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APOGEE > GWG 1v4 Profiles for Apogee Preflight

GWG 1v4 Profiles for Apogee Preflight

Resource Type:

Apogee Preflight Profiles

Applies To:

Apogee Prepress 7.1
Agfa Apogee Preflight Icon

What it does

The GWG 1v4 specifications describe what PDF files should contain so that they can reliably be exchanged and processed by graphic arts companies and workflows. There are specifications for various market segments such as advertising, commercial and newspaper printing as well as large format and digital printing.
GWG 1v4 compliant files are based on the industry standard PDF/X-1a file format. They have, however, passed a number of additional quality checks to avoid issues with low resolution images, white text overprinting, high total ink coverage, etc.


The Apogee Preflight GWG 1v4 profiles allow users to check if incoming PDF files were made according to the GWG specifications. This assures that these files will be properly processed and it guarantees good output quality. It saves valuable operator time, manual corrections will be unnecessary and document revisions can be avoided. The profiles also enable :Apogee users to create high quality GWG 1v4 compliant files for archiving or exchange with other GWG 1v4 compliant RIPs or workflow solutions. The result will be identical on the different systems. When a file is successfully processed with a GWG 1v4 profiles for Apogee Preflight, you can be sure that the PDF meets the following criteria:

  • It is a valid PDF/X-1a file. That means it is a PDF file with a number of restrictions that assure the file can be printed in a predictable way. All fonts are embedded. The file contains no RGB or LAB data. There are no multimedia elements such as music or movies embedded. There are no forms in the file, nor any Javascript code. Annotations can be present but only outside the bleed. The file is not encrypted and doesn't contain any transfer curves. All the images are embedded which means no OPI is used. Grayscale and color images are 8-bit, the use of 16-bit images is not allowed. The PDF doesn't contain transparency: it is flattened.
  • Black text smaller than 12 points should be set to overprint. White text and line-art should not be set to overprint.
  • No layers are present in the PDF. The designer can use layers in the layout application but they should not be embedded in the PDF as so called Optional Content.
  • All pages in the PDF need to have the same size. Empty pages are not allowed.
  • For ads (the MagazineAds & NewspaperAds profiles) the PDF should contain one single page.
  • There are restrictions on Total Ink Coverage, with the maximum value depending on the intended use:
    • max. 245% for newspaper
    • max. 305% for magazine ads and commercial web offset
    • max. 340% for general commercial printing.
  • Spot colors are not allowed unless the profile has the word 'Spot' in its name.
  • The output intent and matching embedded ICC profile need to be in the list of GWG recommended ICC profiles.
  • Text should be at least 8 points large for newspaper printing and 5 points large for all other applications.
  • Colored text needs to be at least 10 points for newspaper printing, 9 points for magazine ads and web offset, 8 points for all other applications.
  • Lines should be at least 0.14 points for screen printing and 0.124 points for all other applications.
  • The minimum resolution of images depends on the preflight profile that is selected. An error should be displayed if the resolution is critically low (e.g. below 150 ppi for color or grayscale images printed using sheet offset). A warning is shown if the resolution is considered too low (e.g. less than 224 ppi for color or grayscale images printed using sheet offset). Full details for each printing standard can be found in the GWG documentation.
  • The image resolution should not be too high. This once again depends on the preflight profile that is chosen (e.g. 450 ppi for color or grayscale images printed using sheet offset).
  • ...


The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) has confirmed that Agfa Apogee Preflight is compliant with their 1v4 specifications

Downloads

Click here to download the full collection of all GWG 1v4 profiles (13 profiles) for Apogee Prepress 7.1

Or download the profiles individually:

More in-depth details on the parameters used in each profile can be found on the "Version 4 of the Ghent PDF Workgroup Specifications based on PDF/X-1a" document on the GWG website.