The Ghent Workgroup’s objective is to establish and disseminate process specifications for best practices in graphic arts workflows. Since its inception in 2002, the organisation has consistently produced numerous process specifications for PDF exchange, as well as developing useful tools for automating processes and testing.

The certification includes the already-certified Enfocus PitStop preflighting software integrated in Apogee and adds Agfa’s own preflighting engine, ensuring that whichever option Apogee users select, they can be confident that their workflow will test incoming PDF files to the most rigorous level. Identifying potential output issues or file processing errors saves both time and materials, enabling printers to operate more productively and to identify recurring flaws in supplied artwork so that both the creative and production workflows can be improved.

Erik Peeters, marketing manager workflow solutions, Agfa Graphics, said, “Every day, Apogee workflow systems worldwide process over one million PDF pages. Making sure that potential issues are detected early in the process is essential. So preflight has always been a key component of our workflow solutions. By using preflight profiles based on the GWG2015 specifications, our users can rely on a solid and proven set of checks that make sure final output meets their quality requirements.”

David Zwang, chairman, Ghent Workgroup, added: "As a globally recognised workflow vendor, Agfa has been a valued participant in GWG initiatives and standards. It has taken an important step in supporting the latest specifications; this is beneficial to all graphic arts associations and to the industry itself who will eventually use and profit from the new preflight profiles in Agfa’s workflow solutions.”

Preflight for prepress quality control

The GWG2015 prefight certification is a validation of the prepress quality control specification developed by the GWG. It contains 14 different ‘variants’ aimed at different print market segments and output methods, all based on the ISO PDF/X-4 standard, but with additional conditions and restrictions relevant to each segment. The variants cover the majority of common print applications and include web- and sheetfed CMYK and/or spot colour, magazine and newspaper advertisements. Because the certification is based on the PDF/X-4 standard, it also includes variants which include the use of RGB colors within artwork files as well as ‘live’ transparency to support the most sophisticated and up-to-date graphic arts workflows.

The test suite used in the certification process comprises 260 test files that cover aspects such as correct detection of minimum image resolution, use of correct color spaces, white and grey overprint settings, ink coverage and spot color usage and naming. File content that does not meet the necessary conditions is either flagged with an error message or with a warning, depending on the importance of the issue and how it could affect output.

Didier Haazen, Senior Innovation Advisor, VIGC, elaborates:“The preflight certification does not only check ‘bad’ cases where errors or warnings should be flagged, but adds positive vetting of ‘good’ examples where no messages should be presented. The test set is the result of years of expertise and real-world experience. The use of so many test files allows for thorough checking against the GWG2015 preflight requirements. The procedure guarantees consistency between different preflight applications, which is a huge benefit for end-users when making comparisons and purchasing decisions.”

For details on GWG2015 preflight certification procedure and test files, please visit GWG. http://www.gwg.org/compliancy-testing-procedure.