Color variable data print standard and its significance
The printing industry is well aware of the benefits of using standardized variable data languages ​​to drive production. Concerning the two standards formulated by PPML and VDX for the production of color variable data prints, the differences between them have been disputed. This article will focus on some of the content related to standards, so that we know why they are so important, and then look at the advantages and disadvantages of using one of the languages ​​or both.
Let us get higher profits
Variable data printing (VDP) differs from other printing in many important ways. The printed products are high-quality full-color prints that are very similar to four-color offset printing. Their printing process, binding and post-press processing are also the same. But each page of the printed matter can contain different content, whether it is the only combination of images, personalized text, pie charts or other content.
Since Ed McMahon first proposed "You are already a winner!", There are many ways to print personalized content. These very definitive methods usually divide production into two parts-a colored background shell and a black and white personalized imprint. This imprint is mostly text and sometimes a simple graphic.
These methods are highly efficient and have created significant benefits for consumable production companies and the printing companies that make them. They are data integration and almost always separate the printing process and data processing part, that is, the shell is often made by one company, and the programming and data printing work is carried out by another company.
With the help of the color VDP, we can realize that a blank piece of paper enters the printing press to obtain the printed product. This means that a single operation must notify both parties of the data processing part of the printing and job. Despite the small profit, the company doing VDP still had to do more work than before.
Huge leap
It is easy to treat color variable data printing jobs as general printing projects, like QuarkXPress jobs where everyone receives a unique version of the document. The software can automatically insert the value into the Quark file, after which it can be printed in the normal way.
Let ’s imagine a personalized Termimator3 movie poster with Schwarzenegger ’s words “Bau Smith, I want to see you in the movie!†This is a 12x18 inch poster with the entire picture A full-color image and a separate line of text with different content. Printing it is equivalent to taking a 250MB (megabyte) file to RIP in 60 seconds. If you print 1,000 copies of such posters on a modern printing press, you need to create a 250GB (gigabyte) file, and then take 16 hours to RIP. This simple but inconvenient number explains why we need VDP technology instead of the usual Post Script printing.
OPI for variable data
Many people in commercial printing are familiar with the advantages of 0pen PressInterface (OPI: Open Press Interface) in the color prepress workflow. It enables a high-resolution image to be included in the print file through an image link instead of Include it in the printed file. After this file was RIP, the image was taken out and inserted. In addition to not inserting the image into Post Script and RIP it again, almost every VDP language uses this method. The image is stored in a pre-printed format after RIP, which is included in the print data stream instead of RIP further.
The basis for each variable data printing form that has been created is the ability to print multiple times with only one RIP element. Each of these languages ​​has its advantages and disadvantages, and the printing presses made for them also have their own production "best points." Hp Indigo presses have long supported spot color printing.
The Xerox2000 system is an inexpensive machine that requires almost no operator intervention. Web Xeikon printing machine is the main force of production. [next]
Cache process
The key part of each variable data language and printing system is the cache memory after RIP, where the components that pass through RIP are stored and merged into various combinations. The variable data generation tool divides the job into separate components, and the separated components are RIPed and stored in the cache memory. The metadata of the content of each page is transmitted through the variable data language, so that the digital front-end system on the printing press merges the elements into the final page to be printed.
Different systems have completely different cache schemes, and vary greatly in capacity. Some can store thousands of images indefinitely and merge them at the speed of the engine, others store a single background image in cache memory and delete these images at the end of the job.
interoperability
In the early days of VDP, each digital front end and printing press system had a dedicated software tool. Agfa Chromapress uses PersonalizerX to carry QuarkXPress to generate Intellicache files. Xeikon uses Private-I, a private brand version of PnintShop Mail, used to drive early presses, while DataMerge QuarkXTension is used for later presses. Xerox uses DarwinDesktop to carry QuarkXPress. Indigo owns Yours Truly XTension. All these software packages run on the presses designed for them. This lack of interoperability has caused inconvenience for printers. Before they can build digital printing or data services, they must choose a printing press, a software package, and a workflow solution.
Several printing companies have discovered the market they serve, but cannot form a business because the system they choose cannot match the required work. Replacing a printing system requires a different workflow and software package to redeploy all operations that have been put into production. If the company ’s business is diversified by adding another output system, they are required to continue to have two complete workflows, including software and well-trained employees. For these multi-system sites, it is more troublesome that each job performed has to be designated as a dedicated device, and it must always be run on that system. If the job increases, a change is required. If the machine cuts production or the company wants to remove one of these systems, all operations must be redesigned to run on the other system.
Printing companies with some combination of color offset printing equipment and black-and-white digital equipment must also use different software to drive them. All these systems can work, but there is no unified workflow or software tools to drive all the equipment.
Variable Data Standard
The Digital Printing Industry Association PODi (the origin of the Print-on-Demand Initiative on-demand printing). It organized a technical team to formulate a variable data printing language specification that is compatible with all of the printing systems of its vendor members. This produced PPML (the Personalized Print Markup Language), that is, personalized print markup language. PPML based on XML provides a framework through which different vendors' systems communicate. This is a huge step in the right direction. It is very different from the existing variable data language developed by PODi member companies. Creating a separate workflow that can drive all printing systems will generate a "winner" whose system can best utilize standards and develop unsuccessful areas.
PPML is broadly defined as suitable for a wide variety of software technologies and cache systems. Early implementations of PPML used a standard language, but extended it, (remembering the x letter in XML) to include special functionality that enables the system to operate efficiently. However, this means that PPML used on one printing machine may not be used on another printing machine. This means that there is standardization but no interoperability.
PPML / VDX
The standards developed by the CGATS group are a way for producers and producers to exchange variable data printing jobs, and extensive agreement is no longer required between the two. This creates conditions for interoperability, because anyone who creates a PPML / VDX file can confirm that the file can be run on any output system that is PPML / VDX compliant. In fact, the CGATS standard is based on the existing definitions of PDF for image content and PPML for variable data structures.
The PDX / X-1 format is used in a strict subset of imaging and PPML in accordance with the specifications of strict consistency level restrictions. With these specifications, everything required for the operation is included in a single file. At the same time, other standards that are not strict in consistency are determined and used as an agreement between the document creator and the user. PPML / VDX is a work in progress. As far as its current embodiment is concerned, it is not suitable for storing images in the cache memory between two jobs. For example, Amould's images require RIP every time the part is reprinted.
Unified workflow
Of course, the real goal is to achieve: a single workflow can drive any device so that the user can decide which machine or device will perform the operation at the last moment. In a unified workflow, a job starts with a fully digital job on a specific machine, and then can be passed to prepress / printing / or other color equipment when the production volume changes.
As mentioned earlier, all digital printing systems use the same technology to decompose jobs into discrete elements for RIP and then use variable data languages ​​to reassemble them from the cache. As an example of this method, GATF and Think121 have developed Varible DataBenchmak (Variable Data Benchmark Program), with which a single job can be processed into a compound variable data language and run on each digital color printing system on. From the GATF, it takes only a negligible fee to obtain benchmark program reference files, which will allow users to compare the performance and production characteristics of various systems or support more than one variable data language used in printing systems. The software used to generate the benchmark program files is widely used in profitable printing plants around the world. It supports devices from many manufacturers (in alphabetical order): Barco, Canon, EFI, Heidelberg, HP, IBM, NexPress, Oce, Xeikon, Xerox.
in conclusion
Variable data standards are very important to our industry, but they are nowhere near as important as establishing effective work processes to make a company profitable. When evaluating these technologies, you can make a purchase decision for the currently available technologies, and you should also consider some situations that cannot be realized in the future, or use a pun to exaggerate: Cache memory is a must for you.
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