Ten Years After: CIP4 and the Creation of JDF

Even with Interops and the creation of Device Capabilities, there were still some folks who wanted to see JDF used for simpler integration, and made easier for printers to use. Creo sponsored the creation of a group called Networked Graphic Production Partners (NPG) in 2001 to facilitate the development of partnerships between companies offering interoperability integration. When NPG also began publishing specifications for interfaces between devices and wanted to pursue certification testing, it may have appeared publicly that NGP was competing with CIP4, when in fact the membership of the organizations overlapped significantly and NGP was committed to supporting JDF. In 2003 the two organizations came to an agreement where CIP4 would pursue certification testing of products (which is now done by Printing Industries of America under contract with CIP4), and NGP would not publish specifications, but focus on marketing, education, and business networking programs.