Archive notice: This article was originally published on May 29, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Adobe Systems today announced Adobe PDF Print Engine 2, the new version of its innovative printing technology. It enables end-to-end workflows for outputting complex graphics based on Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 is designed for the needs of offset and digital printing. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and print-service providers can use it to optimize variable data printing (VDP), making it easier to develop personalized campaigns for different target groups.
Since its introduction in 2006, Adobe PDF Print Engine has been incorporated into more than 2,000 production systems from leading manufacturers, including Agfa, FUJIFILM, GMG, Heidelberg, Kodak, Screen, and Xanté. Dalim Software, EFI, Océ Printing, and Xerox have already announced that they will use Adobe PDF Print Engine 2.
Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 addresses the complexity and limitations of variable-data-printing workflows that have previously hindered broad adoption of VDP. By supporting PDF/VT, an emerging PDF standard for variable data printing, the software enables print-service providers to add VDP easily to existing workflows. Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 makes personalized publishing easier to implement than before and accessible to a broad market.
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“Personalized publishing is the optimal way to provide customers with relevant information,” said Dr. Naresh Gupta, Senior Vice President of Print and Publishing at Adobe. “The new version of Adobe PDF Print Engine will help print-service providers take advantage of VDP through fully unified PDF-based workflows, from creation and coordination through to output.”
Unified PDF workflow
The end-to-end workflow implemented with Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 is based consistently on unified PDF technology—from content creation with Adobe Creative Suite, through checking and proofing with Adobe Acrobat Professional, to printing with Adobe PDF Print Engine—making the next generation of print jobs more efficient and less complex.
Optimization for digital printing allows Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 to render sophisticated graphics quickly. Print-service providers can add personalization easily to existing workflows by drawing on tools, methods, and expertise already familiar from prepress. Exchanging VDP content as user-friendly PDFs also simplifies collaboration among designers, business users, printing professionals, and prepress specialists.
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Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 uses the industry-standard Job Definition Format (JDF), which enables automation of end-to-end workflows. Print-service providers can thereby achieve considerable cost savings, including through easy-to-use online job submission. Revised code also makes optimal use of existing hardware resources such as RAM and multi-core CPUs. A highly scalable architecture enables parallel job processing by next-generation raster image processors (RIPs) and digital front ends (DFEs).
“Margins in the printing business leave little room for maneuver. Every opportunity to reduce costs and streamline processes is therefore advantageous,” said Riley McNulty, Research Manager for Document Solutions at IDC. “Adobe PDF Print Engine 2 is impressive. The ability to manage all elements from beginning to end within an integrated PDF-based workflow is a strong value proposition. The benefits are clear.”
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