CIP4 publishes five new ICS documents

New ICS releases for 2024

The CIP4 Organization is proud to announce the publication of five updated Interoperability Conformance Specifications (ICS) documents. These documents are the result of years of refinement to keep pace with the changing software tools and methods, roles, and pace of automated print production.

ICS Documents are a convenient way to streamline JDF/XJDF implementations. These ICSs define the general behavior of “Workers” and “Managers” and are the basis for domain-specific specifications that focus exclusively upon the core roles of one's products or vendor solutions. For example, the Automated Print Procurement ICS focuses solely upon the interaction of a JDF/XJDF MIS “Manager” system and a  JDF/XJDF Production System. *(Often in a web-to-print environment for example.)

These most-recent releases are iterative changes in the Base ICS 1.8 for "Workers and Managers", Messaging ICS 1.8 for job-submission and communication, Automated Print Procurement ICS 2.2 for use with PrintTalk, MIS ICS 1.8 JDF expanding upon prior ICSs, and the MIS ICS 2.2 for XJDF. This forward-movement is increasingly important as modern systems are being implemented by a growing number of custom and vendor-provided solutions. This work can be helpful to vendors, integrators and workflow architects as a result of the CIP4 usage of traditional software standards, and the backward-compatibility required for legacy solutions.

These updates are also important because; as print production has evolved, so has JDF. CIP4 provides these updates through the dedication of company partners and vendors, working together, with the expertise of decades of development from the leaders of print automation solutions.

The ICS documents have gone through a rigorous editing and quality-control cycle to ensure that they are correct, consistent and easy to understand. Even for an novice inexperienced implementor who may be new to JDF terminology, these documents give a simplified, structured and standardized path to integration of JDF technology into workflows. In addition to numerous updates to the content, the ICS format and design has been made consistent with the latest JDF specification layout and design, which facilitates matching sections of between the specifications, and the ICSs.

Downloads:

The Base ICS 1.8 defines the baseline communication and the roles of Managers and Workers in a JDF environment.

The Messaging ICS 1.8 specifies the basics of job submission as well as methods and procedures for managing communications between Manager and Worker roles in implementations.

The MIS ICS for JDF 1.8 defines the role of an MIS in JDF, and expands upon the prior ICSs.

It's modern sibling:
The MIS ICS for XJDF 2.2 does the same in an XJDF, which stands upon the foundation of JDF, but with modern techniques and tools.

The Automated Print Procurement ICS 2.2 specifies the use of PrintTalk to place orders for Print Products; either based upon a description of the requested products, or assuming a pre-negotiated price list.