Rochester Institute of Technology RIT Scholar Works Theses 2003 An investigation into the effectiveness of PDF/X premedia workflows Nicholas E. Doyle Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/theses Recommended Citation Doyle, Nicholas E., "An investigation into the effectiveness of PDF/X premedia workflows" (2003). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by RIT Scholar Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of RIT Scholar Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. An Investigation into the Effectiveness of PDF/X Premedia Workflows By Nicholas E. Doyle A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ofMaster of Science in the School of Print Media in the College ofImaging Arts and Sciences of the Rochester Institute ofTechnology April 2003 Thesis Advisor: Frank Cost School of Print Media Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, New York Certificate of Approval Master's Thesis This is to certify that the Master's Thesis of Nicholas Doyle name of student has been approved by the Thesis Committee as satisfactory for the thesis requirement for the Master of Science degree at the convocation of Thesis Committee: Frank Cost Primary Thesis Advisor Frank Romano Secondary Thesis Advisor Michael P. Riordian Thesis Consultant Name Illegible Graduate Thesis Coordinator Twyla J. Cummings Graduate Program Coordinator Barbara A. Pellow Chair, SPM Permission to Reproduce Thesis An Investigation into the Effectiveness of PD FIX Workflows I, Nick Doyle, hereby grant permission to the Wallace Memorial Library ofR.I.T to reproduce my thesis in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for commercial use or profit. Date: May 7,2004 Nicholas E. Doyle Table of Contents List ofTables v List of Figures ..*.-.: ..'.,<.. vi Acroynms 7 Abstract 8 Chapter One: Introduction 10 Statement of the Problem 12 Background and Significance 13 Scope of the Situation 14 Conventional Workflow PostScript 15 New Workflow -PDF/X. 16 Premedia Setting 17 Materials and Software Used 18 Objective 18 Reason for Interest 19 Chapter Two: Theoretical Bases ofthe Study 21 Calibration of Kodak Approval to SWOP 21 Imagesetter Linearization 21 Reference Proof 3MMatchprint 23 Reference Proof SWOP Characteristic Curves 24 Benchmark Proof KodakApproval (uncalibrated) 25 Benchmark Proof Measure Results & Calculate Density Step Value 26 Entering Benchmark & Reference ProofData in Dot Gain Manager 28 Rip Dot Gain Data andActivate Calibration Settings 30 Output Test Form with New Calibration Settings 31 Chapter Three: Review ofthe Literature .-. 33 PDF/X History 33 PDFIX-l&l-a 35 PDF/X-2 35 PDF/X-3 -. 36 Why PDF/X Standards are valuable? 36 PDF/X Advantages 38 Portability 38 Color Management 38 PDF/X Disadvantages 39 PDF Workflow Solutions 40 Chapter Four: Hypothesis 43 Chapter Five: Methodology 44 Test Forms # 1-8 45-60 Testing between PostScript and PDF/X-la Workflow 61 Standard Operating Procedures for PostScript Workflow 63 in QuarkXPress 5-0 Print Style Settings 65 Comparing PostScript Workflow to Calibrated (SWOP) Curves 66 Standard Operating Procedures for PDF/X-la Workflow 68 QuarkXPress 5.0 Print Style Settings 68 Acrobat Distiller 6. 0-PDF/X-la Settings 70 Standard Operating Procedures for PDF/X-3 Workflow 73 Converting CMYKsteps to LAB color space 74 QuarkXPress 5-0 Print Style Settings 77 Acrobat Distiller 6.0 PDF/X-3 Settings 79 Qualitative Comparisons ofWorkflows (PostScript, PDF/X-la, PDF/X-3) 83 Quantitative Comparisons of PDF/X-3 versus PostScript Workflow 83 Chapter Six: Results 86 Qualitative Results 86 TF01 Characteristic Target 86 TF02-GATF Test Images 88 TF03 Pictorial Reference Images 88 TF04 - Synthetic Targets 89 TF05 Overprint Target Images 90 TF06 Spot & Gradient Targets 92 TF07 - Illustration 94 TF08 - Design Elements 95 Quantitative Results 96 I. Production Time 97 //. Raster Image Processing Time 98 ///. Overall Time Requirements 99 TV. HardDrive Storage Requirements 100 Chapter Seven: Summary and Conclusions 102 Further Recommendations for Study ., 102 Appendix A: Formulas 104 IV List ofTables Table 1: Density, Percent Dot Area, and Dot Gain (Reference Proof 24 Table 2: Density, Percent Dot Area, and Dot Gain {Benchmark Proof) .i .-.-.-.:.:-. 25 Table 3: Density, Percent Dot Area, and Dot Gain (Calibrated Proof) 31 Table 4: Test Form Comparison Spreadsheet 56 Table 5: TF03: Pictorial Reference Images - Results ofPostScript & PDF/X-la 89 Table 6: TF04: Synthetic Targets - Results of PostScript & PDF/X-la 90 Table 7: TF05: Overprint Target Images - Results of PostScript & PDF/X-la 91 Table 8: TF06: Spot &c Gradient Targets - Results ofPostScript & PDF/X-la 93 Table 9: TF07: Illustration - Results of DDAP Color Bar between PostScript & PDF/X-la.... 94 Table 10: TF08: Design Elements - Results of PostScript & PDF/X-la 96 List of Figures Figure 1: RIT Exposure Test Target 22 Figure 2: Output Device Characterization Test Form 23 Figure 3: 3M Matchprint Characteristic Curves 24 Figure 4: Input Controller 26 Figure 5 : Comparison of Characteristic Curves (Reference & Benchmark Proof 27 Figure 6: Preferences for Dot Gain Manager 29 Figure 7: Benchmark ProofConditions 29 Figure 8: Copy Dot Gain Data 29 Figure 9: New Page Setup 30 Figure 10: Calibration for New Page Setup 31 Figure 11: Test Form 31 Figure 12: Comparison of Characteristic Curves (Reference & Calibrated Proof 32 Figure 13: TF01 - Characteristic Target 45 Figure 14: TF02-GATF Test Images 47 Figure 15: TF03 Pictorial Reference Images 49 Figure 16: TF04 - Synthetic Targets 51 Figure 17: TF05 - Overprint Target Images 53 Figure 18: TF06 - Spot Color & Gradient Targets 55 Figure 19: TF07 - Illustration Example 57 Figure 20: TF08 - Design Elements 59 Figure 21: Photoshop 7 - Color Settings 64 Figure 22-26: QuarkXPress 5.0 Print Style Settings 65-66 Figure 27: Comparison ofCharacteristic Curves (CalibratedProof'& PostScript Workflow) 67 Figure 28-32: QuarkXPress 5.0 Print Style Settings 68-70 Figure 33-38: Acrobat Distiller 6.0 PDF/X-la Settings -. 70-73 Figure 39: QuarkXPress 5 -Save Page as EPS 75 Figure 40: Photoshop 7-Rasterize Generic EPS 75 Figure 41: Photoshop 7 - Convert to LAB color space 75 Figure 42: Photoshop 7 -Save as Photoshop EPS 76 Figure 43: Photoshop 7 - EPS options 76 Figure 44: Photoshop 7 - Assign ColorMatch RGB 77 Figure 45-49: QuarkXPress 5.0 Print Style Settings 78-79 Figure 50-55: Acrobat Distiller 6.0 PDF/X-3 Settings 80-82 Figure 56: TF01: Characterization Target - Results of PostScript, PDF/X-la & PDF/X-3 87 Figure 57: Production workflow time comparison between the PDF/X-3 and PostScript 97 Figure 58: Raster image processing and print time comparison between the PDF/X-3 and PostScript workflows 99 Figure 59: Overall time comparison between the PDF/X-3 and PostScript workflows 100 Figure 60: Hard drive storage requirements between the PDF/X-3 and PostScript workflows. 101 VI Acroynms ANSI American National Standards Institute CGATS Committee for Graphic Arts Technical Standards CD-ROM/CD-RW Compact Disk - Read Only Memory/ReWriteable CT Continuous Tone DeviceGray DeviceCMYK DeviceRGB DeviceN DVD-R Digital Video Disk Recordable DDAP Digital Distribution ofAdvertisers for Publications ECI European Color Initiative GATF Graphic Arts Technical Foundation GRACoL General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography HPS Harlequin Precision Screening ICC International Color Consortium ISO International Standards Organization LCD Liquid Crystal Display LW Line Artwork NAA Newspaper Association ofAmerica OPI Open Prepress Interface Outputlntent PIA Printing Industries ofAmerica RAM Random Access Memory RIP Raster Image Processing PDF Portable Document Format PDF/X Portable Document Format Exchange PPD PostScript Printer Description SID Solid Ink Density SWOP Specifications for Web Offset Publications TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol TF Test Form Abstract PDF/X technology was introduced in the mid 90's with the intentions ofimproving and automating the prepress workflows. Standards committees such as CGATS (Committee for Graphic Arts Technical Standards) and DDAP (Digital Distribution ofAdvertisers for Publications) started to draft and implement a plan ofaction to succeed the current file formats being used in premedia workflows. Previous file submissions that were handed offfrom advertising and design agencies became too time-consuming to prepare them for the final run. Top-tier printing and publishing companies such as RR Donnelley, Quad Graphics, Vertis, and Time Inc, started to invest in new technology integration in order to improve efficiency and automate the production workflow for publications and advertisements. 2/3rds Recently, the committees have finished and received approval on of the intended oudine for ISO 15930: 2003 Standards for Graphic Technology Prepress digital data PDF.1 exchange for the use of PDF/X-la and X-3 have been approved as standards and solutions for the publication and commercial printing markets. PDF/X-2 is still in the process of finalization, but will be beneficial mostly to catalog and commercial printing. The goal of these standards is to provide an efficient vehicle for exchanging raster and vector data for print production within the graphic arts industry. The intent was for the sender and the receiver of PDF/X files to use applications that have the same level of compliance. Therefore, digital data workflows