More power to the print job

"The print industry is moving toward shorter run print jobs that include very complex content, such as transparency and variable data elements," states Angèle Boyd, group vice president, IDC. "The Adobe PDF Print Engine unites the design process to the print process, automating design, prepress and print workflows to significantly improve efficiency and profitability."

"There is increasing pressure on creatives to produce sophisticated designs quickly and inexpensively, and printers play an invaluable role in a designer's success," said Frank Romano, professor emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology. "With Adobe PDF and JDF as the backbone, the Adobe PDF Print Engine synchronises designs directly with the printing process; assuring designs print right the firs time - elevating the consistency, reliability and profitability of print."

With the emergence of PDF as the industry-standard for delivering high quality printed content, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are integrating the Adobe PDF Print Engine into a new generation of printing products.

Adobe is providing the Adobe PDF Print Engine as a software development kit (SDK) for OEMs who will build the next generation of PDF printing solutions, including Raster Image Processors (RIPs), print previewing and proofing software and print workflow systems. The modular architecture of the Adobe PDF Print Engine will enable fast Adobe PDF version upgrades, so printers can update their print systems to the latest Adobe PDF specification with little system downtime. Its scalable architecture for concurrent processing is optimised for fast rendering on multiple CPU systems.

Increasing challenges for print production workflows

Today's feature-rich design software lets users develop very complex artwork, which creates ever increasing challenges for print production workflows, such as meeting tight deadlines and accommodating last-minute changes while consistently producing high-quality results. Realising more efficient print workflows and better automation requires print systems built on industry standards. For example, maintaining jobs in Adobe PDF format at the highest abstraction level, without conversions, and capturing process information in the industry standard Job Definition Format (JDF) throughout the workflow, helps eliminate unexpected rework and enables late-stage changes of content or output intent.

The Adobe PDF Print Engine combines the strengths of content definition in Adobe PDF and JDF to control print systems, allowing PDF print jobs to stay device-independent across the workflow. Print workflow systems that are powered by the Adobe PDF Print Engine can easily allow late-stage content corrections, enable repurposing jobs for output on different printing systems and provide on-screen, high-resolution previews driven by the same rendering engine as final stage (RIPs).

"Fueled by the rapid adoption of PDF in the graphic arts industry, Adobe PDF Print Engine is the building block for our partners to deliver a new era in high quality print workflows," says Shantanu Narayen, president and chief operating officer at Adobe. "Adobe continues to innovate in core printing technology because, even in our highly digitised world, the printed page remains integral to how content is delivered and consumed."

Pricing and availability

The Adobe PDF Print Engine SDK is now available for OEM partners, who are expected to begin introducing new products based on the technology starting at IPEX 2006, taking place in Birmingham, UK, 4-11 April or Graph Expo 2006 later this year 15 - 18 October in Chicago, continuing throughout the year.