Ghent, Belgium – The Ghent Workgroup is happy to announce that Esko ArtPro+ 18.1 has perfectly passed a critical test for determining quality displaying of PDF/X-4 documents and is now fully compliant with the Ghent PDF Output Suite 5.

As the packaging print industry increasingly embraces PDF/X-4, Esko, a global provider of integrated hardware and software solutions for packaging, label and wide format customers, is supporting prepress professionals in this transition phase with its ArtPro+ software. The ArtPro+ software has now passed the compliancy test with the Ghent PDF Output Suite 5, processing all 48 test patches without any problems.

ArtPro+ 18.1

ArtPro+ 18.1 opens any native PDF including PDF/X-4 compatible files and allows the user to turn this in a packaging production master, adding packaging specific content like barcodes, trapping, screening etc... Additionally, ArtPro+ 18.1 fully supports ISO 19593-1 processing steps to include finishing data in a standard way.

“Esko believes out-of-the-box compliancy with standards like PDF/X-4 is crucial since this reduces errors and increases productivity in the supply chain. Therefore, we are proud that ArtPro+, Esko’s newest generation PDF native packaging editor, passed the Ghent PDF Output Suite 5 tests without any problems.”, says Lieven Plettinck, Director Software Engineering at Esko.

PDF/X-4 compliant processing thanks to the Ghent PDF Output Suite

The Ghent Workgroup PDF Output Suite version 5.0 ensures workflows are fully compliant with PDF/X-4 to help the printing and packaging industry reach higher levels of production accuracy. It is distributed as a series of PDF patches, each testing a specific property of a PDF/X-4 file. 48 of these patches are amalgamated to six pages that can be easily applied and evaluated by end users of graphic arts applications as well as developers handling PDF files. Results of processing the output suite in an Esko ArtPro+ workflow were verified by the GWG Process Control Subcommittee and assessed as fully compliant.

Stephan Jaeggi, Co-chair of GWG Process Control Subcommittee, adds:“I am happy about the addition of Esko ArtPro+ to our fast-growing list of applications compliant to the Ghent PDF Output Suite 5. It is important that not only output workflows are compliant but also viewing and editing applications. They must correctly display the same output result in the workflow at any time.”

The Ghent Workgroup offers a compliancy label program for vendor members whose products are compliant with the current version of the Ghent PDF Output Suite. You can find the list of all compliant vendors together with instructions for successful output on our website: https://www.gwg.org/ghent-pdf-output-suite-5-compliancy