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Print Workflow and Processes: Datastreams

Print Workflow and Processes: Datastreams

Datastreams 101 – Episode Summary

In this technical yet approachable episode of The Print University, Ryan McAbee and Pat McGrew unpack the often misunderstood world of datastreams—aka print streams. Whether you’re onboarding staff with printing industry training programs for new employees, exploring digital printing press training, or building prepress automation training (Kodak Prinergy, Esko), this course delivers essential knowledge about how digital files get from layout to output.

A datastream is the instruction set sent to a printer or digital front end (DFE), translating layout files into printable commands. Formats like PDF, PostScript, AFP, IPDS, and PCL are examples of datastreams. The episode explains how legacy systems—especially in banks, government, and enterprise IT—still use formats like Xerox FORMDEFs or mainframe-generated print streams. Understanding what format you’re dealing with and how it must be transformed is essential to avoiding workflow bottlenecks.

Ryan and Pat also break down how transform programs work to convert old or incompatible datastreams into usable formats. This might mean distilling a PostScript file into PDF, or transforming PDF into IPDS. Shops must preflight and optimize datastreams to remove bloated fonts, redundant logos, or inefficient code—making jobs smaller, faster to RIP, and easier to print.

This episode emphasizes that although datastreams may be invisible, they are foundational to production success—especially in high-volume, regulated, or legacy-driven print environments.

You Will Learn:

  • What datastreams are and why they’re critical for printing

  • Common formats: PDF, PostScript, AFP, IPDS, PCL, VIPP, and more

  • How transform tools and optimization reduce print errors and file bloat

  • Why legacy systems still generate outdated datastreams and how to handle them

  • How data stream knowledge empowers automation, accuracy, and production speed

Who This Course Is For:

Prepress operators, workflow architects, IT teams, data specialists, and anyone supporting digital printing press training, prepress automation training (Kodak Prinergy, Esko), or MIS software training for print production

Time to Watch:

Approx. 20 minutes