Ghent, Belgium -- March 12, 2008 -- Getting PDFs created from Microsoft Office applications to print properly is a difficult undertaking in the typical office environment. The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) today releases best practices and downloadable specifications that can help hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Windows Microsoft Office users worldwide to automatically create final PDFs that are ready to print.

The Ghent Workgroup is an international cross-section of PDF and print experts known for creating, testing, and releasing specifications and best practices that have been proven to make it easy to insure PDF document quality across workflows around the world.  The GWG says this is the first in a series of free Office Document solutions it is planning (see below).
 
A simple to use, end-user oriented, Office Document Printing/PDF Creation Guideline document, as well as the recommended settings files for Microsoft Office and PDF creation tools, are available from the www.gwg.org website.
The V1 Specifications for Office Document Printing, released by the GWG Office Document Printing Subcommittee, encompass the settings for Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 applications that support direct creation of PDF or print to PDF creation tools like Adobe Acrobat, Global Graphics Jaws PDF Creator and direct PDF export from Microsoft Office 2007.
 
The Office Document Printing V1 Specifications are the result of a long period of analysis and thorough testing to address practical issues such as:
- color handling
- font usage
- different PDF creation methods and tools
- the use of live transparency in Microsoft Office applications
 
With the use of the proper tools and the GWG settings there can be reliable exchange of print ready PDF from Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 applications.
GWG Office Document Printing areas for future development:

- Creation of print ready PDF from Apple Mac OS Office applications.
- MS Office-generated XPS (XML Paper Specification) files and how to handle these for production  printing.
- The more general use of XPS as a print ready exchange format between creation and production of printed documents.
- The future use of PDF/X-4 and PDF/A-2 in creation and production as a next step in exchange of print ready PDF.
 
Statements
Says co-chair of the Office Document Printing Subcommittee, Dave Prouty, of HP (USA), "The V1 Specifications for Office Document Printing are an important step toward making the workflow between creation of Office documents and their output in production printing easier and more predictable."
 
Says co-chair of the Office Document Printing Subcommittee, Menno Mooij, from CMBO/IDP in the Netherlands, "The V1 Specifications for Office Document Printing are a result of a long and intensive period of testing different working methods and tools for the creation of PDFs from Microsoft Office applications.  The main goal of this GWG Subcommittee is ensuring consistency between creation and production. This involves making sure that color, image, and text quality remain predictable between design, local output, and production printing."