It completed its membership of NGP last Friday (7 November). It also joined PrintCity in June.

At Drupa, Global Graphics will show a JDF-enabled version of the Harlequin RIP, controlling a remote proofer taking files and JDF instructions from Agfas Delano, as part of PrintCity in hall 6.

Global Graphics chief technical consultant Martin Bailey, who is also chief executive of CIP4, the organisation that oversees JDF, said the firm hadnt previously announced its own JDF-enabled products because we needed to make sure it could reliably interface with other products, and were only getting to that situation now. Thats not because its inherently difficult, its just because firms have been learning how to use JDF.

Global Graphics has been planning and working on its own JDF implementation for more than a year, since the publication of the first workable specification, JDF 1.1a.

Bailey said PrintCity and NGP were both working hard to develop products that could work together, allowing CIP4 to concentrate on developing the specification of the next version of JDF.

Later next year Global Graphics will launch JDF-enabled versions of its PDF Courier job delivery workflow and of its PDF Library.

The JDF version of PDF Courier will build on the current versions instructions on creating XML job tickets to include JDF job tickets. An unnamed OEM has already implemented this, the company said.

Story by Barney Cox