Often design offices work with the PDF X4 format, but we continue to ask about the seemingly outdated X3 format. Where does this come from, and is it really absolutely necessary to use X3 as a format?

We do indeed require the data as X3, and no change is foreseeable here. The decisive difference between X3 and X4 is that X4 works with integrated transparencies. However, not every printing press can handle this unconditionally, so that the processing time can be unnecessarily extended due to the significantly increased computing power.

Therefore, the standard in our industry is and will continue to be X3, even though X4 is preferred e.g. in textile printing due to the use of the additional layers and transparencies. In the direct mail sector, however, these features lead to a higher effort, which of course also leads to increased costs.

To ensure an optimal print result and not to jeopardise delivery times, we thus still need the data in X3.