What is JDF?

The JDF specification is designed for exchanging information between systems, so that anyone working with data can share it accross applications.This characteristic makes JDF incredibly important and powerful and although it is written in XML, JDF is the only data format of its kind. It provides far more than simple automation of a production workflow facilitating bidirectional data transport accross systems, for e.g. between prepress and business operations.

JDF allows data transfers accross applications and those data transfers include information about the data, the metadata. Metadata can be anything specified in the application from the time and date of a file's creation, through to how the file was created, different versions, and associated files. Therefore, the same information about a file passing through prepress production can be used in an accounting system without operators having to key in the information again.

Within a JDF workflow, jobs are organised according to the required inputs and outputs. There can be many inputs and outputs. A single input such as a customer's name and address can have many outputs, such as to systems for accounting, production planning, advertisement booking and proofing. A single output could have many input nodes, such as images, layout geometry and colour profile.There are many ways to descrive processes in JDF. It all depends on how processes, resources, inputs and outputs are described.

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