DATA INTEGRATION -- Tooling Up for CIM

The alphabet soup already includes JDF/JMF (Job Definition Format/Job Messaging Format), an XML-based digital job ticket specification on its way to becoming a standard. It is being developed under the direction of CIP4 (the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress). JDF, among other things, is seen as enabling a direct interface between print management systems and production systems—hardware and software. (For more background on JDF, see "It's Just the Ticket" in the April 2003 edition of Printing Impressions or visit www.cip4.org.)