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Presented at PDF Days Europe 2025
( 2025, Sep )

Moving PDF from Page Description to Product Description

ISO 21812-1:2019 Graphic technology — Print product metadata for PDF files - what is it and can it be used for

Session description

ISO 21812-1:2019 Graphic technology defines the use of page level metadata in print product descriptions. It is based on a subset of XJDF, also known as JDF 2.0.

The goal is to allow a designer to add data that describes a finished print product into a PDF file at a page level. Typical data includes:

  • substrate type
  • folding
  • binding
  • varnishing

In other words, physical properties of a finished printed product.

I will include a comparison of the PDF data with the underlying XML or JSON encoding and outline potential use cases where including the metadata in a single pdf file has advantages over a standard pdf file with an external job ticket.




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