JDF - Recipe for Soup ... and a Sandwich

Likewise, states Agfa's Hepditch, "In Agfa's :ApogeeX for Packaging—and typically in packaging workflows—the JDF file begins by setting up the step-and-repeat and layout information," boosting productivity and streamlining production.

Aside from developments such as these (see "The Practical Uses of JDF in Packaging Workflows" on p. 16), however, JDF has been relatively slow to find its way into packaging workflows. Although the Packaging Committee of the Ghent PDF Workgroup has defined the integration of JDF information in PDF workflows as an "open issue," the reality is JDF specifications to date have focused more on commercial printing than on printing and converting. But there are signs that JDF's "Johnny-come-lately" status in the packaging world is changing.