Earlier this month, the AFPC got together in Boulder for its twenty-fourth meeting since inception as the AFP Color Consortium in 2004. We had 25 AFP ambassadors onsite and 17 remote, representing 19 companies in all.

We kicked things off by going back to our roots with a two-day Color Summit, where we discussed methods for further expanding the types of color management available in AFP, along with other ways to make AFP document generation more flexible and output more vibrant and multipurpose.

Also along the lines of increased flexibility, we reviewed our progress in defining a standard XML schema for validation, taking in a presentation from guest participant TallPine’s Jerry Sampson who demonstrated his XML samples and tools. Additional proposals from ISIS Papyrus and CDP will be compared at our next meeting, where we expect to decide on an XML strategy that could result in a framework for developers to interact with AFP in entirely new ways. I’m looking forward to seeing how this unfolds as we continue testing different approaches.

During our meeting, we also made strides in expanding the architecture to increase AFP’s graphic capabilities, with several architecture changes reaching consensus status or moving to final.

It’s really great to see us taking these steps forward together. At these meetings, we’re able to focus on what matters for the good of the architecture and our end-users. Considering how fast paced and interconnected the world has become, it’s no surprise that the best way to keep AFP up to date and relevant is with our global network of experts, of whom I feel honored to be a part.
It’s an exciting time to be involved in AFP, and I already can’t wait for our fall meeting in Poing, Germany, which will be hosted by Océ. Stay tuned for my wrap up report!