PDF/X-6 ISO norm for digital print
With the publication of PDF 2.0 in 2017 (first revision in 2020), new parts of the standard were introduced. These concern the formats PDF/A, PDF/VT, PDF/R and PDF/X. They were improved and adapted. Since 2020, PDF/X-6 has been recommended as the successor to PDF/X-4 for professional printing. PDF/X-5 was based on PDF 1.6 and additionally allowed multi-channel ICC profiles, but this version has not seen broad adoption.
PDF/X: standard data format for the printing industry
The PDF/X format was introduced as the first ISO standard for PDF and developed exclusively for the printing industry. The "X" stands for Exchange. PDF/X combines all properties that are important for print templates as PDF files. Above all, it is intended to enable reliable transmission of data from prepress.
As a data container, PDF can transport more than is needed for prepress. However, PDF files should contain all information intended for print production. The first version of PDF/X was created in 1995 to support this data exchange. The format was then developed further: in 2001, ISO standard PDF/X-1a was introduced, followed by PDF/X-2 and PDF/X-3 in 2002 and 2003. It then became the standard data format for the printing industry. With PDF/X-4, a standard was created that met the demand for media-neutral exchange. Since 2020, the current standard has been PDF/X-6.
All about the current PDF/X-6: ISO 15930-9:2020
A special feature of PDF/X-4 was that it allowed the use of the same colour spaces as PDF/X-3, but in addition it was possible to work with transparencies and layers. In printing, PDF/X-4 is often used for textiles. PDF/X-6 has now been developed as a successor version with some improvements for digital print templates and should always be used when you have to meet today's print requirements. Especially with logos, it is extremely important that an ideal reproduction of spot colours is possible. PDF/X-6 brings new possibilities in terms of colour handling and offers functions such as page-based output intents, black point compensation and spectral measurement data for spot colours (CxF). PDF/X-6 also uses the PDF 2.0 function of page-based output intent.
Overview of the most important innovations with PDF/X-6
- Depth compensation (ISO 18619:2015) at document level and parameters for depth compensation (PDF/X-6 stipulates that depth compensation must be activated in the absence of an explicit specification)
- Separate output condition
- DPart metadata (with PDF/VT (Variable Data Printing and Transactional Printing), DPart metadata was developed and is now included in PDF 2.0; this metadata enables applications beyond variable data printing)
- Spot color information with CxF/X-4 and spectral data information for spot colors on an XML basis in CxF/X-4 (ISO 17972-4)
- Mixing hints and interaction of spot colors in printing (print sequence, opacity of spot colors)
- Notes and graphic annotations possible
- Form fields and digital signatures possible
A distinction is currently made between the conformance level PDF/X-6 (completely blind data exchange) and two further sub-versions for special applications:
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PDF/X-6p: applies to documents with an external ICC profile as output condition (successor of PDF/X-4p based on PDF 1.6)
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PDF/X-6n: external output condition for N-channel profiles, use of multicolour profiles (successor of PDF/X-5n based on PDF 1.6)
Notice
Previous PDF/X versions and PDF standards remain valid, of course.
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