into the costing, billing, and MIS systems automatically. However, in a simpler environment than is often found in the commercial print marketplace, those that have been using products such as Poster Shop and i-cut, are already implementing part of the JDF process without even realizing it.

To get the full advantages of JDF, more of the companies that provide systems to the digital large format world will need to work together closely. By doing so, the advantages that have become common in the offset and flexo world could be broadened into the digital large format world. One definite step in this direction is with the completion by EFI of its acquisition of Vutek. As one of the leading workflow companies, including both prepress and shop floor software, EFI is well poised to do this. Vutek, as perhaps the large format printer company with the most installs, is also in a good position to move the JDF concept along.

But, for those of you already running a digital large format system, is there anything else you can do in the interim? Keep in mind that JDF is not a specific process, but a set of reporting rules that runs to 600 pages and is subject to significant interpretation and confusion. A number of consortiums of companies have banded together to determine the subset of JDF to which they will all comply—thus guaranteeing that their systems will be able to talk together as proposed with JDF.

In the Meantime
JDF is still very much in its infancy, although heavily promoted. Many products work well together in theory, but have not even been well tested in a complete production environment. We have no doubt that JDF will become prevalent and conventional, just as other attempts at uniformity and simplicity have. For now, though, what do large format digital printers do?

• Understand your own workflow. Identify the way in which you handle jobs. What are all the key parameters for each job? What is common to all, or could be?

• Are there any workflow solutions available that might be able to fit more of your needs?

• Normalizing the kind of information that you get or need from your customers to fit your workflow is important. It may mean enforcing specific job ticket needs and getting rid of some that are no longer meaningful.

• Give the process a test run internally. Fine tune it. Then try to get your biggest and most important customers to get you the data the same way.

• Talk to your suppliers about products they suggest or work that they are doing that could help with your endeavors.

By moving at your own pace and keeping the objective toward simplification and reduction in errors in mind, you will be able to begin your own movement toward JDF’s benefits. Avoid being caught in the middle of companies that have made commitments and promises, but are still without a working solution.