The Ghent Workgroup Releases Its Updated GWG2012 Specification

GHENT, BELGIUM—Nov. 12, 2012—The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) has released its brand-new GWG2012 specification. The last set of GWG specifications (version 4) were released in 2009. New functionalities—such as transparency and layers—now need to be addressed, and looking forward to the future, PDF/X-4 is going to be the new standard for the industry.

To support these changes, there is the need for a new set of guidelines to address functionality, requirements, and problems that were not addressed in the 2009 GWG specifications, such as use of live transparency in page layout applications. Whereas in PDF/X-1a (the basis of the 2009 GWG specifications), transparency was flattened during the creation of the PDF file, the best practice now as provided for by PDF/X-4 is that the transparency remains live within the PDF file and for that matter, throughout the workflow.