FILE FORMATS & STANDARDS -- Practices Make Perfect

The effort to establish an open, yet predictable, workflow started with DDES (Digital Data Exchange Standard). It took a sustained effort by the DDAP (Digital Distribution of Advertising for Publications) association, however, to achieve a measure of success in the form of TIFF/IT.

With the rise of PDF, followed by the PDF/X standards initiative, the role of DDAP was eclipsed. As of press time, an agreement reportedly was still in the works to merge the association into the IDEAlliance (International Digital Enterprise Alliance) organization as a network group. The plan under discussion was to continue the organization's focus on educating the market with an individuals-based membership.