ISO 16613 (PDF/VCR)

ISO 16613-1:2017 Graphic technology — Variable content replacement — Part 1: Using PDF/X for variable content replacement (PDF/VCR-1) enables variable data printing applications using PDF template-based variable content substitution where:

• a PDF template file containing pages with variable content substitution fields (placeholders) is delivered ahead of a print production run and may be reused across multiple print production runs, and
• PDF-based variable data substitution content is provided during print production and merged with the PDF template to produce final form variable content page output.

ISO 16613-1:2017 defines PDF/VCR (PDF for variable content replacement), a set of base technical requirements for a PDF template file format, a PDF-based variable data substitution content format and a framework for in-RIP variable content merging. The PDF/VCR base technical requirements do not include writer and processor conformance, however ISO 16613-1:2017 also defines the PDF/VCR-1 conformance level which is based on the PDF/VCR base technical requirements and defines requirements for:

• the PDF/VCR-1 template file format;
• the PDF/VCR-1 data sequence format, a variable data substitution content format;
• a PDF/VCR-1 writer, a software application which can generate PDF/VCR-1 template files;
• a PDF/VCR-1 data provider, a software application which can generate PDF/VCR-1 data sequences;
• a PDF/VCR-1 processor, a software application which can perform substitution (replacement) of PDF/VCR-1 template placeholder objects with substitution content provided within a PDF/VCR-1 data sequence.