“It is amazing that Fogra has been doing this for almost 75 years already, and we’re honoured to be able to work closer together in the future.” – David L. Zwang, Ghent Workgroup
The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) announced that it has welcomed the German Fogra Institute as a new liaison member. Founded in 1951 as a research institute for the graphic arts industry, Fogra was established to enable companies to achieve scientific and technical progress through collaboration – even among competitors. The mission aligns closely with that of the GWG, which brings together all key parties in the printing industry to develop and promote best practices.
“The concept of liaison memberships allows GWG to work closely together with other industry organizations that work around technical and scientific progress,” comments David L. Zwang, Chair of the Ghent Workgroup: “It is amazing that Fogra has been doing this for almost 75 years already, and we’re honoured to be able to work closer together in the future. The mission statements of both organizations are wonderfully aligned, and our respective focus on PDF and colour is nicely complementary. We could not be happier to be able to support each other going forward.”
Dr Andreas Kraushaar, Head of the Prepress Department at Fogra, puts it this way: “We are pleased to join the GWG as a liaison member. For many years, our preflight recommendations were based on the well-established PDFX-ready specifications. With PDFX-ready becoming less active, aligning with GWG is a natural and forward- looking step. GWG not only offers robust, up-to-date preflight specifications but also provides them in English, making them accessible to the broader international audience we aim to reach through standards such as ProcessStandard Digital (PSD). We look forward to contributing to and benefiting from GWG’s global expertise and collaborative spirit in the service of print quality and standardization.”
One example of how cooperation can benefit both sides is a joint technical meeting. The GWG intends to organize one of its technical meetings at the Fogra headquarters in Munich-Aschheim, Germany, in early 2027. This will give experts from both organizations the opportunity to meet and work closely together. This will bring together a wealth of printing knowledge for the kind of educational events that GWG likes to combine with its technical meetings.
Fogra conducts application-oriented research in the field of print and media technologies. It has played a key role in developing groundbreaking and internationally recognized standards for process and quality testing. Its international membership includes companies from across the entire media production spectrum – from producers of printed and electronic media to equipment manufacturers. Fogra positions itself as a modern service provider, offering industry-specific testing, expert advice on quality assurance and mediation I technical disputes. Its greatest assets are its extensive knowledge base, its in-deep technological expertise and keen understanding of current developments.
The Ghent Workgroup, formed in June 2002, is an international assembly of industry associations, suppliers, educators, and industry members from around the globe. The Ghent Workgroup aims to establish and disseminate process specifications for best practices in graphic arts workflows. Since its inception almost 20 years ago, the organisation has consistently produced numerous process specifications for PDF exchange, developing practical tools for automating processes and testing and establishing consistent PDFs for print, publishing, and packaging production – all free at www.gwg.org.
Members are comprised of graphic arts associations, including CIP4, Fespa, Fogra, Medibel+, Printing United Alliance, TAGA Italia and VIGC. Vendor members include callas software, Canon, DALIM Software, Dataline, ECO3, Enfocus, Esko, Fiefry, Heidelberger, HYBRID Software, PageProof, Ricoh, Taktiful Software Solutions, Tech Research (TagG) and Ultimate Tech. Industry members are CAPT, Direct Mailers, JP/Politikenshus, Lab9 Pro and RRD Communications. Educational members are CEC Latam, Future Schoolz, GIPT, Hochschule der Medien, RIPT, Rochester Institute of Technology, Ryerson University, UiTM, University of Ljuubljana, University of Novi Sad and University Wuppertal.
