Assembly Required? (PDF workflow)

Learning new tricks

van Hoof reports while some of the programming possibilities of high-end PostScript environments are lost with PDF, users gain reliability, predictability, and page independence. Because PDF is a vector-based format, files transfer faster and are less of a memory burden.

CreoScitex Technical Sales Specialist Steve Miller attests to PDF's ability to "get around," since millions of free Adobe Acrobat Reader applications have been installed throughout the world. He also notes, "Utilizing the functionality of the Portable Job Ticket Format and PDF, users have the ability to incorporate variable data and information into step layouts that is assembled on the fly at output … providing a true, just-in-time stepping solution for packaging." Miller emphasizes his company's strong belief in PDF's suitability for packaging, because, among other factors, "Using PDF eliminates conversion to different file formats downstream. With every conversion, there is risk of mistranslation."