FOSTER CITY, Calif.--July 17, 2002--Seybold Seminars, a division of Key3Media Group Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary Key3Media Events, Inc., will address the growing acceptance of PDF/X workflow technology at the upcoming Seybold San Francisco 2002, taking place September 9-12 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco. "One of the last remaining issues in all-digital print production workflows has been which format is best for advertisers and customers submitting files for publication and printing," said Gene Gable, president, Seybold Seminars and Publications. "PDF/X is clearly emerging as the winner, due in part to the flexibility and application-neutral qualities of the format. Since Seybold Seminars was one of the first industry groups to extensively cover and critique the PDF/X format, it is natural for us to lead the way as this format matures into a solid tool and international standard." PDF/X (Portable Document Format for Prepress Digital Data Exchange) is a specific adaptation of Adobe's PDF for prepress use, a family of graphic technology standards that standardize the use of Adobe PDF for exchange of print-ready material. PDF/X is expected to become an electronic substitute for the distribution of film separations that have worked well for so long. It is increasingly used in print publications, especially for "blind exchange" digital ad submission, and is gaining acceptance in other printing environments. Further improvements to the standard are being discussed by CGATS (Committee for Graphic Arts Technical Standards) and ISO, making the technology useful beyond the needs of publishing advertisers. PDF/X-1a, approved by the ISO last year, is a preferred choice in publication markets, while PDF/X-3, approved last month, adds color management. PDF/X-2, which will allow image substitution, is still under discussion, but is expected to become popular among commercial printers. Time Inc. recently told its advertisers that it was making a transition to PDF, encouraging print ad submission in vector-based PDF/X-1a format. Time Inc. accounts for nearly one quarter of the total advertising revenue of U.S. consumer magazines. Ad submissions in PDF for Time Inc. are recently up and those in other formats are down. Time's goal is 15-20% in bound PDF file submissions by year's end. Time's printers are also proceeding with a transition to PDF/X-based workflow. As various application programs and experience develop, the use of various versions of PDF/X is going to become very mixed and job-dependent. PDF/X will be covered in several sessions at the Seybold PDF Conference, including the PDF Workflow for Print Publishers and PDF for Print Output Providers sessions. The opening keynote will be addressed by Guy Gleysteen, director of printing, Time, Inc. and Joe Eschbach, vice president ePaper Solutions Group, Adobe Systems, Inc. from 10:30 am - 12:00 pm at Moscone Center, Room 134. For more information about Seybold Seminars, visit www.seyboldseminars.com. To register as media for the event contact Dervla O'Reilly at dervla.o'[email protected].