Has Proofing Gone ‘Soft’?

It’s the same issue we were going through a few years ago in the commercial world with the adoption of PDF-X1A. The whole idea behind PDF-X1A was to make everybody’s job easier; however, the onus was on the client to supply files to the PDF-X1A specification. Clients adopted it because they saw the cost savings. In a soft or hard proofing scenario, we’re talking about the same thing. It also gives the print providers an opportunity to increase their value-add so they’re no longer looked upon as a commodity, but as a partner in the whole project—offering other services apart from output, and these other services make life easier for all concerned.