Whenever the subject of document output management and print output formats comes up, the question of which output format is better is sure to arise as well. Despite the differences of opinions, there may be – the answer is a moot point. All document and print output formats have their purpose – both content-oriented formats like XML and HTML and page-oriented document output formats like PDF and AFP. What really matters are the assumptions a company makes and the document print processing structures it employs. A company may have no reason to use AFP, for example, if it prints just a few hundred pages per day.
However, if an organization has a daily print output of more than a million pages, then that is a different story. For that company, the AFP print output format is probably a given. Originally developed by IBM decades ago, AFP is still the industry standard of reliable, high-volume print production. And that is no coincidence: it has features that all other document print output formats do no not. For example, AFP offers the most advanced mode of print monitoring available. If content output is incomplete or incorrect, AFP automatically generates an error message. There’s a reason that, when it comes to the industrial production of account statements, transfer vouchers, securities/portfolio statements, and such, AFP is the format of choice for many companies.
AFP has everything that is essential for bulk production – paper tray control and definitive management of multi-page display, and simplex-duplex printing. The combination of flexibility, the scope of features, and compact data characteristics have resulted in the AFP print output format being a favorite. Application and product developers value its intelligently documented architecture. Even a serious contender like PDF still doesn’t come close to the print quality of AFP. That includes when PDF/VT specifications are used.
Both PDF and AFP document output formats stick to the obvious choice for A4/Letter document processing when it comes to standard-sized page format. However, neither format suits Web or mobile-end devices. For that, the HTML5 output format is required. The W3C standard is the current intelligent format for the creation and display of documents, regardless of the output channel or size.
HTML5 supports reformatting and converting page-to-text; including single data items in the retrieval of invoice items and building index lists and tables of content. Plus, with HTML5, web links, charts, and audiovisual items can be easily embedded. The result is omni-channel-capable documents that are also intelligent, giving them added value beyond simple text display.
HTML5 also marks an exponential addition to functionality. The newest version is the “language of the Web” and can be used as a print version with a short learning curve and little effort. Even so, HTML5 and PDF remain only distant competitors in persevering structural information, but neither will disappear. In fact, quite the opposite is true, because each format depends on the other. HTML5 is the preliminary step before PDF, as PDF/A is still required for processes such as intelligent archiving.
Whenever the subject of multi-channel and omni-channel document output management comes up, there is bound to be disagreement. Still, all document output formats have their place.
In this sense, XML has become the ISO-standardized markup language for transferring data from specialized applications to a company’s output instance. Due to the sophistication of XML technology no special software is required for data extraction. Whether the document output format is HTML5, PDF, or AFP, most IT solutions now employ output management so comprehensively that it is not a problem for any company to develop and establish an overall architecture that keeps costs manageable while still supporting every scenario.
It’s time to end all the break-room arguments and conference side-bars over the “top” format. The decision of which document output format is best comes down to each individual company’s strategy for document processing. They should simply answer some basic questions, such as: Which communication channels will play a role in the future and to what degree? What is the anticipated volume? How will the ratio of physical to digital documents evolve in the new future? The answers to those questions will then determine which formats make the most sense for that organization in particular.
All in all, each document and print output format has its strength and weakness – the application scenarios are what matters. Those alone determine the relevance of the answers to the question – Which format is best?
See more common document output and print formats here...
Sources/References:
André Klein
Freelance DocPath Consultant
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