April 4, 2001 - The ninth edition of the publication printing industry's web offset and gravure specifications manual is now available from Specifications for Web Offset Publications, or SWOP (www.swop.org). The new edition of the SWOP Specifications includes guidelines that promise to make computer-to-plate (CTP) production more reliable. SWOP For the New Millennium is an authoritative description of best practices for people involved in the publication industry, improving the flow of information from one step in the production process to the next. Publishers, advertisers, agencies, prepress companies and printers joined together to create this edition of the SWOP Specifications, which was last updated four years ago. "The printing industry is a manufacturing business, and like other manufacturers, we can streamline our production process when the input of information is standardized," said Michael Rodriguez, a member of the SWOP board of directors and technical director for R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company. "The SWOP Specifications help everyone in the production chain, from advertisers to prepress shops to printers, work together more efficiently." The 2001 update includes more detailed requirements that, when adopted by the industry, will ease concerns about color accuracy and make CTP more reliable. For example, SWOP For the New Millennium specifies just two formats for print-ready file exchange: TIFF/IT and PDF/X. Rodriguez says that while the industry has continued to struggle with application files, the programs outlined in the 2001 update offer a more reliable way to exchange digital content that is headed for CTP.