All together now – JDF goes on show: Print21 magazine article

Imagine you have three months to put together an end-to-end JDF workflow and then, just to prove that it works, put it on display in front of a live audience of printers. That’s what Trish Witkowski did recently when she helped set up a live JDF print shop at the Graph Expo show.

I recently returned from a five-day excursion to Chicago, Illinois, for the Graph Expo show – “The most comprehensive prepress, printing, package printing, converting, mailing and fulfillment and digital equipment trade show in the Americas.” I was a part of an exciting workflow exhibition entitled ‘JDF Works Print Shop Live’ which was the first-ever end-to-end live JDF workflow collaboration at a show between multiple vendors.

Rewind three months. The idea seemed like a long shot as leaders from the CIP4 Organization, the Graphic Arts Show Company (the managers and planners of Graph Expo), and representatives from some of the biggest names in printing and technology got together on a conference call to discuss the idea. The plan was for live JDF workflows to be running in one main booth and in two to three satellite sites within other larger vendor booths throughout the entire length of the show. We would produce a brochure from start to automated finishing, all driven by JDF data. It sounded great in concept, but could we really all ‘play nice’ together and make this work in time for the show?

In the beginning
In the first month, there was a lot of banter about who wouldn’t work with whose product, and who was in and who was out. It wasn’t looking good. In the meantime, since my folding template creator software was the front-end of this workflow, I had a brochure to write and design so that we’d actually have something to print. We created a brochure entitled ‘The Basics of Digital Print’ which had info about digital printing (the hot topic these days) and also showed a workflow diagram of the exhibition. Ultimately, there were three versions of the brochure – one for the main booth, and one for each of the two other satellite sites, so that people could see the differences in the workflows.

My biggest concern was that our company had to figure out how to make our dynamic folding templates carry the proper JDF data to pass downstream. You see, when we agreed to participate in this workflow, we had only begun to dabble in JDF, but for a truly end-to-end JDF workflow, our file had to carry relevant JDF data at document initiation. Yikes.

Fortunately, our technology wizard, Mark, who also happens to be my husband, figured out how to embed custom FOLDRite XMP data tags into the Adobe InDesign template we generated. The InDesign file would then be exported as a PDF, and the XMP data would stay with the file. We also built in JDF data from the other vendors by request, including trim, crease, etc. He built a web portal to upload the PDF, and it would automatically export a JDF file that could then be absorbed by the MIS system. After that, it was up to the MIS system to communicate the information to the workflow software, the digital colour printer, and ultimately to send our folding intent and related information to the automated folding machine. It sounds good on paper, but could we all pull it together in the end?

A workflow that works
As the show got closer, things started to mesh together and suddenly everyone was committed to the project. There was a lot of back-and-forth in building and testing the JDF file, since different systems process JDF differently, so a lot of adjustments were made to make the file palatable for everyone. We were all passing valid JDF files back and forth, but just because the file is technically correct, it does not mean that it works on everyone’s machines. We provided further testing and files to support this process and collaborate across the workflow requirements for communicating the job intent and job messaging.

Vendors who participated included Adobe, Avanti, Kodak, Xerox, Duplo, EFI, Canon, Heidelberg, CIP4, and our product, FOLDRite. We had a really nice booth and graphics, custom ‘print shop’ aprons and, most importantly, a workflow that actually worked. There were a lot of additional JDF-related materials on display, and several people at the booth available to answer questions and to walk people through the experience. We received a great response at the show, and we’re already planning for next year.

What we learned from this collaboration was that there is still a lot of curiosity about JDF—and I think show-goers appreciated that we all set aside our egos and created an organised effort to educate everyone about the technology. We also found that although JDF is not yet plug-and-play, it is real, and it works. It is all about understanding the process of communication between the various steps in the workflow process to define exactly what is needed to communicate efficiently.

We are definitely up for the next phase as we extend our dynamic folding template technology into the mainstream and appreciated the chance to work with a passionate group of individuals to bring the story and workflow together live on the floor at Graph Expo.