WEB PRINTING SPECS -- SWOP for the New Millennium

BY MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ

Over the last quarter century Specifications for Web Offset Publications, or SWOP (www.swop.org), has become a major factor in the success of the publication industry in the United States and a widely recognized acronym around the world.

This has been accomplished in a diverse business and technical environment by means of reasonable specifications put forth by a group of dedicated volunteers. These volunteers understand that the printing industry is a manufacturing business which, like other manufacturers, can streamline its production process when the input of information is standardized. SWOP specifications help everyone in the production chain—from advertisers to prepress shops to printers—to work together more efficiently