Harlequin RIP Manual
Harlequin RIP Manual
Harlequin RIP Manual
OEM Manual
Windows Operating Systems
v11.0r1—January 2016
2 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
Contents
Preface 9
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 3
5 Configuring Output Formats 91
Creating and managing Page Setups 91
Page Setup Manager dialog box 92
Edit Page Setup dialog box 94
Selecting different devices 96
Sending output to the screen 99
Output to Preview 103
Output to None 103
Output to TIFF 104
Output to PDF Raster 118
Sending output to a printer 124
ProofReady plugins 125
Multiple device output plugins 126
Output plugin dialog boxes 129
Separations, Screening and Color 129
Advanced Media Saving 131
Media and time saving using optimization 137
Default page size 139
Margins 139
Printing effects 140
Control strip 141
Scaling the image 150
Features 151
Cassette management 153
Page Setup Options 153
Page Setup Option Extras 158
PDF Options 161
Calibration 161
XPS Options 163
6 Screening 167
Managing separations styles 167
Separations Manager dialog box 168
Edit Style dialog box 169
Halftoning 170
Screen angles 175
Dot shapes 176
Halftone frequency 179
Screening options and number of gray levels 180
Job settings and Harlequin MultiRIP settings 184
Harlequin Precision Screening 185
Harlequin Screening Library 191
Automatic detection of color separations 198
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7 Configuring the RIP 199
Configure RIP dialog box 199
How the Harlequin MultiRIP controls files 200
Control of page buffering modes 201
Job timeout 203
Threads and parallel processing 204
Harlequin VariData 206
Printer buffer size 207
Extras 209
Specifying prep files 210
Harlequin MultiRIP memory allocation 210
Minimum free disk space 212
Disable sounds 212
Resetting the Harlequin MultiRIP to default values 213
Choosing the user interface language 213
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 5
Input file formats 277
How to activate Simple imposition 278
The Imposition Manager 278
Configuring Simple imposition 279
Example impositions 295
11 Fonts 305
Supplied fonts 305
Types of font 306
The DLD1 format 307
Installing fonts in the Harlequin MultiRIP 308
Pre‐loading fonts 310
Producing a list of installed fonts 310
Proofing fonts 311
Removing fonts 312
Composite fonts (Type 0) 313
Font substitution 314
The HqnFontSetStubs start up files 315
Font backup 316
Font Emulation 316
12 Calibration 321
Why calibration is needed 321
Calibration and linearization 323
Calibration in the Harlequin MultiRIP 324
Example procedure 325
Editing calibration sets 334
Consistency of calibration 337
Tone curves 339
Press calibration 339
Using a combination of calibration sets 342
Print Calibration dialog box 343
Calibration Manager dialog box 345
Edit Calibration dialog box 349
Features introduced for flexographic printing 356
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Trapping features 402
Pages in the Output Controller 403
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 7
8 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
Preface
The Harlequin RIP is an interpreter and renderer for multiple page description languages.
É
This manual is a complete guide to using the Harlequin RIP, and provides technical details
É
when necessary. For details of how to install the RIP, see the separate Installation Guide.
This manual is intended for anyone using or evaluating the graphical user interface version
of the Harlequin MultiRIP for PC platforms running on Microsoft Windows. The guide cov‐
ers the features of the Harlequin MultiRIP in a structured way, giving examples that show
you how to perform a wide variety of useful tasks in the RIP. For more details about the
other versions of RIPs available, see Chapter 1, “Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP”.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 9
Chapter 5, “Configuring Output Formats”, describes the flexibility the Harlequin Mul‐
tiRIP provides for configuring the appearance of any printed page. The tools described
in this chapter will be used on a regular basis, and are important for anyone who will
make extensive use of the product.
Chapter 6, “Screening”, explains the control the Harlequin MultiRIP gives you over
screening techniques. This chapter includes a complete description of using Harlequin
Precision Screening.
Chapter 7, “Configuring the RIP”, shows you how you can configure the Harlequin
MultiRIP to give the best performance in your environment. You will probably want to
experiment with the options described in this chapter, but once you are satisfied that
the RIP is running as you want it, you will not need to alter them on a regular basis.
The later chapters of the manual deal with specific facilities that the Harlequin MultiRIP
offers, and may be used as reference.
Chapter 8, “Configuring Input”, describes the different ways in which you can send
postscript language code and other forms of job as input to the Harlequin MultiRIP,
either working on a stand‐alone machine, or as part of a network.
Chapter 9, “Media Management”, gives you complete details of the media manage‐
ment facilities available in the Harlequin MultiRIP.
Chapter 10, “Simple Imposition”, provides details on how to use the imposition fea‐
tures of the Harlequin MultiRIP.
Chapter 11, “Fonts”, describes the use that the Harlequin MultiRIP makes of fonts, the
different font formats that are available, and the special built‐in facilities that the RIP
has to make handling fonts easy and more efficient.
Chapter 12, “Calibration”, discusses the ways in which the Harlequin MultiRIP can
help you ensure accurate calibration of your output.
Chapter 13, “Color Separation”, describes the facilities the Harlequin MultiRIP pro‐
vides for controlling the printing of individual colorants in both composite and sepa‐
rated output.
Appendix A, “Troubleshooting”, provides solutions to common problems that occur
when running the Harlequin MultiRIP.
Appendix B, “Jobs Containing Color Management Data” describes how jobs and
images with attached color management data interact with related settings in the
Harlequin MultiRIP.
Appendix C, “Using Genlin” describes a utility program providing semi‐automatic
measurement of calibration targets generated by the Harlequin MultiRIP.
Lastly, the “Glossary” explains terminology used throughout the manual.
10 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
Assumptions
The Harlequin MultiRIP runs on Microsoft Windows. It is important that you are familiar
with the appropriate operating system, at least to the level of using the file Explorer and a
simple text editor or word processor such as Notepad or WordPad. If you are not, refer to the
Microsoft Help or manuals.
In complex installations, you may wish to send jobs between PCs, Macintosh computers, and
computers running the UNIX or Linux operating system. This manual describes the details
special to the Harlequin MultiRIP, but not the fundamentals of networking connections and
services. You are likely to require assistance from technical support staff for initial configura‐
tion and occasional maintenance of such installations.
Note: The supported operating systems are listed in the Installation guide and Release notes
Conventions
This manual uses some conventions to make it clear where you give keyboard commands or
choose from the menus and dialog boxes, as described in the following sections.
The keyboard
You can execute many of the commands available in the Harlequin MultiRIP either by using
the mouse or by using a keyboard shortcut. This is a combination or sequence of key presses
that executes a command without you having to choose a menu option with the mouse. Key‐
board shortcuts for individual commands are discussed, in context, throughout the manual.
Shift
The Shift key is often used when selecting a group of objects from a list. For example, when
selecting a group of files to print. It is also used in keyboard shortcuts and in some mouse
actions.
Ctrl
The Control key is used in keyboard shortcuts and in some mouse actions. For example, you
can often hold down Control while pressing another key or a mouse button. Whenever this
manual describes one of these actions, the text shows which key or mouse button to use: for
example, when you can use the Control key and the letter key K in combination, the text
shows Ctrl+K.
The Control key is also used when selecting several objects from a list that do not form a con‐
tiguous block. For example, you can use this key when selecting a number of files to print.
Some keyboard shortcuts are specific to a particular window and only operate when that
window is active. When using a windowing system, ensure that the relevant window is
active before using one of these keyboard shortcuts.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 11
Fonts and formats
The following fonts and styles are used throughout this documentation.
1. Paragraphs that are numbered and use this font contain instructions which you should
follow in the shown order.
Text written in this sans-serif bold face represents a menu title, a menu item, or a control item
in a RIP dialog box. Text including an angle bracket ( > ) indicates both a menu and the
option in that menu. For example: “choose the Harlequin MultiRIP > Start Inputs option” is a
shorthand method of referring to the Start Inputs menu option in the Harlequin MultiRIP menu.
Text written in this typewriter face represents a piece of PostScript language code, a file
name, or text displayed by the Harlequin MultiRIP.
If a term is written in italic, it is the first mention of an important concept. This concept is
explained in the text immediately following, in the glossary, or both.
Note: Text indicated by starting with a bold word in the left margin is important and should
be read carefully. A Note, like this one, is often a suggestion that may save you work,
improve performance, or improve the quality of output.
Warning: Like a Note, a Warning is important and often indicates the need for care to avoid
loss of files or settings.
Note to OEMs: Notes like this one, specifically addressed to OEMs, are not meant for
onward publication to end‐users. They list opportunities for custom‐
ization, related technical documentation, and other items of possible
interest to staff at Global Graphics and its OEMs.
12 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
1
Introduction to the
Harlequin MultiRIP
This chapter provides an introduction to the capabilities of the Harlequin MultiRIP.
guage compatible interpreter.
The Harlequin MultiRIP is a software RIP management system. It contains both a software RIP
and a collection of supporting functions that help the RIP perform its task efficiently. For
example, the RIP accepts jobs from various sources, handles previewing and output of pro‐
cessed pages, and performs the associated file handling.
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1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
The Harlequin MultiRIP is designed for digital production print customers, driving high‐
speed devices with RIP farms. The difference between the Harlequin RIP and the Harlequin
MultiRIP is the inclusion of multi‐threaded compositing (MTC) of live transparency.
14 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
• The Harlequin MultiRIP is compatible because it is kept up to date with the PostScript
language, PDF, XPS, and font specifications; image file formats; and relevant standards
from independent bodies.
Note: The Harlequin MultiRIP is able to use proprietary extensions internally for qual‐
ity of output, speed, and efficiency without losing compatibility.
• The Harlequin MultiRIP is also compatible because it supports several networking
protocols for use in many kinds of networks, whether or not all the computers are of
the same type.
• Robustness comes from experience with many real jobs. You can configure the Harle‐
quin MultiRIP to override poor settings in incoming jobs (and avoid office printer
quality screening on expensive media); use its ability to detect poorly labeled color
separations, and so on.
• The Harlequin MultiRIP is flexible enough to support many workflows, including:
composite or preseparated color; the PostScript language, PDF or XPS. Some of these
input formats require the Harlequin MultiRIP options.
A system using the Harlequin MultiRIP is easy to extend and to upgrade when necessary
because the Harlequin MultiRIP is a software‐based RIP.
• You can add options, such as advanced screening, color management, and trapping,
when using LDK security, by obtaining a new product key.
• You can add more output options with software plugins to support imagesetters, pla‐
tesetters, proofing and display printers, and workflow integration.
• A PostScript language programmer can add simple fragments of PostScript language
code to provide features such as marking pages with draft or similar overprint and
color bars.
• It is possible to upgrade hardware and software independently. The Harlequin Multi‐
RIP is very similar on all platforms so there is little or no need for retraining if you
need to add another type of computer.
• When you upgrade the Harlequin MultiRIP you can transfer your existing settings to
the new version of the RIP and most optional output plugins.
• The Harlequin MultiRIP supports simple imposition of books, page padding, and
creep.
“The Harlequin MultiRIP in depth” on page 15 discusses many of these features in more
depth.
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1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
• File format and version support. See page 17.
• Extended color capabilities. See page 18.
• Screening options. See page 23.
• Harlequin ColorPro. See page 24.
• Graphics formats. See page 25.
• Input and output methods. See page 26.
• Complex jobs. See page 27.
• Throughput control. See page 27.
• Previewing. See page 28.
• Page buffer compression. See page 28.
• Fonts and font handling, including composite fonts and font emulation. See page 29.
• Convenience features. See page 30.
• TrapPro. See page 56.
• Simple Imposition. See page 277.
16 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
• It is much more expensive to customize a hardware RIP to individual requirements
than it is to customize a software RIP.
Even if, despite these points, you feel that a hardware RIP is still the best solution for your
particular case, it need not be traditional, dedicated hardware. It is possible to use hardware
accelerators to assist a software RIP such as the Harlequin MultiRIP.
agement system but still supports features of PostScript Level 2 and earlier. The RIP also rec‐
ognizes uses of PostScript language code specific to common image creation and page layout
applications.
The PostScript language was first created and used in the mid‐1980s and since that time it has
undergone many improvements and changes. Throughout this period, people have been try‐
ing to create PostScript language page descriptions that, above all, work—despite any bugs
in the interpreters which may have existed at the time.
To cope with this situation, the Harlequin MultiRIP is compatible not only with the Post‐
Script language jobs of today, but with the jobs of yesterday. There are two aspects to dealing
with older jobs: dealing efficiently with features that are now better supported by more mod‐
ern versions of the page description language; dealing with work‐around methods for bugs
in older versions of the page description language. The Harlequin MultiRIP does both.
It might not be immediately obvious why it is necessary to deal with bugs and work‐around
methods, but consider this example.
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1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
What happens if a bug is fixed in a widely‐used PDL interpreter and renderer? Newer RIPs
and applications no longer have to cope with that bug, but problems arise if you wish to
interpret old page descriptions (generated with an application written before the bug was
fixed) with your new RIP. The old page descriptions take the bug into account, but the new
RIP does not, so the hard copy produced with your new RIP is wrong. If your RIP cannot
accommodate this, as the Harlequin MultiRIP can, your old files (and indeed your applica‐
tion if you still use it) are useless.
• Adobe Illustrator
®
• QuarkXPress
®
See “Page Setup Option Extras” on page 158 for more details.
18 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
put process. It also provides solutions for minimizing the number of spot colors required by
an output device.
The Harlequin MultiRIP uses this color space to extend separations management, Roam, and
plugin capabilities. Depending on your specific device and workflow, additional plugin
development may be required to make use of the expanded number of color channels.
1.3.3.4 Images
The Harlequin MultiRIP supports type 3 and 4 image dictionaries (for uses such as masks).
This allows an application to produce masks using multiple images in a more efficient fash‐
ion. This mask technique also improves performance by eliminating the need for a detailed
PostScript language clipping path. This feature is best suited to lower‐resolution output
devices and workflows.
1.3.3.5 settrapparams
LanguageLevel 3 includes a software interface that allows the description of trap settings
within a PostScript language file.
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1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
The Harlequin MultiRIP incorporates the settrapprams interface and uses this for setting
trapping parameters. Harlequin has extended settrapparams to include those trapping
parameters that are not covered by the 3010 specification.
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1.3.4.1 Color API
The Harlequin MultiRIP contains a programming interface (API) that allows you to set the
options for the Harlequin color management modules from PostScript language code. This
provides control over all color options, including the installation of ICC profiles, without a
user interface.
1.3.4.3 UseCIEColor
This operator improves color control in the PostScript language code by allowing device‐
dependent input data to be translated to a device‐independent CIE color space. The input
colors are mapped to the device‐independent color space using an input profile. The colors
may then be transformed ready for printing on another output device.
Harlequin has provided this functionality for some time through the color management
modules the latest being ColorPro. You can choose to use the color management specified in
the job by UseCIEColor, or to override this and instead use the more detailed controls pro‐
vided with ColorPro.
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1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
You can also specify a reserve amount of memory, available for short‐term use by the
Harlequin MultiRIP. For example, the Harlequin MultiRIP may use this reserve in time‐criti‐
cal operations, where the alternative would be to use disk storage, as long as the reserve is
large enough to keep the operation in memory.
Harlequin MultiRIP supports the interpretation of one page of a job while the previous page
of the same job is being composited and/or rendered in one or more separate threads.
Harlequin Parallel Pages works in combination with multi‐threaded compositing and multi‐
threaded rendering (MTR).
Harlequin Parallel Pages is applied to jobs submitted in all PDLs supported by the RIP.
The use of Harlequin Parallel Pages is protected by activating your RIP with an LDK product
key.
For more information see “Harlequin Parallel Pages—(Interpreter/renderer/pipelining)” on
page 204.
The advent of variable data jobs means that many parts of a printing job will remain constant
with small parts, such as text, being changed for each print. Thus, time savings can be made
by processing the constant areas only once, especially if the constant area is a large graphic.
This is the idea behind the Harlequin VariData (HVD) feature. The RIP detects constant areas
within a PDF file, retains them and then re‐uses them as necessary.
Any PDF file with pages that share raster elements and have marks which change from page
to page should be accelerated by this optimization in the RIP. The RIP scans the PDF for such
pages, RIPs the shared raster elements once, and then retains them for use on subsequent
pages with the same page elements.
HVD internal and external mode requires that the RIP is activated with an LDK product key.
22 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
For more information see “Harlequin VariData” on page 206 and “Use Harlequin VariData
check box” on page 249.
1.3.9 FlatOut
The Harlequin MultiRIP releases are capable of stitching single‐page PGB (Page Buffer) files
into a predefined flat. This feature enables the development of page‐based workflows around
the Harlequin MultiRIP.
Three components are required to produce a stitched flat:
1. A background PGB (Page Buffer) file. You can create a background in a page layout
application and then convert the PostScript language code to a PGB using the
Harlequin MultiRIP. This flat background contains a slot for each page. This back‐
ground may contain sluglines, crop marks, and so on.
2. Single‐page PGB file(s). For example, to produce an eight‐page flat, eight single‐page
PGB files must be generated.
3. A flat description file. This file describes the location of the background and single‐page
PGB files on disk. The flat description file also indicates the positioning of pages on the
flat.
The flat description file is presented as an input to the Harlequin MultiRIP and the PGB files
are stitched into a single flat for output to the specified output device.
For additional information on how to generate a flat description and more on PGB stitching,
please refer to the FlatOut User Guide.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 23
1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
stepping in vignettes and to avoid posterization, while enabling you to set a limit on the
number of levels that is appropriate to the required image quality. The RIP also supports
more than 256 shades of gray when they are specified using PostScript LanguageLevel 3 con‐
structs.
gies using different densities (light and dark versions) of one or more colorants.
It is possible to add and use the advanced color management facilities provided by
Harlequin ColorPro which is an optional extra provided with the Harlequin MultiRIP and
requires an LDK product key for it to be enabled.
24 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
ColorPro together with SetGoldPro profile making software is Global Graphics’ color
™
science solution for ensuring color quality and accuracy for proofing and emulation.
ColorPro provides the largest realizable color gamuts for the final print market and allows
greater accuracy than would be possible using standard profiles.
Harlequin ColorPro embraces open systems, industry standards and device‐independent
color science, and is able to make full use of them. If you have ICC profiles with which you
already achieve good results you can use these profiles with ColorPro. You should however
be aware that ColorPro contains color science that is optimized for the Harlequin MultiRIP
and is easily utilized with the introduction of SetGoldPro.
ColorPro allows you to specify different gamut‐mapping algorithms in the reproduction of a
page. For example, you can simultaneously specify Absolute colorimetric to reproduce some
elements of the page and yet specify Perceptual to reproduce the photographs. The end result
is that, on a single page, the color for photographs are each calculated without affecting other
elements on the page.
Harlequin ColorPro allows processing of colors in page data using ICC profiles produced by
OEMs, third parties, or end‐users using third party characterization and profiling tools. ICC
profiles specify a translation between two color spaces. Each profile is prepared for a specific
set of imaging conditions. One device may have more than one profile. The profiles may
correspond to running the device with different combinations of resolutions, inks, and paper.
New profiles can be easily added to ColorPro, and previously installed profiles can be
selected without the need to reinstall each time a profile is used.
An option to uninstall ICC profiles is also provided.
In addition, ColorPro allows the use of profiles prepared in the Harlequin MultiRIP format.
Global Graphics supplies a number of profiles for commonly used systems.
When ColorPro is enabled, the Harlequin MultiRIP can detect and use any ICC profiles that
Photoshop has embedded in EPS, TIFF, JPEG or HD Photo images.
This manual describes the Harlequin MultiRIP without ColorPro, but mentions areas where
ColorPro would modify your use of the Harlequin MultiRIP. The extra facilities are described
in the separate manual ColorPro User’s Guide.
For information on color facilities provided in the Harlequin MultiRIP as standard see “Color
Setup” on page 391.
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1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
An output plugin that creates disk files provides a simple method of translating from the
input format to another graphics format. Using such an output plugin extends your ability to
transfer graphics defined in the PostScript language or PDF to other software applications or
systems. For example, you can produce a graphics image without dependencies on external
fonts or color management. Also, you may wish to send a page description to someone who
does not have access to PostScript language tools but who can use files in the Tagged Image
File Format (TIFF). TIFF is a commonly‐used graphics format and a TIFF output device is
supplied with the RIP.
26 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
• NT Pipe
This provides a named pipe allowing high speed communication with an application
such as an Open Prepress Interface (OPI) server.
• Sockets
With this plugin, the Harlequin MultiRIP can accept input from a network socket client
program, which may be part of a larger workflow system. This plugin supports TCP/IP
and UNIX socket protocols.
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1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
The Harlequin MultiRIP can be operated in this way if desired, but it offers a powerful alter‐
native that overcomes these limitations—by saving bitmaps on disk in the form of page buf‐
fers, before bitmaps go from the disk to the output device. Many page buffers can be stored
on disk (as many as will fit into the available disk space), and the RIP can continue to pro‐
duce and save page buffers, even if the device is not ready to output. If a printer jam occurs in
an overnight job, the RIP is still able to process the job and the page buffers are ready for out‐
put the next day. In a high volume environment, this ability can be invaluable.
Even when there are no problems with the output device, you can still save time—if you
need to produce more than one copy, you do not need to reinterpret the page description,
because the bitmaps are still retained on disk. This means, for example, that if a page gets
damaged in the developer or there is a problem with ink delivery then it is easy to print
another copy.
Secondly, the Harlequin MultiRIP increases job throughput by allowing job interpretation
and output to occur simultaneously. While some pages of a job are being interpreted, other
pages, which have already been interpreted, can be sent to the output device. This can greatly
increase throughput when outputting several pages in succession. With a fast computer, it is
possible to drive the imagesetter continuously for several pages. Even with fast output
devices, time can be used effectively, because the RIP can be interpreting data while the out‐
put device starts up.
1.3.16 Previewing
The Harlequin MultiRIP allows you to preview pages, at their output resolution on screen to
check them for mistakes before they are output, at their full output resolution. You can pre‐
view halftone, contone and grayscale images using the full color capabilities of the display
system.
You can request a reduced view of the entire page in a separate window. This provides a bet‐
ter idea of what the whole page looks like, and also acts as a navigation aid to help you to dis‐
play any part of the page at full resolution, to check fine detail.
The remaining functionality depends on the page buffering mode. (See “Page buffering
modes” on page 73 for more information.)
Using either of the multiple page buffer modes, you can view several separations or pages,
overlaid or separately. This allows a good check of the page, including checking image posi‐
tioning, trapping, and so on. You can view separations in their natural colors, thus obtaining
a realistic impression of final output, or in false colors, to highlight differences between simi‐
lar separations or composite pages.
In either of the single page buffer modes, you can view only individual separations or a com‐
posite image, and only in the natural colors.
28 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
disk space by compressing page buffers as they are created and placed on disk, and then
uncompressing them as they are read from disk and printed or displayed.
Compression saves a great deal of disk space and often means that large jobs can be printed
without stopping the imagesetter, because compressed data can be read from disk more
quickly. Stopping an imagesetter part way through a job can lead to a loss in output quality,
so this facility can be of great benefit. (See the description of data underrun on page 207, which
explains one problem that page buffer compression can help avoid.)
Page buffer compression always produces buffers of the same size as or smaller than the
original. For color pages, it typically achieves a compression ratio of 3:1, and for newspaper
pages a typical ratio of 10:1. That is, the compressed page buffer could be less than a third of
the size of an uncompressed one for color pages, and a tenth of the size for newspaper pages.
For color images, this can mean reducing disk requirements from 150 MiB to only 50 MiB.
Page buffer compression in the RIP is a completely lossless procedure. The quality of your
output is fully preserved when compressing and then uncompressing the page buffers. For
details of the amount of disk space you need to reserve for page buffers, see “Ability to RIP a
job” on page 41.
Files greater than 2 GiB can be read and written. The most likely use of this is the ability to
generate page buffers greater than 2 GiB.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 29
1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
30 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
cuts. It will even save media by automatically rotating pages to use the minimum amount of
film.
Note to OEMs: If you are interested in writing your own page features, ask Global
Graphics for the Extensions manual. This describes some powerful
extensions to the PostScript language especially designed for use in
page features and elsewhere and supported by the Harlequin Multi‐
RIP.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 31
1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
understanding of the PostScript language is useful here, but the Harlequin MultiRIP is sup‐
plied with several imposition templates which can be used immediately.
32 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
1.5 Integrating the Harlequin MultiRIP with your product
The way in which you build a system using the Harlequin MultiRIP starts with a choice of
the appropriate edition. This section lists the available editions, looks at one edition in detail,
discusses input and output plugins, and describes one of the optional programming
interfaces.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 33
1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
The details of the work you must carry out to integrate the Harlequin MultiRIP with your
product depend on the product you are assembling, the computer platform you are using,
and the amount of work you wish to do.
Global Graphics can configure the Harlequin MultiRIP to your specifications if appropriate.
This can mean that you have a shippable system very quickly. Please contact us for details.
If you want to connect to an input or output device for which Global Graphics or third parties
do not supply a plugin driver, you can either develop your own driver (possibly with a corre‐
sponding hardware interface development), or ask Global Graphics to quote for doing the
necessary work. Global Graphics can supply documentation or training to help you produce
input or output plugins.
Figure 1.1 shows the organization of The Harlequin MultiRIP.
Modules Active
Queue
Held
Queue
PREVIEW
Core RIP Interface
Plugin Interface Code
Output Plugins
Input Plugins
TIFF
EtherTalk OEM-defined
Spool
Sockets Core
RIP
OEM-defined
Comms
Recorders
File System
The core Harlequin MultiRIP forms the central module, onto which other modules are
joined, each module performing a specific set of tasks. The four outer areas encircling it rep‐
resent the modules in the system which must be added to use the RIP.
The module shown at the top of the diagram is the user interface of your system. This con‐
sists of the parts of the application that users see when using the software, such as windows
or command line options. In editions other than the Harlequin MultiRIP, all user information
34 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
and commands can be routed to and from computers remote from the computer running the
RIP.
On the left is the module which deals with connections to other systems for input, usually
over a network. The diagram shows connections to a number of example networking sys‐
tems—this is not an exhaustive list of possibilities. You can add other networks with appro‐
priate plugins and the user can make multiple connections to different networking systems,
if needed.
The module at the bottom deals with connections to the filing system of the machine on
which you are running the Harlequin MultiRIP. This module deals with all the file access
requirements of the RIP, including access to PostScript language objects—for example, when
a job requires access to a disk‐based resource such as a font. It also handles file access from
inside the RIP itself—for example, access to temporary work space files on disk. In order to
replace the underlying filing system, therefore, only this self‐contained module needs to be
replaced, leaving the core RIP unaltered.
On the right is the module dealing with page delivery and post‐processing. This module
takes output from the RIP and delivers it to a printer, a computer screen, a formatted file like
TIFF, or an OEM‐defined device. Typically, this module will use a selection of output plugins
to meet all your customers’ needs.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 35
1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
with that source. This means that interfaces to input devices can be written independently of
the Harlequin MultiRIP.
An input plugin may also be used to provide a PostScript language device on which a file can
be opened, to support files opened explicitly from PostScript language programs that are
stored in some special way. They can also be used to add custom PostScript language filters
for manipulating data.
36 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
1.6 About Global Graphics
Harlequin began operating in 1986 in Cambridge, England, and was acquired in July 1999 by
Global Graphics S.A. Harlequin was renamed Global Graphics Software Limited in June 2001
and is now a multinational software company offering technology‐based products and ser‐
vices for the digital printing and publishing industry. The company is a recognized leader in
high‐performance printing and publishing technologies. Global Graphics maintains a pres‐
ence in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific Basin.
Global Graphics sells products through OEMs. Our OEM partners include the worldʹs lead‐
ing makers of imagesetters, computer‐to‐plate and direct‐to‐press systems, digital color
proofers and large‐format printers, as well as several leading prepress systems integrators.
Because our products are integrated with these OEMs’ digital publishing and prepress sys‐
tems, they are offered under a variety of brand names.
Global Graphics, supplies high‐performance precision equipment and system solutions to
the graphic arts industry. Global Graphics supports its clients and distribution network
worldwide and services its significant installed base through a technical and service office
network in Europe, America, and Asia.
See the “Copyright and Trademarks” on page 449 of this manual for sources of more
information.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 37
1 Introduction to the Harlequin MultiRIP
38 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
2
Running the Harlequin
MultiRIP
This chapter is a short guide to getting the Harlequin MultiRIP running on your machine. It
does not contain complete installation details because these differ between different combi‐
nations of computer, operating system, and output device. For full details, see the separate
Harlequin MultiRIP Installation Guide for your platform (combination of computer and operat‐
ing system).
This chapter provides details for the following:
• Machine requirements, described in “Machine requirements” on page 39.
• Connecting your machine to an output device, described in “Installing printer inter‐
face cards” on page 44.
• The files and folders used by the RIP, described in “Harlequin MultiRIP folder struc‐
ture” on page 44.
• Starting up the Harlequin MultiRIP and an introduction to the standard menus and
dialog boxes, described in “Starting up the Harlequin MultiRIP” on page 48.
• Some menus that appear only when options are enabled, described in “Menus affected
by optional features” on page 55.
• Stopping the Harlequin MultiRIP, described in “Stopping the Harlequin MultiRIP” on
page 56.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 39
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
2.1.1 Performance
For a given processor type and speed, the most important things affecting the performance of
the Harlequin MultiRIP are the built‐in or physical memory (RAM) and the speed and size of
disks.
The Harlequin MultiRIP is a supplied as 32‐bit or 64‐bit application.
Using a 64‐bit build aids performance in the following ways:
• The compiled code can perform some steps in fewer cycles because of larger word
sizes thereby increasing the RIP speed by around 10%.
• Much larger address space.
• A 64‐bit build can access all the RAM installed in your computer.
Note: Check the release notes and installation guide for the latest specification information.
In addition the following points should be considered:
• There must be sufficient space to hold page buffers on disk.
• There must be sufficient virtual memory available for the job. This is especially impor‐
tant when using composite fonts.
• For some output devices, a disk with a certain minimum performance may be
required.
Important: The general rule is that the more memory, the better the performance. Note espe‐
cially that if you use the following features, we recommend that you add extra RAM:
• Add an additional 8 MiB RAM for each composite PostScript language font used in a
single job.
• Add an additional 12 MiB RAM for when using Harlequin Precision Screening (HPS).
• Add an additional 256 MiB RAM when using TrapPro.
• When using Harlequin ColorPro, add extra RAM. The required amount can vary
according to the functions you use.
• There are some instances when the Harlequin MultiRIP cannot paint partial page buf‐
fers to disk: for example, when recombining preseparated jobs or using TrapPro. In
such cases, the RIP will need extra memory and must have enough memory to com‐
plete the job. See “Harlequin MultiRIP memory allocation” on page 210, the TrapPro
User Manual and Harlequin MultiRIP Installation Guide for further details.
• For large format devices, more memory may be required.
In general, if a job uses more than one of these features, add together the extra memory
required by each feature. For example, if a job uses composite fonts and you are using HPS
add together the extra amounts of RAM. You will also need enough extra RAM to accommo‐
date any printer and network buffers you want to set up.
For more details, see Chapter 6, “Screening”, Chapter 7, “Configuring the RIP”, and Chap‐
ter 11, “Fonts”.
40 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
Note: This manual uses conventions of font and style to describe special key combinations
and to highlight the titles of programs, options in menus and dialog boxes, and text that we
suggest you type. For details, see the “Conventions” on page 11 in the Preface.
Windows Server 2008 R2 use disk space as virtual memory.
For Windows Server 2008 R2, the defaults suggested when you install Windows are satisfac‐
tory for use with the Harlequin MultiRIP. If you later install more disk space or memory, you
should update the virtual memory setting. To do this, open the System control panel and dis‐
play the Performance tab. In the Virtual Memory section, click the Change button and use the
recommended figures.
In summary, as well as the memory and disk allocations discussed here, the performance of
the RIP also depends on the following:
• The speed of the processor.
• The amount of additional RAM on your machine. (Additional RAM is RAM above the
basic requirement.)
• The disk speed of your machine.
• The interface used to send data to the output device, especially if it is a high‐perfor‐
mance device.
Performance issues are described throughout this manual, but see especially Chapter 7,
“Configuring the RIP”, and Appendix A, “Troubleshooting”, for details about optimizing
the performance of your hardware.
For further details on machine specifications you should consult the relevant installation
guide.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 41
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
Typical free disk requirements, for both compressed (C) and uncompressed (U) page buffers,
are shown in the following table, giving details for output at different resolutions and for dif‐
ferent page sizes. These figures are for halftone page buffers holding a monochrome page or
one separation of a separated page. All figures are given in MiB.
Contone page buffers or composite color page buffers are bigger than monochrome page buf‐
fers when uncompressed, by a combined factor taking account of the number of bits used per
color and the number of colors in the page buffer. For example, when uncompressed, a four‐
color page using 8 bits per color (256 tonal values) would use 32 times more memory than the
figures given here. It is harder to predict the relative sizes of compressed page buffers
because the contents of the page have a large effect. For example, the compression ratio
achievable for a page filled with an unchanging background tint is likely to be better for a
contone page buffer than for a halftone page buffer.
In addition, you must ensure you have enough disk space to hold workspace for processing
the scanned images on any one page of your job. For example, when printing the Seybold
Musicians test job (a full‐color scanned image), 8 MiB of extra disk workspace will sometimes
be required in addition to the figures shown above. (Whenever possible, the Harlequin
MultiRIP uses RAM in preference to disk space.)
If you have spare memory after allocating memory for the considerations described in “Per‐
formance” on page 40 and in the separate Harlequin MultiRIP Installation Guide, you may be
able to use this surplus to create a RAM disk in which to place page buffers. To be useful, the
RAM disk must be at least large enough to hold a single page buffer, and if you want to use
throughput (using either of the multiple page buffer modes), it should ideally be large
enough to hold at least two page buffers.
For 2540 dpi color work, a RAM disk of around 100 MiB is desirable. For 1016 dpi mono‐
chrome output, a RAM disk of around 30 MiB may be enough.
42 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
2.1.3 Driving a printer effectively
The machine requirements discussed so far have concerned the production of a page buffer.
Meeting these requirements is sufficient for you to view the page buffer on screen or for the
Harlequin MultiRIP to convert it into a file in a useful graphics format.
When you want to convert the page buffer to an image on physical media, you must transfer
the data to an output device. This transfer is another factor determining overall performance
and often imposes other requirements on the computer system running the RIP.
Many output devices need data to reach them at a sustained high speed; in general, this
speed becomes higher and harder to achieve as the resolution of the device increases. Table
2.2, page 43, shows examples of required data transfer rates (in kibibytes per second) for typ‐
ical output devices supported by the various versions of the Harlequin MultiRIP.
Rate Resolution
Output device
(KiB/s) (dpi)
200 300 Large format inkjet printer
2000 300 Dye‐sublimation printer
750 2400 Slow imagesetter
1500 1270 Fast imagesetter
8000 4000 Large format drum recorder
With simple jobs, these data rates can be achieved without using a page buffer on disk. How‐
ever, with complex jobs, a page buffer may be required, which means that the disk on your
computer must be fast enough to supply data at these rates. If the disk is too slow and your
printer is not capable of stop / starting without abandoning the page, it is not possible to out‐
put the whole page. If your printer can stop / start in the middle of a page, then achieving the
required data rate is less important, but the quality of the output may still be affected,
depending on the device.
When you look at the data rates in this table, note the following:
• The disk speed of your machine must be slightly faster than the data rate of the output
device in order to drive it successfully—the extra speed allows for the overhead of
transferring the output to the printer. For example, a machine with a disk speed of
1.3 MiB/s may be required to drive a slow imagesetter at 750 KiB/s.
• To smooth out peaks and troughs of disk performance and other system and RIP func‐
tions, the Harlequin MultiRIP uses a printer buffer in memory. Typically, you should
make this buffer large enough to hold between 5 and 10 seconds of output to the
device: for example, 7.5 MiB for a device that outputs at 750 KiB/second. You can set
the size of the printer buffer in the Configure RIP dialog box: see Chapter 7, “Config‐
uring the RIP”.
We strongly recommend that you use compressed page buffers. If this is done, the Harlequin
MultiRIP can achieve higher data rates because less data has to be read from disk. Compress‐
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 43
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
ing page buffers also lets you run the RIP on a slower disk than would be required were page
buffers not compressed. There are very few situations where it is not desirable to compress
page buffers.
44 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
• The Complete folder is provided as a default location for the spool folder input to
place files that it has successfully processed.
• The Config folder contains all the configuration files for the Harlequin MultiRIP.
These include files detailing such things as the current Page Setup and Configure RIP
settings, as well as folders for information including the configuration for available
devices, default color profiles, and target definitions.
In the Config folder, the Factory Settings subfolder contains the default configura‐
tion for the Harlequin MultiRIP when it is shipped. This is essentially a copy of the
Config folder itself.
In the Config folder, the Page Setups subfolder contains all the Page Setups you have
saved within the Harlequin MultiRIP.
• The Crdgen folder contains the color rendering dictionary (CRD) generator plugin exe‐
cutables. You can only manipulate CRDs in the Harlequin MultiRIP with the ColorPro
option enabled.
• The Devices folder contains all the output plugin files (possibly within subfolders) for
the various output devices.
• The encodings folder contains the font encodings for the fonts installed in the RIP.
• The Error folder is provided as a default location for the spool folder input to place
files that it cannot process.
• The Extensions folder can contain folders or files used to implement extensions to the
RIP.
• The FlatPgbDir folder provides space for the page buffer files used by FlatOut. See
the FlatOut User Guide for details.
• The fonts folder contains fonts used by the Harlequin MultiRIP (including the fonts
installed with the RIP).
• The FontSet folder is used for PostScript LanguageLevel 3 font sets, often used with
CFF fonts. It may be empty.
• The forms folder contains resources for bitmap forms.
• The halftones folder contains halftone resources.
Note: The comments in these halftone resources files show how you can define custom
dot shapes in capable graphics and layout applications, and have these dot shapes
linked to Harlequin screens in the generated PostScript language files.
• The icccrd folder contains the color rendering dictionaries (CRDs) produced from
ICC profiles.
• The IdiomSet folder contains idiom set resources. Each idiom set in this folder is
loaded when the RIP starts.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 45
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
Note to OEMs: It is reasonable to add your own idiom sets to the Harlequin MultiRIP
by placing them in this folder. Adding too many idiom sets can
degrade the performance of the bind operator but the addition of, for
example, over a hundred well‐formed idiom sets has little effect.
• The Inputs folder contains all input plugin files (Spool, and any others).
• The Messages folder has been moved to the same level as the SW folder and contains
localized message files. The appropriate file is selected the first time the RIP is started
• The MediaSavingDir contains page buffers that are marked for media saving. The
MediaSavingDir is located as a subfolder to the PageBuffers folder.
• The NamedColor folder is the location of files defining a resource type /NamedColor,
which stores color values referred to by name.
• The NamedColorOrder folder contains files defining the orders in which resources of
type /NamedColor, are searched when the Harlequin MultiRIP is looking for the defi‐
nition of a named color. For more information see “Named colors” on page 366.
• The Page Features folder contains all the PostScript language header files that are
available in the Enable Feature drop‐down list of the Edit Page Setup dialog box. This
menu is generated dynamically from the files available in this folder. If a feature is
turned on in the relevant Page Setup, the appropriate file is run at the beginning of the
job. Additional example page features are available in the folder called Examples
within this folder. The example files supplied with the RIP show you how to do such
things as produce draft copies, perform page imposition, resubmit page buffers, and
use image replacement with DCS files. You can add your own files if you wish.
• The PageBuffers folder provides space for rendered pages that are written to disk.
The MediaSavingDir is located as a subfolder to the PageBuffers folder.
• With LDK security the Passwords folder is no longer used.
• The patterns folder contains resources for PostScript language patterns.
• The PrepFiles folder contains all the prep files used by the Harlequin MultiRIP.
• The procsets folder contains various patches to the PostScript language, as well as
other functionality that is not built directly into the Harlequin MultiRIP. Patches for
specific applications are held here, as well as calibration test jobs.
Note to OEMS: OEMs can add files to the procsets folder.
• The ReproductionCriteria folder is the location of files defining a resource type
/ReproductionCriteria. This is used to link color rendering dictionaries (CRDs) to
the criteria which created them. This allows the Harlequin MultiRIP to test whether a
CRD needs to be regenerated or whether one already exists.
• The Screenin folder contains screening plugins for use by the Harlequin MultiRIP. In
many installations, there are no screening plugins.
46 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
• The Screens folder is used when halftone screens are cached (saved to disk for later
use). There is a subfolder here for each dot shape cache known to the Harlequin Multi‐
RIP, either as supplied or as created during use.
• The Separation Features folder performs a similar task to Page Features but
applies only when separating jobs in the Harlequin MultiRIP.
• The Spool folder is a default location used by the Spool folder input plugin for receiv‐
ing jobs.
• The Sys folder includes HqnStart, the Harlequin‐specific startup file, and Bootlist, a
list of files to be executed upon booting (starting) the Harlequin MultiRIP. This folder
also contains HqnProduct, which contains PostScript language startup code specific to
that product, and HqnOEM, which may contain additional startup PostScript language
startup code created by the RIP supplier (or OEM).
• The targeteps folder contains any EPS files that are incorporated in custom calibra‐
tion targets (and potentially other targets). This folder is referred to from target defini‐
tions while interpreting a target file, especially in response to the Print Calibration
dialog box.
• The tmp folder is used as a location for temporary files.
• The TrapParams folder is used for PostScript LanguageLevel 3 trapping parameters. It
may be empty.
• The Usr folder contains several files needed by the Harlequin MultiRIP.
• The Utilities folder contains files, each of which can perform a useful function when
run as a job (using the Print File menu option):
• BackupConfiguration.ps
This file enables you to make a backup file containing all your configuration set‐
tings for an installation of the Harlequin MultiRIP.
• BackupFonts.ps
This file enables you to make a backup file containing all your fonts, both the stan‐
dard set and any additional fonts that you have installed.
You can store such a backup file elsewhere for security and, for example, use it as a
simple way to restore a complex configuration if you need to reinstall the same version
of the Harlequin MultiRIP. (You can restore backed‐up fonts to a newer version of the
RIP but you can only restore configuration settings to the same version of the RIP.)
Note: The BackupFonts.ps and BackupConfiguration.ps files should only be used
via the Print option on the File menu. Attempting to use these files from a socket input
may cause the RIP to crash.
The WorkSpace folder provides space for any temporary workspace files created by the
RIP.
• The LOGFILE file contains a record of all transactions with the Harlequin MultiRIP
monitor. This file can be saved and its size restricted. For more information see “Moni‐
toring the Harlequin MultiRIP” on page 70.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 47
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
• The files FILERED.PS and FILEMAP.DAT (replacing FILEMAP.PS, which is still present
for short‐term compatibility) contain important information for use in file name map‐
ping. The RIP manages these files automatically: you must not change these files
manually.
File name mapping is necessary because PostScript language file names can be very
long, can contain characters that have special meanings for file systems on the com‐
puter running the Harlequin MultiRIP, and are case sensitive. For each PostScript
language file name that could be a problem, the RIP creates a unique and acceptable file
name in the file system and records both file names together as a mapping in
FILEMAP.DAT.
You may find it useful to inspect FILEMAP.DAT, if you need to associate a particular file
name with the other name in its mapping. For example, this is a typical mapping
(between Press and PRESS):
(Press)(PRESS)M
Note: The file names are all uppercase, exactly as shown in this manual. It is possible for
Explorer in Microsoft Windows to display these names with only a leading capital let‐
ter.
• The version file contains text describing the version of the Harlequin MultiRIP, for
use by some RIP utilities. Do not edit or remove it.
<company>.exe
An initial dialog box is always displayed while the program starts up. Some extra things hap‐
pen in special circumstances:
• When you are starting up the RIP for the first time after installation, you see a dialog
box asking you to choose the language to be used in dialog boxes, menus, and mes‐
sages. The dialog box shows you which languages are available. (A language is avail‐
able if the entries after its name are all Present or Yes.) If you are in doubt, choose
English (United States) initially; you can switch to another language later, using
the Harlequin MultiRIP > Language menu option, as described in “Choosing the user
interface language” on page 213. Select your chosen language and click OK.
48 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
• When you have installed a plugin or other option, that option may require enabling
with an LDK product key.
• If you have chosen to reset the Harlequin MultiRIP to its factory settings, you see a
series of dialog boxes asking you which settings you wish to reset. See “Resetting the
Harlequin MultiRIP to default values” on page 213 for details of how to do this.
When the RIP has finished loading, a window containing the following menu items appears:
Some windows appear, as described in Chapter 3, “Getting Started with the Harlequin Mul‐
tiRIP”. That chapter describes some basic procedures that you can use to familiarize yourself
with the Harlequin MultiRIP. The remainder of this chapter introduces the menus, tool bar,
and status bar; and describes how to stop the RIP.
For information on how to quit the RIP see “Quitting the Harlequin MultiRIP” on page 56.
Alternatively, if you wish to start the RIP in headless mode every time you start the RIP, open
the file:
<installation folder>/SW/Config/UIPreferences
Change the line:
/Headless false
to:
/Headless true
Save the UIPreferences file and then start the RIP in the normal way.
If you have configured the UIPreferences file to start the RIP in headless mode you can
start the RIP in GUI mode by navigating to the installation directory and using:
<company>.exe -gui
To stop a RIP running in headless mode see “Quitting the headless RIP” on page 57.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 49
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
When run as a headless RIP the page buffering mode is automatically changed to Single
(if required). See “Page buffering modes” on page 73 for more information.
50 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
described in “Tool bar buttons” on page 52. The status area shows what the RIP is doing, as
described in “Status area” on page 54.
The tool bar is part of the main window.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 51
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
52 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
Color Setup Manager Displays the Color Setup Manager dialog box, which
allows you to create and edit color setups with or
without color management depending on whether
the LDK product key allows the ColorPro option to
be activated. See the “Color Setup” on page 391 and
Harlequin ColorPro User Guide for details. This is
equivalent to the Color > Color Setup Manager
command.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 53
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
The meanings of these example status bars are:
1 Idle The RIP is not looking for jobs on its inputs.
2 Scanning The RIP is looking for input but none is arriving.
3 Interpreting The RIP is interpreting a job.
4 Printing The RIP is sending a job to an output device.
In all these examples, the output device is the Preview device. The text can change to show
other types of output, including output to graphics files and real printers and imagesetters.
This completes a brief description of the controls and status indicators in the Harlequin
MultiRIP. If you want to try using the RIP, see Chapter 3, “Getting Started with the
54 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
Harlequin MultiRIP” on page 59. If you want to stop the RIP, see “Stopping the Harlequin
MultiRIP” on page 56.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 55
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
2.5.2 TrapPro™
TrapPro is an option for the Harlequin MultiRIP that can be set up to perform trapping. If
TrapPro is present and enabled, the following command appears in the Output menu. See the
separate TrapPro User Manual for full details.
TrapPro Manager
This command displays a dialog box where you can inspect and create different sets of
rules for trapping. These rules become available in the Trapping section of the Page
Setup dialog box. See “Trapping features” on page 402 for details.
Ink Set Manager
This command displays a dialog box where you can configure various types of ink
including normal, opaque and transparent.
56 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
Disable output, by selecting the check box labeled Disable output in the Output Controller, if
you are operating in either of the multiple modes. This shuts down the output cleanly, by
allowing the current job to complete but not starting any other jobs. (When you restart the
RIP, output is re‐enabled automatically, though you will have to answer a question if there
are any jobs waiting to be output in the Active Queue.)
Wait for any active jobs to complete.
Leave the RIP settings in their usual state, unless you know that you will be making signifi‐
cant changes to the RIP, the computer, the network, or connected output devices.
• If you leave settings unchanged, you need only restart the RIP to have it start respond‐
ing to all its previous inputs.
• If you are making changes, you may prefer to disable inputs from other computers
until you have restarted the RIP and proved that there are no resultant problems.
From the Harlequin MultiRIP menu, choose Quit (or press Ctrl+Q) to exit the RIP.
Note: If a file containing this code is placed into a spool folder to quit the RIP, the file will not
be automatically moved from that folder when the file is run. Therefore, you should ensure
that the file is moved before attempting to re‐start the RIP.
Alternatively, on Windows use Ctrl Alt Delete and end the Harlequin MultiRIP process.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 57
2 Running the Harlequin MultiRIP
58 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
3
Getting Started with the
Harlequin MultiRIP
Chapter gave a broad overview of the kinds of tasks the Harlequin MultiRIP can perform. In
this chapter you will learn how to process simple jobs, and how to switch between different
configurations.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 59
3 Getting Started with the Harlequin MultiRIP
3. In the Edit Page Setup dialog box, shown in Figure 3.2, set the Device to None and the
Vertical and Horizontal resolutions to something small, say 72 dpi. If you change the
Device, you must choose a separations style listed in the Style drop‐down list and, for
some devices, a cassette name from the Cassette drop‐down list.
For the purposes of this example, you can select any option from these lists. For more
information about the options in this dialog box, see “Edit Page Setup dialog box” on
page 94.
The None device does not produce any printed output, but does perform all the neces‐
sary processing for the job, including producing page buffers—as defined on page 442 in
the “Glossary”. This device can be used for testing and timing jobs, and is especially
useful for previewing the job on screen.
60 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
Figure 3.2 New Page Setup dialog box
4. Click OK. (Click Save As if you are working in the New Page Setup dialog box, and save
the Page Setup as Default Page Setup; this changes the original Page Setup but it is
convenient for use this name during this session.)
5. Click OK again to close the Page Setup Manager dialog box.
The Output Controller/Monitor window must be displayed for you to see the processed out‐
put for the None device. If you cannot see this window: first choose the Configure RIP option
from the Harlequin MultiRIP menu and check that the option shown against Page buffering is
Multiple (Parallel); then display the Output menu and look at (but do not choose) the
option Output Controller.
If there is a check mark next to the menu option, the RIP is displaying the window but it may
be hidden behind another window. The Output > Output Controller menu option can be used
to toggle between opening and closing the Output Controller/Monitor. Each time that you
open the Output Controller/Monitor it opens in front of all other RIP windows.
Note: The Output Controller is only available in either of the multiple page buffer modes.
You can also view a page in one of the single modes by setting the output device to Preview
instead of None. In the following description we assume that you are working in Multiple
(Parallel) mode. If you are using one of the single modes, see “Sending output to the
screen” on page 99 for more details about previewing pages.
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3 Getting Started with the Harlequin MultiRIP
For the example job described next, make sure that you have deselected the Disable output
check box in the Output Controller/Monitor. This box is selected by default, so that you can
hold pages for on‐screen viewing before sending the pages to real output devices.
2. Select between one and six fonts. To select a range of fonts, click on the first font of that
range and then hold down the Shift key when you click to select the last font.
3. From the Page Setup drop‐down list, select Default Page Setup.
4. Click the Proof button. Several things happen on screen, with some items appearing
and quickly disappearing again:
• A Print File menu appears alongside the other RIP menu titles. This menu disap‐
pears when the job is complete.
• The status area on the right of the tool bar in the Harlequin MultiRIP window
shows an animated picture of a hand writing a page. “None” appears in the status
area on the right. (When you use other output devices, you see other animations
and names.)
• Text reporting the progress of the job appears in the scrolling text area of the
Harlequin MultiRIP window as the RIP starts the job and reads the necessary fonts.
• At least one progress dial window also appears and shows what is happening. For
example, the Read Dial shows how much of the job the RIP has read and disap‐
pears when the RIP has processed the complete job. With a small job like this proof
and a fast computer, the Read Dial may not appear; Figure 3.4 shows the dial.
Other dials can appear, depending on the size of the job and the settings in your
copy of the RIP.
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Figure 3.4 Read Dial
Notice what happens in the Output Controller/Monitor window. A job called 1. fontlist
appears in the list on the left, the Active Queue. After a few moments its name moves into the
box at upper center of the window, to show that the RIP is processing it, and then to the Held
Queue on the right. (The job is called 1. fontlist, to show that it is the first page of the
fontlist job. This job is probably only one page long, unless you chose several fonts.)
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3 Getting Started with the Harlequin MultiRIP
Such error messages are harmless if you stopped the job: they simply report that the job
stopped before it was complete.
In other circumstances, an error message alerts you to a possible problem with a job. The
details of the message may help a PostScript language programmer or your support organi‐
zation to diagnose the cause of that problem.
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2. In the Page Setup Manager dialog box, select Default Page Setup and click Copy to
display the New Page Setup dialog box. The New Page Setup dialog box is very similar
to the Edit Page Setup dialog box, shown in Figure 3.2 on page 61.
3. Select your preferred physical device from the Device drop‐down list.
Note: If the device is not listed in the Device drop‐down list, you may need to configure
it using the Device Manager, available from the button next to the Device list and
described in Chapter 5, “Configuring Output Formats”. It is probably easier to use the
None device to do another screen preview.
4. Assuming that you have successfully chosen a physical device, set the resolution and
any other required options in this New Page Setup dialog box. Note that if you change
the Device, you have to choose a separations style from the Style drop‐down list and, for
some devices, a cassette name from the Cassette drop‐down list.
5. Click Save As; the RIP displays the Save Setup dialog box. In the Save As text field type
a name: Default to Printer is suitably descriptive, so type that name then click Save.
Note: The Harlequin MultiRIP limits all user created names or file names to 31 bytes.
This is equivalent to 31 characters when using standard ASCII text, and 15 characters
when using double‐byte character sets, such as Kanji.
6. Click OK to close the Page Setup Manager.
7. Choose Media Manager from the Output menu and select the Disable media management
box. (You need to configure the media management before using it—that topic is cov‐
ered in Chapter 9, “Media Management”.)
8. Now create a new sample job as before, by choosing the Fonts > Proof Fonts command
and choosing some fonts from the Proof Highlighted Fonts dialog box.
9. From the Page Setup list, select Default to Printer and click Proof.
The RIP displays the same indicators of activity: text in the Harlequin RIP window, an ani‐
mated picture, and one or more progress dials. Another fontlist job appears in the Active
Queue and a large, empty rectangle appears just above the center of the Output
Controller/Monitor and starts to fill with gray. This rectangle is known as the progress box.
Note that in either of the single modes, the progress box appears in a separate window.
This time, when the job is being processed, watch the two gray bars that successively fill the
progress box, a light gray and a dark gray spreading from the top. The light gray bar repre‐
sents the amount of data the RIP has processed; the dark gray bar represents the amount that
has been sent to the output device (printer).
Note: The bottom edge of the light gray bar should always be ahead of (below) the dark gray.
If the dark gray catches up, the page may not be output properly—it depends how the
printer reacts to having to wait for data. In this case the RIP printer buffer has probably been
set too small, and you should increase its size. You can do this in the Configure RIP dialog
box available from the Harlequin MultiRIP > Configure RIP menu command. Typical sizes are in
the range 4 MiB through to 12 MiB.
When the dark gray has reached the bottom of the progress box, the RIP has finished the job
and the progress box clears. If the job was processed successfully, you can now pick it up
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3 Getting Started with the Harlequin MultiRIP
from your output device. If the job does not output, or stops and starts while outputting, you
may need to reconfigure the RIP or the host machine. (To help you identify a problem, the
text window in the Harlequin MultiRIP window displays and records any error messages.)
The Output Controller/Monitor provides another two useful facilities:
• If you want to reprint a page once it is in the Held Queue, you can do so easily: just drag
it with the mouse back into the Active Queue. Try that with the top fontlist job now:
it is sent again to the same device, which should be None. If you did the same to the
other fontlist job (which was sent to your imagesetter or printer), the RIP would
produce another hard copy.
It is very quick to output a page like this again, because it has already been processed
once; the RIP stores the raster data, and just sends this data again to the relevant output
device. By default, the RIP deletes processed jobs from the Held Queue only when it is
necessary to free up disk space for new jobs.
• If you select a job and click on the Info button (or just double‐click on the job), the RIP
brings up the Throughput Info dialog box, which contains the settings for that particu‐
lar job. You can change some of these settings before reprinting the job.
Note: If you are roaming a page, there are fewer available options in the Output Controller.
For example, you must close the Roam window (and the Reduced Roam window if you
opened it) before you can roam another page.
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need not be printed at a high resolution, but final versions should exploit the full printing
quality of the output device.
The Harlequin MultiRIP processes documents according to page setups. Each Page Setup
specifies a complete page format in terms of the orientation, resolution, size, and so on; and
provides a way to recall that page format, easily and exactly. For full details, see Chapter 5,
“Configuring Output Formats”.
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3 Getting Started with the Harlequin MultiRIP
Note: You can reorder the entries in the Page Setup Manager dialog box by selecting
one or more entries and dragging with the mouse. The order in the Page Setup Man‐
ager is the order of appearance in menus where you choose a Page Setup—typically
when configuring a managed input (described in “Managing input plugins” on page
217) or interactively printing a file (described in “Using the Print File command” on
page 236).
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3.3 Using the Harlequin MultiRIP with a spool folder
Using a Spool Folder input, you can configure the Harlequin MultiRIP to print files placed
into a common folder, usually one accessible from other computers on your network. This
means that various users or applications can write files into a spool folder. The RIP repeat‐
edly checks this folder, and when it finds a new file, it processes the file. The RIP deletes each
file from the spool folder after printing it but, using the Spool Folder Configuration options,
you can instruct the RIP to save the file in another folder after printing.
The RIP associates each spool folder with a Page Setup, giving the benefits described in
Section 3.2, “A more complex use of the Harlequin MultiRIP”, when the RIP was published
as a network printer. In particular, you can define several spool folder inputs, each with a dif‐
ferent Page Setup, to match the needs of different users or applications. (If you find it conve‐
nient, you can use the same Page Setup with a spool folder and other types of input.)
To define a spool folder, follow these steps:
1. Choose Input Controller from the Harlequin MultiRIP menu (or bring that window to the
front if there is already a check mark against that menu option). When the Input
Controller dialog box appears, click New. In the Input Channel Edit dialog box, choose a
Name for the output device you are about to publish, say SpoolPrint, and type it in.
Choose SpoolFolder from the Type menu and for Page Setup choose an appropriate
Page Setup.
Click Configure to specify the folder. The default folder is called Spool in the SW folder.
You can use any other folder that the RIP can access. See “Using the Spool Folder input
folder” on page 224 for more information. Exit the Spool Folder Configuration dialog
box by clicking OK.
2. In the Input Channel Edit dialog box, select the Enabled box and click OK to exit. If nec‐
essary, choose Start Inputs from the Harlequin MultiRIP menu. You will see a dial appear
as the new setup is published.
This starts the spool folder and any other enabled inputs. If there are files already in the
spool folder, the RIP asks if you want to start by printing them. Files that are put into
the folder after this input is enabled are rendered and printed in order of arrival in the
folder.
Note: The RIP may fail to publish a spool folder input. If so the relevant entry in the
Status column of the Input Controller dialog box shows Stopped. The most likely
reason is that you have tried to use a folder already in use by another spool folder
input: return to the Spool Folder Configuration dialog box and choose a new folder.
3. When you want to stop running the spool folder (and all other enabled inputs), choose
Start Inputs in the Harlequin MultiRIP menu again.
To disable a spool folder temporarily, select it in the Input Controller and click Off. To remove
a spool folder’s entry in the Input Controller, select the entry and click Delete. (Removing the
entry does not remove the associated folder on disk, nor any contents of that folder.)
Note: Even though PostScript Language compatibility level 1 is rarely used, you should note
that the spool folder plugin does not work with Page Setups set to PostScript Language com‐
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3 Getting Started with the Harlequin MultiRIP
patibility level 1. See “PostScript language compatibility level” on page 154 for more infor‐
mation. If this is attempted an “undefined” on “findresource” error will occur.
The window displays only messages since the start of the RIP session and can display the last
32,000 characters of these messages. (Within this limit, you can scroll back to inspect the mes‐
sages for old jobs: the window scrolls back to the end when new text appears.) In Multiple
(Parallel) mode—the default page buffer mode—timings require careful interpretation,
because the RIP may be outputting and interpreting jobs at the same time. Also, if the RIP has
to pause (for example, to wait for disk space to be freed), the timings may be misleading
because of the variable time spent freeing space.
The RIP adds a copy of all the messages appearing in the text window to a file, called LOG-
FILE, in the SW folder.
The size of the log file can be restricted by editing the GeneralPreferences text file found
within the Config folder in the SW folder.
By changing the value of /MaxLogfileSize to any value other than 0 will specify the maxi‐
mum size of the file in bytes. When this maximum value is reached LOGFILE will be changed
to LOGFILE.OLD.
The size of the file is checked when the RIP is started and each time a message is written to
the file. Only one LOGFILE.OLD is retained. Therefore, you must be aware of the size of the
log files and rename them to keep all messages.
Note: You will only see messages that have been added to the log file since you started the
current RIP session. To view the entire contents of the log file including messages from any
earlier sessions, you must use a text editor like Notepad or WordPad, provided with Win‐
dows.
The log file is an important source of information when difficulties arise. Refer to it if you
have any problems.
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Note: Font backup does not back up logfiles with the prefix LOGFILE. Thus copies of logfiles
whose names do not start with LOGFILE will be included in font backup files.
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72 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
4
Harlequin MultiRIP Output
Methods
This manual uses the term throughput to mean the productivity of your RIP workflow— how
much work you are completing in a given time. The Harlequin MultiRIP provides a compre‐
hensive set of tools that allow you to maximize your throughput.
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4 Harlequin MultiRIP Output Methods
gle modes only interpret one page before printing must occur (and hence make the RIP oper‐
ate in a more traditional manner).
The four specific modes are: Single, Single (if required), Multiple, and Multiple (Parallel). Table
4.1 introduces and compares these modes.
Mode Behavior
Single (if required) Only buffers a page to disk if the page is too com‐
plex to process in working memory—deletes this
buffer after printing.
Otherwise, sends output directly to the output
device.
Single Always buffers a page to disk before printing it.
Deletes the page after printing.
Multiple Always buffers a page to disk before printing it.
Retains on disk all pages created for a job, for ease
of reprinting.
Multiple (Parallel) Always buffers a page to disk before printing it
Retains on disk all pages created for a job, for ease
of reprinting.
Sends interpreted pages to the output device while
interpreting other pages at the same time.
Note: For normal use, you should use Multiple (Parallel) mode. This gives the best overall
performance from the RIP and the best control over every page processed. The RIP uses this
mode by default.
Refer to Chapter 7, “Configuring the RIP”, for details of how to select different page buffer‐
ing modes in the RIP.
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When the RIP is in either of the single modes, it sends each page straight to the output device
once it has been interpreted. If the RIP buffers a page to disk, that page buffer is deleted once
the page has been printed.
Interpreter Interpreter
....../manualfeed ....../manualfeed
exch def exch def
/paperheight /paperheight
exch def exch def
Jobs Jobs
Page buffer
file
Page
buffer files
Figure 4.1 How the Harlequin MultiRIP behaves in Single and Multiple Modes
When in one of the multiple modes, pages are always buffered, and they are not usually
deleted (until disk space is required for new pages) so they can be reprinted at a later point.
The throughput system tools can be used to oversee printing—allowing a range of benefits,
which are described below. See “The throughput system” on page 75.
Note also that when in Multiple (Parallel) mode, interpretation can take place at the same
time as outputting an earlier page to a printer or imagesetter, but this is not true of either of
the single modes. This is not illustrated in the diagram.
Even though the increase in job throughput is significant when in Multiple (Parallel) mode,
there may be cases—usually because of hardware limitations—when you will need to use
one of the other modes provided. For example, you may not have enough disk space to store
any page buffers, or the combination of a slow disk and an output device with a high data
rate may mean that working in Multiple (Parallel) mode becomes impractical. See “The
throughput system” on page 75 for more details.
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4 Harlequin MultiRIP Output Methods
page 201, for details on how to change the page buffer mode).
The Output Controller gives you powerful facilities for controlling any jobs output by the
RIP. These include:
• Reprinting without reinterpreting the original page description.
• Changing the order of the pages to be printed.
• Control over a variety of page characteristics without reinterpreting the page descrip‐
tion.
• Aborting any page before it is completely printed.
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separations for that page. Alternatively, click Select Job to select all separations and pages for
the whole job.
Note: Select Page and Select Job are disabled if your selection spans multiple jobs or pages.
The number of items in a queue, together with the amount of disk space they use, is dis‐
played below each queue.
If a page is currently being printed, it is shown in the box at the top of the Output Controller
between the Active Queue and Held Queue.
As pages are printed, there is a constant flow from the Active Queue to the Held Queue. After a
page has been interpreted, it will be placed at the end of the Active Queue, printed in its turn,
and then transferred to the Held Queue where it will be retained until disk space is needed for
new pages, when it will be automatically deleted. This is illustrated in Figure 4.3.
2. Interpret job
Figure 4.3 Flow of a page buffer between the active and held queues
You will find Disable output useful if you need to renew the media in an output device, or if
there is a fault on a device, but you wish to continue interpreting and preparing more pages
for output.
The RIP automatically disables output when certain errors occur, for example if a device
determines that the wrong cassette is mounted.
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4 Harlequin MultiRIP Output Methods
To move a page buffer, do the following:
1. Select the desired file.
2. Holding down the left mouse button, drag the file between the queues.
The selected page will move with the mouse pointer and enter the list at the position where
you release the mouse button.
Shift
If you wish, you can move a block of several pages at once. To select a block, select the first
one, then hold down the Shift key and select the last one.
Ctrl
You can also select several page buffers which do not form a contiguous block. Hold down
the Control key while selecting the page buffers.
You can reprint or abort a job, or reorder the pages in the queue, easily and quickly, by mov‐
ing the pages between the queues, as follows:
• To reprint a page, move it from the Held Queue to the Active Queue.
• To stop a page before it is printed, move it from the Active Queue to the Held Queue.
• To abort the page that is currently being printed, move it from the box between the
queues to the Held Queue.
• To change the order of the pages in a queue, move them within the queue.
• If you are moving a lot of pages at once, disable output first to ensure that none of
them are inadvertently printed before you are able to move them.
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The delete permission for (or origin of) each page
You can configure the RIP so that it automatically deletes pages once they have been printed,
or when space on the hard disk is low. However, you can still retain an important page by
changing its delete permission. See “Deleting buffered pages” on page 81, for details on
deleting pages automatically, and “Operations on buffered pages” on page 82, for details on
retaining important pages.
The mark, if any, to the left of each page in the Active Queue and Held Queue indicates its
delete permission.
x—The page is locked and cannot be deleted automatically
—(no mark) The page is unlocked and can be deleted automatically
<—The page was created in an earlier version of the Harlequin MultiRIP
If you only print a range of pages from a document, they are labeled in the original job from 1
upwards, rather than with the true page number in the document. For example, pages 3
through 7 of a document are labeled from 1 through 5 in the job.
The original job name
The name to the right of the page number is the job name. This is not necessarily the same as
the file name of the job.
If the job name for a PostScript language job is not specified in the page description, then one
of the following will apply:
• If the input came from a file, the file name will be used.
• If the input came from the Executive, then the value of %exec% will be used.
For other types of jobs, the file name will be used.
The color for printing the page
Color separation pages in the Output Controller are labeled with their separation name (for
example: C, M, Y, or K; or the spot color name), or Composite if there are several colors on one
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4 Harlequin MultiRIP Output Methods
page, for example when using the PackDrum page feature. (PackDrum is intended for use with
drum imagesetters, and it is an example so you must add it before use, as described in “Fea‐
tures” on page 151.)
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4.3.2.1 Deleting buffered pages
When the RIP is in either of the multiple page buffering modes, pages are kept buffered on
disk. When the hard disk fills up, however, there is no room for new pages, and so the RIP
cannot interpret any further jobs. To proceed, the RIP deletes some existing pages to make
room for new ones.
The drop‐down list labeled Delete in the Output Controller lets you specify one of three strat‐
egies to follow. Choose whichever option you prefer.
• The default strategy is When necessary. As disk space is required for new page buf‐
fers, the oldest ones will automatically be deleted from the Held Queue. Pages which
have been locked will not be deleted. (See “Locking important pages” on page 83, for
details of how to lock pages.) The amount of hard disk space currently available is dis‐
played at the bottom of the Output Controller, so you can tell when old page buffers
are likely to be deleted. (The number displayed does not include any space you have
reserved for the system—see Chapter 7, “Configuring the RIP”).
• Choosing Always will cause pages to be deleted immediately after they have been out‐
put. This means that page buffers will never be retained for reprinting, unless they
have been locked before printing was completed. (See “Locking important pages” on
page 83, for details of how to lock pages.) When switching to Always from another
strategy, any unlocked pages in the Held Queue will be automatically deleted if you
answer yes to a prompt.
• Choosing Never will cause pages to be locked as soon as they have been output, which
means that they will never be deleted automatically. If this strategy is used for long
periods of time, the hard disk will eventually fill up, and no more jobs will be pro‐
cessed until you manually remove pages or otherwise create more disk space.
Note: The option When necessary offers a good way to retain newer page buffers and man‐
age disk space automatically. If you choose Never or Always for some special purpose, we
strongly suggest that you return the setting to When necessary as soon as possible—the RIP
remembers and uses the option you choose for Delete, even between RIP sessions.
In When necessary and Always modes, it is possible for the RIP to get so far ahead of the
output device that the disk becomes filled with pages in the Active Queue. In this case, the RIP
will temporarily suspend creating more pages until some of the existing ones are output and
can be deleted to allow it to continue. The Harlequin MultiRIP window displays a message
warning that the system has temporarily run out of disk space.
If disk space runs out when there are no pages that can be removed and no pages still to be
output, the RIP will continue anyway, and if the disk reserve is used up then it will abort the
job.
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When viewing a higher resolution image, the Roam > Reduced Roam menu option is probably
available. It allows you to see more of the image in one view. You must close the Roam win‐
dow (and the Reduced Roam window if you opened it) before you can roam another page.
For more details about the Roam function see “Roam and Preview windows” on page 101.
You can delete any buffers from the hard disk—whether locked or not—by selecting them
and clicking on the Remove button in the Output Controller. A warning dialog box appears
which lets you cancel the operation if necessary.
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4 Harlequin MultiRIP Output Methods
Note: If you have calibrated your output device, selecting this option from the Info dialog
box may produce incorrectly calibrated output. If so, select the Negative option in the Edit
Page Setup dialog box instead, and output the job again.
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Edit Page Setup dialog box, as described in “Default page size” on page 139.
This dialog box allows you to change the margins for the selected page buffer. Type the mar‐
gin size you want into the appropriate text boxes. You can choose the units of measurement
you require from the Select units drop‐down list. In addition, you can center the selected
page on the media by clicking on the Center page on Media Width and Center page on Media
Length check boxes. The default value for each option is taken from the Page Setup for the
selected page buffer. If you override any of these values, they will take effect next time you
print the page buffer.
Some of the fields in the Info dialog box may not be editable, depending on the type of
device.
Note: When Centre page on Media Length and Centre Page on Media Height are enabled the left
and top margin values are set to zero. In other words, the RIP does not clip when those
options are turned on. The page buffer ignores the margin when the “centre” options are
turned on.
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This section provides more specific details than the brief description in “Page buffering
modes” on page 73. You may find this section useful if you wish to experiment with running
the RIP in different modes.
In Multiple (Parallel) mode, you can customize the RIP so that when disk space runs out, it
automatically deletes pages which have been output. See “Deleting buffered pages” on page
81 for details.
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4 Harlequin MultiRIP Output Methods
In Multiple mode, when a page is ready, interpretation is suspended until it has been output,
in a similar fashion to the way the single modes operate. The advantage of Multiple mode
over either of the single modes is that, because multiple page buffers can be written to disk,
interpretation can continue even if the output device is not ready to accept data (for instance,
if there is a media jam or if it has been turned off).
Multiple mode should be used if you experience a lot of data underrun in Multiple (Parallel)
mode. This is only likely to happen with very complex jobs or an output device that requires
data to be supplied at a very high speed.
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4.4.4 Single (if required) mode
This mode is similar to Single mode, except that a single page buffer will be created only when
it is necessary. The RIP will attempt to output a page to the printer without using a page buffer
at all, but will create one in either of the following cases:
• It is not possible to interpret the page quickly enough to keep up with the printer, and
the printer does not have a stop and restart function.
• All the available working memory on your computer has been filled by interpreted
data before the page has been completed.
In the second case, the interpreted data is placed in a page buffer, thus freeing memory. More
data is interpreted, and when memory is exhausted again the data is merged into the original
page buffer, and memory is again available to continue the job. This process continues until
all the data for the page has been interpreted, at which point the data in the page buffer is
sent to the chosen output device, as for Single mode.
This mode is very productive but robust where there is an unpredictable mix of simple and
complex jobs, and is especially useful when most jobs are relatively simple. It is productive
because the RIP processes the simple jobs without creating disk buffers and achieves maxi‐
mum throughput for these jobs. It is robust because, when a job is complex enough to require
buffering, the RIP creates and then sends the page buffer: this takes some extra time but the
time is taken only when required.
In some cases, Single (if required) mode provides the quickest way to output a job.
The Output menu on the main Harlequin MultiRIP window, contains a Hold and Reprint
option, as described for Single mode.
gle (if required) mode is used at 2400 dpi.
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4 Harlequin MultiRIP Output Methods
The main problem with Single (if required) mode is that if the job is too complex, then the
printer will catch up, a paint to disk will be necessary, and the page output again: wasting the
time spent on the failed page and some media.
Another potential inefficiency of Single (if required) mode is that if the page is relatively sim‐
ple, a lot of processing time is wasted when the page is outputting, which could be used to
get the next page ready (as happens in Multiple (Parallel) mode).
Always create a page buffer?
Ever create more than one
page buffer?
Retain any page buffers on
disk?
Always output as soon as a
page is ready?
Always stop interpreting
while outputting?
Interpret pages while
outputting other pages?
Allow pages to be output
again?
Allow modification of page
buffer settings without
reinterpretation?
Allow previewing the page?
90 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
5
Configuring Output
Formats
Chapter 3, “Getting Started with the Harlequin MultiRIP”, presented some of the basic ways
of getting output from the RIP. That chapter introduced the Page Setup Manager and Edit
Page Setup dialog box and showed how you can use Page Setups to choose the output device
and many output options.
This chapter describes the details of these dialog boxes and discusses likely output devices.
You can keep a number of different Page Setups which you use regularly—perhaps one that
has Harlequin Precision Screening (HPS) turned on, and one that does not, one that previews
images, and one that sends output to a particular printer. You can save as many configura‐
tions as you wish.
Page Setups are such an important part of the RIP that you must name each one as you create
and save it. You can use up to 30 characters in a name. It is useful to give each Page Setup a
meaningful name, without being too specific about its contents.
• Choose a meaningful name because the Page Setup name appears in several menus
where you have to choose a Page Setup. Also, for each job, the RIP displays a message
in the RIP Monitor saying which Page Setup it used.
Choose a form of name that suits the variety of jobs and output devices that you work
with. Consider making the name contain parts indicating the output device, and set‐
tings such as resolution. Another tactic might be to label a Page Setup with its general
purpose, for example: proofing or final output.
• Try not to be too specific because you can change the settings within a Page Setup
without changing its name.
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5 Configuring Output Formats
For example, this can be useful if you change the device you use for proofing. If you
have several networked inputs that each use the same Page Setup, it is easier to edit just
one Page Setup than to create a new Page Setup and then change all the inputs to use
the new Page Setup.
You can give an experimental Page Setup a less carefully chosen name, but try to make it
clear that it is not for routine use.
The Page Setup Manager contains a list of all existing Page Setups, showing the name of each
Page Setup, the corresponding output device and some important settings: the output resolu‐
tion, the calibration set in use, and the separations style.
In a new installation of the RIP, there is always one Page Setup called Default Page Setup.
This Page Setup uses a set of options that can be expected to work with any installation of the
RIP, producing a low‐resolution on‐screen preview. You can delete or redefine this Page
Setup to suit your installation.
Edit Select a Page Setup and click this button to edit it in the Edit Page
Setup dialog box. A shortcut is to double‐click a Page Setup. See “Edit
Page Setup dialog box” on page 94 for details of using this dialog box.
Note: To rename a Page Setup, copy it and save the copy with the
desired name, before deleting the original.
92 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
New Click this button to create a new Page Setup and edit it in the New
Page Setup dialog box. See “Edit Page Setup dialog box” on page 94
for details of using this dialog box.
Copy Select a Page Setup and click this button to edit a copy in the New Page
Setup dialog box.
Delete Select one or more Page Setups and click this button to delete them.
If any of the Page Setups are in use by a managed input, the RIP dis‐
plays a warning dialog box for each used Page Setup. Click Yes if you
are certain that you want to delete the Page Setup.
Shift
To select a block of setups that appear together in the list, select the first setup in the block,
then, while holding down the Shift key, select the last setup in the block.
Ctrl
To select several setups, regardless of whether they form a continuous range, hold down the
Control key while selecting the setups you wish to delete.
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5 Configuring Output Formats
The options you can configure from the Edit Page Setup dialog box include:
• The device to which the RIP sends output.
• The separations to be created from each job, together with the output format.
• The halftone screening to be used with each job.
• The calibration to be applied to each job.
• The color setup for the job.
• The effects to be applied to input jobs.
94 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
“Selecting different devices” on page 96 through “XPS Options” on page 163 describe the
options within these categories. Many options involve subsidiary dialog boxes.
All the information that you need to create a Page Setup is available from the Edit Page Setup
dialog box. You can call the Device Manager, Separations Manager, Color Setup Manager,
Calibration Manager, and the Cassette Manager from the Edit Page Setup dialog box.
The changes you make in these managers are independent of the Page Setup you are creat‐
ing. For example, you can use the Separations Manager to create a separations style, even if
you do not want to use that separations style in the Page Setup.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 95
5 Configuring Output Formats
The dialog box shows a list of existing Page Setups. You have these options:
• Type a name in the Save As text box and click Save. The new Page Setup is added to
the list in the Page Setup Manager.
• Select a name from the list of the Page Setups to transfer it to the Save As text box. You
can edit the name first or click Save immediately to overwrite the existing setup.
• Click Cancel to return to the New Page Setup dialog box.
If you attempt to save a setup using an existing name, the RIP asks you to confirm the action
before overwriting the existing setup. If you answer No, you return to the Save Setup dialog
box where you can choose another name.
Once you have saved the Page Setup, you must also click OK in the Page Setup Manager to
finally save your changes.
96 OEM Manual Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016
The list of available resolutions varies between output devices. Most physical output devices
support a limited number of resolutions and you must choose from the values shown in the
drop‐down lists. For some devices (such as TIFF) you can either type in a resolution or
choose one of the values.
Normally the vertical and horizontal resolutions should be the same value: this is your only
option when the screening method is HDS or when the chosen output device requires the
same vertical and horizontal resolution. For other screening methods and with other output
devices you can set the resolutions to different values—if you need to.
• Set both resolutions at once by defining just the vertical resolution—the horizontal res‐
olution is automatically set to the same value.
• Set different vertical and horizontal resolutions by setting first the vertical and then the
horizontal resolution.
Note: The resolutions shown in this dialog box always take effect for jobs that do not specify
a resolution. If the job attempts to specify the resolution, you must select the Override resolu-
tion in job check box if you want to produce the resolution shown here.
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5 Configuring Output Formats
There is a performance penalty when interpolation takes place, and this penalty is related to
the area of the output image, and to whatever color management is taking place.
Because it may increase the time required to render the image, image interpolation is dis‐
abled by default. It is enabled when the width or height (or both) of an image on the device is
larger than the corresponding dimension of the source. If either dimension of the image on
the device is less than that of the source, the filter is deactivated.
Image interpolation takes place when the Interpolate flag in an image or mask dictionary is
set to “true” and this is set by the generating application, or you can force all images to be
interpolated.
Note: Interpolation (image and mask) is not supported for type 4 images.
Image interpolation increases the resolution of the image to the device resolution by increas‐
ing the bit depth of the image. For example, a 1 bit grayscale image will interpolate to, say, an
8 bit image, with a smooth gray scale transition between each black and white pixel.
Image mask interpolation produces output that is 4 times higher in resolution than the input,
but it can run up to three times in a row, providing at most 64 (4 x 4 x 4) times higher resolu‐
tion output. The mask interpolator uses two criteria to choose if higher resolution output is
needed:
• If the source mask width and height are both higher than the device resolution, stop.
• If either the source mask width or height are more than 150% of device resolution, stop.
• Otherwise, interpolate again.
The second check is concerned with images whose source data is not square, but they have
been transformed so that on the device they are close to becoming square. This is to avoid the
larger side of the image becoming very large as the smaller side tries to achieve the device
resolution.
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Although some processing time is required, the reduction filter can, in some cases, speed up
processing as it reduces the amount of information the RIP has to work with. In particular,
large, high‐resolution images being output on a relatively low‐resolution device (1200 dpi
image on a 300 dpi device) may notice a speed improvement, particularly if the job is using
color management.
The image reduction filter becomes active when the width or height (or both) of an image on
the device is smaller than the corresponding dimension of the source. If either dimension of
the image on the device is greater than that of the source, the filter is deactivated.
Harlequin MultiRIP v11.0r1 January 2016 OEM Manual 99
5 Configuring Output Formats
When you print a file to the Preview device, a new window appears containing the image
processed, as shown in Figure 5.4.
You have already seen an example of screen roam in Chapter 3, “Getting Started with the
Harlequin MultiRIP”. Using screen preview as a device gives you the same options as screen
roam. You can preview up to 24‐bit RGB or 32‐bit CMYK raster images, as long as you have
sufficient memory. If you have installed an N‐color device, you can also roam N‐color
images.
Navigation in the Preview window is the same as in the Roam window. For details see
“Roam and Preview windows” on page 101. You can hide one or more separations when pre‐
viewing a composite image. See “Roam Options and Preview Options dialog boxes” on page
102 for details.
Shift
Hold down the Shift key to see cross hairs marking the location of the view, in proportion to
the size of the Roam window. For example, if the cross hairs are shown in the bottom right of
the window, the window contains the bottom right portion of the page. Hold down the Shift
key and click the mouse (Shift‐click) to jump to another part of the page. For example, if you
Shift‐click on the middle of the window, the window scrolls to show the middle of the page.
The Roam Options dialog box contains a list of the separations shown in the Roam window
and the Reduced Roam window.
You can use this dialog box to choose the separations that are displayed. Select a separation,
or use the Shift or Control keys to select multiple separation names, then click one of these
buttons:
On Displays the selected separation or separations.
Off Hides the selected separation or separations. You cannot use this but‐
ton if using it would hide all separations.
The other controls do not require a selected separation.
Shift
If you Shift‐click at a particular point in the Reduced Roam window, the view in the Roam
window scrolls to center on that point on the page.
Shift
If you Shift‐drag with the mouse (hold down Shift key, then press and hold the mouse but‐
ton), you can range over the part of the page which is visible in the Reduced Roam window.
See “Sending output to the screen” on page 99 for further information about the Preview and
None devices.
The options in this dialog box fall into categories—location and naming, file format, and post
processing—as described in the following subsections.
Most tags are content tags, representing variables such as the date and time a job is pro‐
cessed; the other tags allow you to reject names that would be illegal in a specified operating
system.The maximum length of variables can be specified by preceding the tag name with an
integer. For example, <5jobname> truncates the job name to a maximum of five characters.
Tags that produce numeric values are truncated from left to right, whereas tags that produce
alphanumeric strings (strings containing the characters a‐z, A‐Z, and 0‐9) are truncated from
right to left. See the example below for further details.
Fixed text can be part of the file name stem or extension. For example,
stem_<3unique><sepname><dot>tif would generate a file name of the form:
stem_000Cyan.tif, in which stem_ can be any identifying text.
Try to use a file name extension that does not clash with any established convention.
Note: This file naming scheme does not provide useful file names derived from job names
that contain double‐byte characters.
The default when Template-based is selected but the template field is left blank is:
TIFF<2unique>.TIF
This means that when 100 files have been processed the RIP will stop.
Note: If you use unrecognized tags they will be maintained in the output filename.
The following tags are available and can be used in any order:
Tag Description
<date> The date when the job is processed, in the format YYYYMMDD, unless a
truncated form is specified.
<dot> Separates the stem of the file name from the file extension, and appears
as a period character ( . ) in the file name. For example,
stem<dot>ext appears as stem.ext. The use of the <dot> tag
enables the verification of the stem and extension lengths.
<exposure> The exposure setting, a device specific integer.
<job#> The job number allocated by the RIP. Automatic numbering means that
successive jobs have incremented job numbers: 000, 001, 002, 003,
and so on.
<jobname> The page buffer name without the page number prefix and without
characters illegal to the operating system. Whitespace characters are
used, if present in the job name.
<jobname1> The page buffer name without the page number prefix, and using only
alphanumeric characters (a‐z, A‐Z, 0‐9). Whitespace characters are not
used.
<page#> The page number (allocated by the RIP), within the current job. For
example: 002.
<prefix> The page number prefix from the page buffer name, such as 1., 2., and
so on.
<prefixonly> You can use this tag to include the characters from the prefix before the
full point in the job name.
<realpage#> The page number is determined using the HqnPageCounter procset.
This is zero if the HqnPageCounter procset is not available.
<time> The time when the job is processed, in the 24‐hour format HHMMSS,
unless a truncated form is specified.
<unique> A unique sequence number used to make file names unique when
outputting files to a directory.
<xres> The horizontal resolution of the page, as specified in the Page Setup.
<yres> The vertical resolution of the page, as specified in the Page Setup.
The legality of an automatically generated file name is always checked against the require‐
ments of the operating system on which the RIP is running.
To enable portability of files from one operating system to another, you can also use tags to
specify the operating system for which generated file names must be suitable. The use of
these tags changes the rules by which a file name is deemed valid. The tags do not modify the
file names generated, but cause error messages if the file name is invalid.
For example, you can create the template <dos>Averylongfilename.tif, but an error is
generated. This error occurs because DOS file names require the 8.3 format for stem and
extension, which this template fails to meet by having 17 characters in its stem. Table 5.2 lists
the operating system tags.
Tag Description
<dos> Verifies that the file name is a legal file name for the MS‐DOS operating
system.
<mac> Verifies that the file name is a legal file name for the Macintosh operating
system.
<macosx> Verifies that the file name is a legal file name for the Mac OS X operating
system.
<unix> Verifies that the file name is a legal file name for the UNIX operating system.
<win32> Verifies that the file name is a legal file name for Windows operating systems.
Note: These operating system tags should always appear at the start of the template line.
Note: Illegal characters which would cause an error on a particular platform are removed.
The template format means that it is not currently possible to include less‐than (<) or greater‐
than (>) characters in a template due to their use as tag delimiters.
The following examples demonstrate the format of strings produced by individual tags.
Some examples also show how the tags may be used in combination to form a template. The
examples are based on these job details:
Page buffer name: 1. TestPage: Section 20‐Book 9
Date: 12th of May, 2004
Note: When creating multiple copies of a file, the same page buffer provides tag information.
If a template contains dynamic tags (such as <time>, where the value changes each time that
a page buffer file is output), then multiple copies of the file are created. If the template con‐
tains just static tags (such as <jobname>, where the job name remains constant), a single
output file is created. If there is no uniqueness in the name, because the file already exists, a
message to that effect is sent to the RIP monitor and output fails with a file creation
error.
<colorant>
This tag includes the color space of the device in the file name string.
For example, the template <colorant><dot>tif produces a file name of the form Pho-
toInk.tif for a device using a PhotoInk color space.
<colorname>
The tag <colorname> can be used to include the name of the separation in a file name,
for example: Cyan. You can include just the first letter of the separation by using the tag
<1colorname>, which truncates the separation name to its first letter. If a composite
style is used this is indicated by the string Composite. If a monochrome style is used
this is indicated by the string Gray.
<date>
The template <date><dot>tif produces the file name 20040512.tif. You can remove
the year information by using the tag <4date> to produce the file name 0512.tif.
<dos>
The use of this tag verifies that the file name is suitable for use in a DOS operating sys‐
tem. Illegal characters, such as a colon and whitespace characters which would cause
an error, are removed.
For example, the template <dos><jobname><dot>tif, would generate an illegal file
name because the job name is greater than the eight characters allowed in DOS operat‐
ing systems. Truncation can be forced by using the template
<dos><8jobname><dot>tif, which produces the file name TestPage.tif.
You can use this tag to include the job number in the file name string. The default
length of the number is three digits, so the first file name created with this tag would be
000, unless a different length is specified. You can specify the length of the job number
by preceding the <job#> tag with an integer. For example, <5job#> creates job num‐
bers five digits long.
In multi‐page jobs use the <page#> tag as well as the <job#> tag to differentiate
between the different pages of a job.
<jobname>
This tag ensures that only legal operating system characters are used in the job name.
For example, in the RIP running under any Microsoft Windows operating system, the
template <jobname><dot>tif produces the file name TestPage Section 20-Book
9.tif. The colon character ( : ) is removed from the file name, because this is not a
valid file name character for any version of Microsoft Windows.
<jobname1>
This tag ensures that only alphanumeric characters are used in the job name.
For example, in the RIP running under a Windows operating system, the template
<jobname1><dot>tif produces the file name TestPageSection20Book9.tif. The
colon and whitespace characters are removed from the file name, because they are not
alphanumeric characters.
<mac>
The use of this tag verifies that the file name is suitable for use in a Macintosh operating
system. Illegal characters such as an asterisk, colon, and quotation marks cause an
error. The maximum length of a file name is thirty‐one characters (including the file
extension).
For example, using the template <mac><28jobname><dot>tif produces the file name
TestPage Section 20-Book 9, in which the colon has been removed.
<page#>
You can use this tag to include the page number in the file name string.
For example, the template <page#><dot>tif produces a file name of the form
001.tif. It is advisable to use this tag with the job number tag to differentiate between
the same pages of different jobs.
<prefix>
You can use this tag to include the page number prefix from the page buffer name in the
file name string.
For example, based on the page buffer name above, this tag produces the string 1.
<time>
You can use this tag to include the time a file is processed in the file name string.
For example, if printing to file at 15:39:36 (approximately 3:39 pm) this tag produces the
string 153936.
<unique>
You can use this tag to generate a unique sequence number for the page. The default
length of the number generated is four digits long, so the first number would be 0000.
The length of the number can be specified, as detailed in the example for the tag
<job#>.
When restarting the RIP, the unique numbering will attempt to restart at its initial
value, for example: 0000. However, if a file exists with that number, the next available
unique number is used.
<unix>
The use of this tag verifies that the file name is suitable for use in the UNIX operating
system. Illegal characters such as an asterisk, colon, and quotation marks cause an
error. The <dot> tag cannot be used with this tag because file names in UNIX are com‐
posed of a single string and are not considered to have separate file extensions.
For example, using the template <unix><255jobname>.tif produces the file name
TestPageSection20-Book9.tif, in which the colon and whitespace characters have
been removed.
<win32>
The use of this tag verifies that the file name is suitable for use in a Windows operating
system. Illegal characters such as an asterisk, colon, or quotation marks cause an error.
For example, the template <win32><jobname><dot>tif produces the file name Test-
Page Section 20-Book 9.tif, in which the colon has been removed.
<xres>
You can use this tag to include the horizontal resolution of the page in the file name
string.
For example, you can differentiate between pages with a resolution of 1440 x 720 dpi
and 720 x 720 dpi by using this tag. This tag produces a string such as 1440 or 720,
depending on the horizontal resolution.
You can use this tag to include the vertical resolution of the page in the file name string.
For example, on a page with the resolution 1440 x 720, this tag produces the string 720.
If a file already exists, the RIP creates the next file in the sequence.
If you do not want the page numbers to appear at the start of the file name, select the Del page
num prefix check box. In this case, the RIP creates file names such as jobnamepsC01.tif. This
option is only relevant if you select Use jobname as stem.
The Use jobname unchanged option is designed to support jobs arriving with names that
include double‐byte characters, as used in several Oriental languages and other extended
alphabets. Previously, the output file name was constructed after testing characters byte by
byte, and discarding characters that were potentially illegal in file names. This is still the safe
and strongly recommended option, but when there are illegal characters it can produce files
with unpredictable names, which may be difficult to use in complex workflows.
To retain the previous behavior, leave the check box Use jobname unchanged unselected.
To enable the new option, select the check box Use jobname unchanged. (For this option to
work, you must also select Use jobname as stem.) The result is that each TIFF file has a pre‐
dictable name but that name may be illegal because of length or characters used in the name.
It is very dangerous to use this option where the form of incoming job names is not known
before submission to the RIP.
Note to OEMS: Warning:
You must test the consequences of using this option in a controlled,
non‐production environment, and you must emphasize the risks to
your end‐users. Using this option can produce TIFF files whose names
are illegal to the operating system, especially if the RIP installation is
running in a different locale or on a different platform from the locale
and platform used to create the job. In some circumstances, these ille‐
gal names can cause the operating system to crash or cause loss of data
on disk. Global Graphics does not accept any responsibility for the
consequences of using this option.
To recap, the full path and name of a TIFF file can be as complex as the following example:
D:\RIP\TIFF_Folder\300\1jobnamepsM00.tif
In this example, 300 is the resolution of the TIFF file. The preceding text is the path to the
selected folder and the following text is the file name.
The Unique Filenames option ensures that a ## number is added to the filename, and is
selected as a default (providing the same behavior as previous versions of TIFF output). If the
Unique Filenames option is not selected, the filename does not have the unique ## number
added to it.
Shown below are examples of template‐based file name generation that give similar (but not
necessarily identical) results to the conventional name generation method.
These examples are based on the assumption that the conventional name generation fields
“stem” and “suffix” are set to TIFF and TIF respectively.
The template‐based method uses a fixed‐length uniqueness field. The template‐based
method will always fail to generate a unique name when files exist in the output folder using
Notes on the table:
1. The conventional name generation options always generate the name TIFF.TIF.
2. <dos> does not shorten names (which the conventional methodʹs option does), so the
tags used to make up the stem need to total eight. To allow for more characters in the
prefix, the jobname would need to use less. You must use <dot> to separate the name
and the extension when using <dos>.
3. Because <dos> strips space and full‐stop characters, <prefix> and <prefixonly>
become equivalent when <dos> is used.
In some rare circumstances, the extension might be 01T or 002T instead of 00T.
Use the Style drop‐down list in the Edit Page Setup dialog box to choose the color space and
interleaving style.
Note: The CCITT compression formats are only suitable for monochrome output.
Finally, for all except monochrome files, you can choose a level of anti‐aliasing in which inter‐
mediate colors are used to visually smooth boundaries. (Anti‐aliasing is most useful at low or
medium resolutions.) Select the desired option from the Anti-Aliasing drop‐down list box.
None is the fastest option but provides no anti‐aliasing. Of the other options, the higher num‐
bers provide more smoothing, but also require more time to prepare a given image.
Note: If you output any job to TIFF CMYK Composite (Pixel) with anti‐aliasing set at 8x8, the
following error will appear for the TIFF device if the resolution is greater than 300 dpi:
%%[Warning: band size too small - please increase size]%%.
Enable Select this check box to enable a post‐processing command, as entered
in the Command text field. Leave it unselected to disable post‐
processing.
Command The entry in this text field is a string specifying a post‐processing
application, which must be available on the computer running the RIP.
Optionally, you can supply options understood by the application, and
data such as the name of the relevant input or output files. The com‐
mand string can contain substitution codes. The RIP expands the
codes and runs the command at the end of each output file.
“Post processing substitution codes” on page 116 lists the recognized
substitution codes.
The string should normally include the file extension and the full path
name of the application file. However, you can type just the file name
if the command file has extension .EXE and is in one of the folders
specified by the PATH variable. File names passed to the application as
data are assumed to be in the folder receiving the TIFF files, unless you
type a different path name.
Code Meaning
%c The current separation color, represented by a string of default length
one character. Typical separation names are Cyan, Magenta,
Yellow, and Black. Examples for length one are: C, Y, M, and B.
%d The current date. In the case of the TIFF plugin, this defaults to a
length of 6 digits (YYMMDD).
For example: 26 October 1998 becomes 981026.
%8d gives YYYYMMDD.
%e The job exposure, as entered in the Page Setup dialog box. For exam‐
ple: 221.
%f The output TIFF file name, not including the full path. For example,
based on jobname and not suppressing the page number:
1ColdfacepsC05.TIF.
%g A fixed jobname using the following rules:
1. Skip over the leading nn.which the RIP pre‐pends.
2. Remove all non‐alphanumeric characters.
%j The current page buffer name, as shown in the Output
Controller/Monitor. For example: 1. Coldface.ps (C).
%n The current job number, an integer that the RIP increments each time
it processes a new job. For example: 115.
%o The full output directory path set by the Folder button (but not the
resolution, if the check box to include resolution has been checked;
nor the file name). For example: C:\S\TIFF\.
%p The current page number within the job. For example: 13.
%r The job resolution, in dots per inch. For example: 72.
%s The current job name, after removal of characters that would be ille‐
gal in a file name. For example: Coldfaceps.
%s uses the following rules:
1. Skip over the leading nn. which the RIP pre‐pends.
2. Remove all parenthetical expressions.
3. Remove everything which comes before delimiter characters ‐
: (colon), ; (semi‐colon), @ (commercial at), - (hyphen), and control
characters. Delimiters within parentheses do not count.
4. Remove all non‐alphanumeric characters.
5. If rules 1‐4 result in an empty name, start over again and just use
rule 4.
Code Meaning
%t The current time in the format HHMMSS, using the 24 hour clock.
The default length is 6. For example, a time just after 7:30 pm would
be shown: 193211.
%x The current file name suffix. For example: TIF.
%z The output file name stem, is taken from the job name if Use job-
name as stem is selected, otherwise it will be taken from the Stem
text field.
For example: if Stem is set to TIFF, and Use jobname as stem is not
selected; %z will produce TIFF00, TIFF01, and so on for the output
files TIFF00.tif, TIFF01.tif and so on.
For a more thorough test of how the command behaves when used at the command prompt
of the operating system, select the Create window box and try creating a batch (.BAT) file with
these contents and using the name of the batch file as the application in your command
string.
echo %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
pause
Note: If you have problems with a command, test it outside the RIP by opening a command
window and running the command manually. If you think that you have used any substitu‐
tion code from which the RIP might generate an element containing characters with a special
meaning to Windows, try surrounding that code with double quotes. For example, use "%f"
in the Command field rather than just %f. If there are no special characters involved, look at
the number of substitution codes that you are using and the length of the command string
both before and after expansion of the substitution codes. The limit on the length of the
expanded command string varies with the Microsoft Windows environment but you should
have no problems with up to 125 characters in the string after expansion.
The options in this dialog box fall into categories—location and naming, file metadata, file
format, and post processing—as described in the following subsections.
Try to use a file name extension that does not clash with any established convention.
Note: This file naming scheme does not provide useful file names derived from job names
that contain double‐byte characters.
The default value for template‐based name generation is:
Raster<2unique>.pdf
This means that when 100 files have been processed the RIP will stop.
Note: If you use unrecognized tags they will be maintained in the output filename.
Note: The list of tags displayed in the PDF Raster Configuration dialog is only a useful sub‐
set. All tags are supported for PDF raster output.
Template‐based name generation for PDF raster works in exactly the same manner as for
template‐based name generation for TIFF. Therefore, for full details on all the tags available
see “Template‐based name generation” on page 105.
and upper‐right y coordinates of a rectangle. For more information on specifying these val‐
ues see the PDF Reference Sixth Edition v1.7 Section 3.8.4.
When the values have been entered check the Apply box.
Note: All boxes will be within the Media Box, and if they are not they will be clipped to the
Media Box size. Trim Box and Crop Box settings are maintained in the output file if they are
present in the source PDF.
If a PDF input file has a date within the metadata which does not conform to the PDF specifi‐
cation a warning will appear and the date in the output PDF will be changed to the current
RIP date. Warning of the following form are displayed when this occurs:
Warning: input PDF uses a modification date \"%s\" that does not conform to the
PDF specification.
or
Warning: input PDF uses a creation date \"%s\" that does not conform to the PDF
specification.
Enable Select this check box to enable a post‐processing command, as entered
in the Command text field. Leave it unselected to disable post‐
processing.
Command The entry in this text field is a string specifying a post‐processing
application, which must be available on the computer running the RIP.
Optionally, you can supply parameters understood by the application,
and data such as the name of the relevant input or output files. The
command string can contain substitution codes. The RIP expands the
codes and runs the command at the end of each output file.
“Post processing substitution codes” on page 116 lists the recognized
substitution codes.
The string should normally include the file extension and the full path
name of the application file. However, you can type just the file name
if the command file has extension .EXE and is in one of the folders
specified by the PATH variable. File names passed to the application as
data are assumed to be in the folder receiving the PDF raster files,
unless you type a different path name.
Note to OEMS: OEMs can create their own plugin device drivers. Details of how to do
this are available from Global Graphics. Global Graphics also supplies
a range of ready‐made device drivers for some of the more commonly
used output devices.
Under Separations, Screening & Color, the Style drop‐down list contains all the separations
styles created for the current device. The choice of separations style determines the color
space and format of the output.
Note: Some output plugins allow you to select the color generation mode using the Configure
Device button. When this is the case, the Style drop‐down list contains only the separations
styles corresponding to the selected color generation mode.
For certain types of output device, a text box labeled Exposure becomes active in Edit Page
Setup. By specifying a number in the text box, you can change the exposure of the chosen
output device: this varies the power of the laser used to create the image, which in turn
ProofReady color setups or separation styles. However, non‐compatible separation styles
and color setups cannot be selected or created.
If you want to create a calibration set for your printer rather than using the reference calibra‐
tion profile, you can print an uncalibrated target and import the data using Genlin. Once you
have created a calibration set, you must choose it from the Calibration menu.
You can also expand the capabilities of a ProofReady plugin, by creating and using custom
color setups built upon the same profiles used to create the default color setups.
For more details of ProofReady plugins, see the user guide for the relevant ProofReady
plugin.
Device A device is often a physical piece of equipment which produces out‐
put. It can also be a way of producing a graphics file in a format like
TIFF. A device can be selected by name from the Device drop‐down list
in the Edit Page Setup dialog box.
Device type Any particular device is of a certain type. For instance, some printers
are of type Ultre, and some are of type ExxtraSetter. Distinguishing
different device types is like distinguishing different models of com‐
puter. Some options (for example, the resolutions or media types avail‐
able) depend on the device type.
Output plugin The output plugin is the software you install into the RIP to make it
drive a particular device. It tells the RIP the name and type of the
devices it drives, as well as the address of the device (that is, where to
find the device—in terms of the computer rather than physical
location).
With ordinary output plugins, one plugin can drive only one device. If you want to install a
large number of devices, you need many different output plugins. This can make configura‐
tion of the system cumbersome.
Multiple device output plugins allow you to drive a number of different devices using just
one plugin. You can have any number of devices of a particular type.
U U U E E
Device1 Device2 Device3 Device4 Device5
Ultre Devices (marked U) ExxtraSetter Devices (marked E)
Figure 5.8 The use of multiple device drivers in the Harlequin MultiRIP
Five devices are shown, driven by two output plugins. Device1 is of type Ultre, and is
driven by an ordinary output plugin.
However, the remaining four devices are all driven by one multiple device output plugin.
Two of these devices are of type Ultre, and two are of type ExxtraSetter, so this driver
must know about at least two device types—it may well know about others.
under Output Device in Edit Page Setup. The Device Manager is also available from the Harle-
quin MultiRIP menu.
The Plugin drop‐down list shows the multiple device output plugins currently installed in
the RIP. You can install several multiple device plugins, and this drop‐down list lets you
choose between them. The devices driven by the selected plugin appear in the table listing:
each line displays the name, type, and address of one device. For instance, in Figure 5.9 the
dialog box lists devices linked to the Epsonvsd multiple device plugin.
Note: Both the name and the values entered for each device are used here for illustration
only. There are several multiple device plugins but their names and the acceptable values
vary greatly, so they are documented separately.
The Device Manager has the following uses:
• To change the configuration of a device, select its entry in the list and click Edit then
use the Device Manager Edit dialog box.
• To add a new device, click New then use the Device Manager Edit dialog box.
• To add a device that is similar to an existing device, select its entry in the list and click
Copy then use the Device Manager Edit dialog box. You must give the copy a new
name.
• To delete a device from the current multiple device driver, select it in the Device Man‐
ager and click Delete. This removes the driver immediately.
When you click the New, Edit, or Copy button, the RIP displays the Device Manager Edit dia‐
log box shown in Figure 5.10.
• Choose the device type from the Type drop‐down list—a list of all the device types that
the selected multiple device output plugin supports. The device types are preset
during the manufacture of a plugin and are not subsequently configurable. You cannot
tell a multiple device driver to look for a device with a type not listed here.
• Use the Address text box to type in the address of the device you are adding or editing.
This text box provides device information such as a multiplex address, a SCSI port, or
a file name; all highly dependent on the type of device. For details of what to enter
here, refer to the documentation (available from your supplier) for the specific multi‐
ple device output plugin.
Click OK when all values in the Device Manager Edit dialog box are as you want them. This
confirmation is provisional: you must also click OK in the Device Manager to finally save
your changes. If you opened the Device Manager from the Edit Page Setup dialog box, you
can also save the changes by clicking the Select button. In addition to saving the changes, the
Select button displays the selected device in the Edit Page Setup dialog box. Click Cancel to
discard all changes.
Style The Style drop‐down list allows you to choose a separations style for
the currently selected device. A separations style contains information
on separations and screening (where appropriate), which you can use
in one or more Page Setups. The choice of separations style determines
the color space and format of the output.
Note: Some output plugins allow you to set the color generation mode
using the Configure Device button. In this case, the Style drop‐down list
contains only the separations styles corresponding to the selected color
generation mode.
If you change the Device, you may have to select a corresponding sepa‐
rations style for the new device before you can save the Page Setup.
Click the Separations Manager button to create or edit a separations
style.
Separations Manager
This icon button is next to the Style drop‐down list. It opens the Sepa‐
rations Manager dialog box, from which you can create or edit a sepa‐
rations style. See Chapter 13, “Color Separation” for details.
The Separations Manager is independent of the Edit Page Setup dialog
box. You can create or edit a style in the Separations Manager, even if
you do not want to use it in the current Page Setup. If you do want to
use a new or changed style for this Page Setup, select the style in the
Separations Manager and click the Select button.
Color The Color drop‐down list allows you to choose a color setup for the
currently selected device and color space. The choice of separations
style determines the color space. Click the Color Setup Manager button
to create or edit a color setup. See “Color Setup” on page 391 or the
separate manual Harlequin ColorPro User’s Guide.
Separations Manager
This icon button is next to the Style drop‐down list. It opens the Sepa‐
rations Manager dialog box, from which you can create or edit a sepa‐
rations style. See Chapter 13, “Color Separation” for details.
The Separations Manager is independent of the Edit Page Setup dialog
box. You can create or edit a style in the Separations Manager, even if
you do not want to use it in the current Page Setup. If you do want to
use a new or changed style for this Page Setup, select the style in the
Separations Manager and click the Select button.
TrapPro Manager
The TrapPro Manager is independent of the Edit Page Setup dialog
box, and is only available if TrapPro is enabled under Configure RIP >
Extras. You can create or edit trapping setups in the TrapPro Manager,
With the Advanced Media Saving option selected, jobs processed in the RIP are automati‐
cally grouped together with other jobs according to resolution, bit depth, paper type and out‐
put device. The jobs are only output to the device when the page is full. A collection of jobs
on a page is known as a ‘flat’.
For example, you may have a 32 inch roll installed in the output device and a queue of three
A4 sized jobs waiting to be output. Instead of printing a single job along the width of the roll,
the RIP will fit all three jobs along the width of the roll—ultimately saving media.
The Media saver works by receiving page buffers from the RIP. In the pagebuffer header
there are fields specifying the media width and media height, page width and page height.
The Media saver uses the media width and media height values as the size of the flat and
page width and page height value as the size of the page.
If the device supports cassettes, the media width and media height values are defined in the
Cassette manager. If the device is a roll, media height in the page buffer is the same as the
page height and is ignored by the media saver.
If the device does not support cassettes, the media width and media height values are those
entered by the user in the Page Layout dialog box. Again the roll device rule applies.
Note: A Watermark RIP cannot currently be used in conjunction with the media saving
option. For this reason, the Advanced Media Saving check box in the Page Setup dialog box is
disabled when using a Watermark RIP.
Margin between
pages value
Cut mark
between flats
Note: If when using media saving you get output that is clipped, you should make the Margin
between jobs value greater than the value of the unprintable margin for the device.
For a TIFF output device (or any other device with an unlimited media width and height) the
media width and height end up being the same as the Page Size, and the size of a TIFF flat
would be the same as the first page buffer on the flat.
The TIFF media width and TIFF media height text boxes are designed for use with the TIFF out‐
put device (and any other device with unlimited width and height). The values in these fields
are used to calculate the size of the TIFF flat.
If you want to avoid the possibility of a flat never being output, because there may never be
enough page buffers of the same type, you can click the Time to wait between pages option and
enter either a number of minutes or hours. When an incomplete flat has been displayed in the
Media Saving dialog box for the defined time out period, it will automatically be output to
the selected device. When Time to wait between pages is not checked, partially filled flats will
always wait for new pages of the same specification to arrive.
You can Roam individual pages displayed in the Media Saving dialog by selecting them and
clicking the Roam button. Similarly, you can delete individual pages by selecting them and
clicking the Delete button.
When a flat is printed, the page buffers that the flat references are deleted from the disk.
Because of this, the Print Flat button is disabled when a Roam window is open.
If a flat is going to be printed because the time out period has expired and a Roam window is
open, the flat is placed in a queue and is printed as soon as all Roam windows are closed.
By default, if the device is roll fed (for example part drum or capstan), the buffered pages are
placed on the flat in one row along the width of the media. The height of the flat is ultimately
that of the tallest page placed on the flat, and the width of the flat is as specified in the Page
Layout dialog.
This default behavior can be changed in two ways.
• For part drum devices, the Fill whole drum (for part drum devices only) check box con‐
trols the behavior that defines the media height as that of the device width, allowing
multiple rows of page buffers on the flat, and as such allowing the whole of the drum
to be utilized.
• For part drum and capstan devices (that is, roll fed devices), the Track flat width (for roll
fed devices only) check box controls the width of the flat. If it is checked, the flat width
will be the width of the widest row of pages on the flat.
You may encounter problems when you are outputting to a device that specifies a minimum
media width. If a flat is submitted which defines a media width that is smaller than the
deviceʹs minimum media width, the plugin will reject the flat and display the message:
"Error - The media width is less than the minimum allowed" - and the job is
aborted.
Also note, that if you are outputting separations and the flat size is being tracked (either
width or height), it can occur that the separations will have different sizes. You are therefore
unable to Roam these separations together.
The Switch roam color to black is only enabled when the Order of pages on flat option is set to
none, that is, when more than one separation color is allowed on the same flat. When
selected, the Roam color of the resulting flat is black. This option does not apply to composite
output.
Note: You are able to change the Roam Color from the Throughput Info dialog. See “Chang‐
ing the color” on page 84 for more information.
The Order of pages on flat option provides a drop‐down list with the following options:
none Page buffers are placed on flats if they fit, regardless of color.
by separation
Each flat is dedicated to a particular separation name, therefore page
buffers with different separation names cannot appear on the same
flat. For example, cyan separations can only appear on cyan flats.
However, once allocated to its flat, a page buffer may be positioned
anywhere on that flat.
—, —, —, K1 K1 K4 K1 — Flat 1
C2, M2, Y2, — C2 C4 C2 — Flat 2
—, M3, Y3, — M2 M3 M2 M3 Flat 3
C4, —, Y4, K4 Y2 Y3 Y2 Y3 Flat 4
— Y4 C4 — Flat 5
— — Y4 — Flat 6
— — K4 — Flat 7
Table 5.5 shows an example where four incoming jobs are placed on flats differently accord‐
ing to the selection of either; by separation, page position or by separation, page
position, job.
C1, M1, —, — C1 C3 C1 — Flat 1
—, M2, Y2, — M1 M2 M1 M2 Flat 2
C3, M3, Y3, — — Y2 — Y2 Flat 3
— M3 C3 — Flat 4
— Y3 M3 — Flat 5
— — Y3 — Flat 6
Table 5.6 shows an example where three incoming jobs are placed on flats differently accord‐
ing to the selection of either; by separation, page position or by separation, page
position, job.
In this example there are three flats in construction: Flat 10 is destined to be output on a
Capstan device and has two jobs called Box.ps and Box1.ps using 67% of the flat. Flat 11 is
destined for output on a Drum device and has three jobs using 20% of the flat. Flat 12 is
also destined for output on a Capstan device but at a different resolution to Flat 10.
The media saving described in this section is different to the Media saving option described
in “Advanced Media Saving” on page 131, and does a different job. Using the two options
together may give unpredictable results.
The Optimization drop‐down list allows you to instruct the RIP to rotate pages automatically
if doing so saves time or media. For capstan and drum type devices you can choose Media
Saving. For drum type devices you can also choose Time Saving.
If you choose Media Saving in the Optimization drop‐down list, the RIP rotates the image if it
calculates that media can be saved by doing so. You should ensure that the media width is
correctly set within the Cassette Manager to make this option work effectively. (See Chapter
9, “Media Management”.) If the current device is a drum recorder, you can choose Time
Saving, which rotates the page in whichever direction takes the least time to output.
Note: Some applications, such as QuarkXPress, generate a page size for the job which is
dependent on the media width set in the application. Media saving often cannot work when
processing jobs generated by these applications. To avoid this problem, make the media
width in the application the same as the width of the page being created (including any crop
marks which are to be printed).
5.18 Margins
You can specify margins for a job by clicking Page layout to display the Page Layout dialog
box. This dialog box varies slightly, depending on the type of device. The example in
Figure 5.15 is for a sheet fed device.
You can set the margins by typing values into the appropriate text boxes. Any margins you
specify are added to values set within the job.
Choose the units to use from the Select units drop‐down list. When you specify the left mar‐
gin, the right margin is calculated automatically, based on the total width of the media and
the size of the image. If you wish, you can specify a negative value for any margin. For exam‐
ple a ‐1.0 inch left margin would clip 1 inch off the left hand side of the page.
You can center the page on the media by selecting the relevant option. Note that the page is
always centered if you choose this option, even if the job itself explicitly sets the page width.
If you are using one of the multiple modes, the Page Layout dialog box is also available from
the Info dialog box. This dialog box is displayed when you click Info in the Output Controller
(see “Operations on buffered pages” on page 82). When chosen from the Output Controller,
the page layout options are specific to the selected page or, optionally, to all pages in the same
job. When chosen from the Edit Page Setup dialog box, the options are applied to all jobs sub‐
sequently interpreted with that setup.
The output device dimensions are built into the driver for the current device, and cannot be
changed. You can set the media width in the Cassette Manager. For details of how to use the
Cassette Manager and other media management facilities, see Chapter 9, “Media Manage‐
ment”.
The Rotate drop‐down list allows you to select 90, 180, and
270 degree rotations. The image itself remains unchanged. If
the job was already set to rotate in the opposite direction, the
two rotations cancel, giving non‐rotated output. Similarly, if
the job rotates in the same direction, the two rotations add.
If Negative is selected, the page produced is in negative. If the
job was already in negative (that is, a negative image is
defined in the page description), the two negatives cancel
each other out, giving positive output.
Using this option may affect the proper choice of calibration
set—see Chapter 12, “Calibration”.
If Mirrorprint is selected, the RIP produces a mirrored image
which is reflected about the vertical axis. However, if the job
being sent was already reflected, selecting the Mirrorprint
option cancels this out, giving a non‐mirrored image.
Note to OEMs: The GGS logo may be replaced with that of the OEM partner through
whom the RIP was sold. (See Technote Hqn054 for more information).
• A color bar for both visual and colorimetric analysis of the print quality.
• A text slugline carrying data about the job file itself and the print configuration.
The color bar printed on cut‐sheet media may be constructed using one, two or four lines of
color patches, depending on the space available. It may include the following groups of
patches:
• Step wedges, containing different numbers of patches at different tint values. These
may contain CMYK or spot colors.
Note to OEMs: Although not used in the configuration as shipped, the step wedges
may also be set to include all of the colorants rendered on the proofer.
• Graduated linear tints.
• Progressives (secondary and tertiary colors built from Cyan, Magenta and Yellow).
• Neutral patches comparing CMY combinations with plain Black, and using values
from a variety of standardized printing conditions, such as SWOP and ISO 12647‐2.
• ChipCheck —a patent‐pending approach that allows the color accuracy of the proof to
™
be tested quickly and cheaply without requiring the use of a colorimeter.
• PDF/X status, showing whether the job being printed is PDF/X compliant or not, and
whether it claims to be.
• Orientation—showing the orientation of the page, and whether or not it is saved in
negative in the original document.
• Feed direction—showing how the output was fed through the printer, as an aid to
resolve some kinds of print artifacts.
A sample control strip is shown below:
Harlequin Logo
Page orientation
Job name
Paper feed
Registration
Paper measurement Job style
Page number
Job file name
ChipCheck ™
Output device
Resolution
Process step
wedges Page setup name
Screening
Anti-alias factor
Progressives
RIP version
Global Graphics
Software Logo
Serial number
The Harlequin at Heart logo is always part of a control strip and is located at the left end of
the strip.
The orientation icon indicates the orientation of the job, that is, whether the job has been
rotated and so on. It also shows as black on white if the incoming job was negative and forced
to positive by the RIP.
The paper feed icon indicates the direction in which the paper is fed through the printer.
The registration icon allows you to check for any misregistration errors.
The paper measurement icon allows you to take a paper white reading for the purposes of
calibrating your measurement device.
When processing a PDF file the PDF/X validation icon will be displayed. If the file claims to
be a specific PDF/X version, the RIP will validate that claim during interpretation. The
claimed conformance level will be displayed above the PDF/X validation icon, and the char‐
acterized printing condition for which it was prepared will be displayed below it.
If the file is a valid PDF/X file the icon to the right will be a tick, otherwise a cross will be
shown.
A PDF file that does not claim to be PDF/X compliant will show Baseline PDF on the green
background.
Files that claim to be PDF/X conformance levels that are not explicitly supported by the RIP
will not be validated, and will show a question mark in the black box to the right.This also
applies to files that claim to comply with a conformance level which are not fully validated in
the current Page Setup. For example, PDF/X files will not be validated if the option in the
Accept Type(s) menu of the PDF Options dialog box has been set to Any PDF <= 1.4 as
basic PDF, for instance.
™
5.20.1.7 ChipCheck strip
rectly configured without requiring the use of instruments. It will identify whether an error
has been introduced by, for example, the wrong media selection in the RIP interface, or
whether the required calibration has not been performed. It can also quickly check whether a
stored proof has aged enough to alter the colors significantly.
To read the strip, compare chips from a valid Pantone Coated swatch book with the patches
in the color bar under appropriately controlled lighting (typically D50).
For even faster and easier checking of proofs, build a strip of Pantone chips in the correct
order to compare with the patches.
The process step wedges allow you to measure the process colors at various increments. The
increments used depend on the space available.
The progressives strip allow you to measure color combinations. Each patch has a label
above it indicating the colors used in the patch, for example, CM is a patch containing Cyan
and Magenta. The percentage of each color varies, according to the space available. For exam‐
ple, the first six patches in the strip in Figure 5.24 contain 100% of each named color, and the
last six patches contain 50% of each named color.
The neutrals strip allows you to test the neutral grays produced by your job settings. The
neutral patches compare CMY combinations with plain Black, and use values from a variety
of standardized printing conditions, such as SWOP and ISO 12647‐2. The appearance of the
neutrals strip varies depending on the space available.
Combined with ChipCheck (see “ChipCheck™ strip” on page 144), this provides a very
rapid method of checking the configuration of the proofing device. If the CMY combinations
do not match the K tints you may have selected the wrong media in the RIP, or you may need
to recalibrate the printer.
The company logo always appears on the control strip and represents the distributor of the
Harlequin MultiRIP.
Note to OEMs: The GGS logo may be replaced with that of the OEM partner through
whom the RIP was sold. (See Technote Hqn054 for more information).
The job name icon precedes the job name.
The job style icons indicate the separations, screening and color Style used for the job, as
specified in the Page Setup.
The first icon in Figure 5.28 indicates a composite color job; the second icon indicates an
unrecombined, preseparated job, and the third icon indicates a recombined, preseparated job
(monochrome jobs will be marked as composite)
The page number icon precedes the page number. Note that the page number is the page
number within the current file. If for example, you have printed to the PostScript language
from your design application and chosen to print just pages 7 and 8, then they will be
labelled as pages 1 and 2 on the proofs.
The job file name icon precedes the job file name.
The file modification date icon precedes the date and time at which the file was last modified.
The file modification date will only be shown if it is recorded in the file.
Note: The brackets and slashes within the control strip delimit different parts of the strip. The
date in the first set of brackets is the file modification date (if available), and the date in the
second set of brackets is the print date.
The print date icon precedes the print date and time.
Note: The brackets and slashes within the control strip delimit different parts of the strip. The
date in the first set of brackets is the file modification date (if available), and the date in the
second set of brackets is the print date.
The scale icon precedes details of the scale factor, for example, 50.0%.
The clipped icon is a warning that not all of the ʹpageʹ of the job may be shown. This may be
due to the fact that the non‐printing margins of the output device have not been accounted
for. See “Margins file” on page 150 for more details.
The file creator icon precedes the name of the person and/or machine that created the or PDF
file. This information is only displayed if it is recorded in the file.
The output device icon precedes the name of the output device, for example, TIFF.
The Page Setup name icon precedes the Page Setup name.
The color setup name icon precedes the name of the color setup. If the default color setup is
being used, then the text (No Color Management) is displayed.
The screening icon precedes details of the type of screening used, for example, HDS Fine.
The resolution icon precedes the resolution details, for example, 300.0 dpi.
The anti‐alias icon precedes the details of the anti‐alias factor, for example, 3x3. The Anti-
Aliasing option is available in the Configuration dialog box of various plugins, such as the
TIFF plugin.
The serial number icon precedes the Harlequin MultiRIP serial number details. This allows
you to identify the Harlequin MultiRIP that produced the proof.
5.20.2 Configuration
If necessary, speak to your plugin supplier for further details on margins files.
5.22 Features
You may sometimes want to apply a special effect to your jobs that is not otherwise available
from the Edit Page Setup dialog box. You can do this in the Harlequin MultiRIP by using
features. These are both powerful and easy to use.
For instance, you can use a feature to perform a simple page imposition that prints two pages
side by side (and at reduced‐scale if required) on one normal sized page to reduce media con‐
sumption when in the draft stages of document production. Another feature scans PostScript
language jobs for the use of spot colors and reports the colors on screen before you print.
You can use features by choosing one from a drop‐down list, without knowing how they
work, but with a little knowledge you can add new features. A Harlequin MultiRIP feature is
a fragment of PostScript language code which is executed just before a job is run. The frag‐
ment specifies the changes to be made to the interpretation of that job, but is completely inde‐
pendent of it.
Error Handler (Long and Short)
Error messages generated by the RIP are generally fairly concise.
These page features make the RIP generate longer and shorter (but
longer than normal) error messages.
Image Replacement
This will load both OPI and DCS image replacement code. Please note
that there is an issue when using image replacement with DCS files.
When a Monochrome color separation setup is employed, only the
information from the Black DCS separation is used in the final gray‐
scale image.
List Spot Colors
This lists to the system monitor / console the names of all the spot col‐
ors accessible in the current job. Also loads the level 1 separator so all
level 1 spot colors are also displayed.
For maximum performance, when using this page feature, set the reso‐
lution to the lowest possible value that is supported by the output
device.
Print info on error
Use this to add additional information related to PostScript language
errors to the output, and to image the page interpreted so far.
Print page on error
Use this file as a page feature (or a boot option in HqnOEM) to print par‐
tial pages when a PostScript language error other than interrupt or
timeout occurs.
Install Annotation
You can if you wish use your own custom annotation files. This is done
using this page feature which, when activated via the Page Setup dia‐
log, allows you to print an EPS file (EPS only), to install that file as a
new annotation.It is recommended that the EPS file is wide and low. It
will be centered on the selected raster edge. For more information see
“Annotations” on page 292.
Use Filename as Jobname
The Harlequin MultiRIP provides a page feature that allows users to
request that an incoming file name be used for the job name. This page
feature is better than any previously supplied code. It is therefore
highly recommended that this page feature is used rather than any
previous code offerings.
Note: Each page feature is a simple text file and contains a similar description, sometimes
with more detail, as a comment.
A feature appears in the Enable Feature list only if there is a corresponding PostScript lan‐
guage file in the Page Features folder in the SW folder where you have installed the RIP. The
name of the feature in the dialog box is the same as the file name.
All the other supplied examples are files in an Examples folder in the Page Features folder.
There is also a file called Read Me that describes the example features and how to create oth‐
ers. To make an example feature available, copy the file from Examples into the enclosing
Page Features folder and display the Edit Page Setup dialog box.
Similarly, to remove a feature, move it from the Page Features folder into the Examples
folder.
You can add other, new, features by creating appropriate PostScript language files and plac‐
ing them in the Page Features folder.
Note to OEMS: Extensions to the PostScript language have been created which OEMs
may want to use when writing their own features. Contact Global
Graphics for the Extensions manual.
applications: see “Page Setup Option Extras” on page 158 for details.) This section describes
each option in the dialog box.
Consider the case where a page of PostScript
language code contains a negative image
mask. If the page is itself printed in negative,
the image mask appears normal, as illus‐
trated on the left.
In older jobs, negative image masks are still
printed in negative, producing the error illus‐
trated on the left. This is because the Post‐
Script language code in the job is attempting
to rectify a bug that is no longer present.
By default, this option is not selected.
Note: If you process an EPS file that contains known errors it will output when using both
Add Showpage at end of job if necessary and a page feature that uses imposition. If either the
Add Showpage at end of job if necessary or page feature is turned off the page will correctly
error.
5.24.7 Abort if calibration on, and the selected cal set does not match job
If you require job calibration, select this option to prevent the RIP printing jobs with an inap‐
propriate calibration set. The calibration set is specified in the Page Setup. See Chapter 12,
“Calibration” for details.
By default, this option is not selected.
Separate spot color duotones, tritones & quadtones to spot color plates...
This option enables the interception of Photoshop duotones, tritones,
and quadtones when encountered in EPS files. Select this box if you
want to separate spot color duotones, tritones, and quadtones to spot
color separations.
For this option to take effect, select a RIP separations style that creates
separations and that enables the relevant spot color separations. The
separations style must either specify a separation for each spot color or
have (Other colors in job) set to Yes. See “Producing separa‐
tions” on page 385 for details.
Note: This option is available only when the PostScript Language com-
patibility level option is set to 3. It is only relevant for Photoshop ver‐
sions 2.5 through 4; Photoshop version 5 does this automatically if
imaged in LanguageLevel 3.
For more information see “Duotones, tritones, and quadtones” on
page 19
By default, this option is selected.
Note to OEMs: Photoshop images saved to EPS always include the input profile from
Photoshop, which a job may not want to actually have applied when
color managing. For details on overcoming this, see Appendix C of the
Extensions manual.
If you select this option, the RIP ignores the font substitution in the
Illustrator PostScript language code. You can then change the default
font or select the Abort the job if any fonts are missing option. This
options applies to both PostScript language and EPS files from Illustra‐
tor.
By default, this option is selected.
5.27 Calibration
The Harlequin MultiRIP can apply one or more calibration sets to a job. If you are printing to
a direct output device, the Page Setup can include a calibration for the output device and a
tone curve calibration.
If you are preparing a job for a printing press, the Page Setup can include an imagesetter cal‐
ibration, a tone curve calibration, and calibrations for the intended and actual presses. If the
Page Setup uses an ColorPro color setup, the intended press calibration is disabled.
Calibration sets are created for a particular device and color space. You can only select a cali‐
bration set for the currently selected device and color space. The choice of separations style
determines the color space. Note that, while an imagesetter is not a multi‐color device, you
can create a calibration curve for each color in the separations style, to take account of the dif‐
ferent screen angles likely to be used for the colors.
To create or edit a calibration set, click the Calibration Manager button, which is the icon but‐
ton in the Calibration & Dot Gain section of the Edit Page Setup dialog box. See Chapter 12,
“Calibration”, for more information.
Page(s)
Enter numbers for the page or pages that you wish to print. You can
enter individual page numbers or ranges, separating each number or
range with a comma ( , ) character.
To enter a page range, enter the numbers of the first and last pages in
the range, using a hyphen to separate them: for example, 7-16. If you
wish to print all pages from a particular page to the end of the job,
enter a range starting with that particular page and ending with a
number that you know to be higher than the last page in the PDF job:
for example, 47-10000.
You can combine individual page numbers and ranges: for example,
1,2,7-16,23,24.
Pages may be repeated, for example [27, 27, 27] will print three copies
of page 27.
Pages may be listed out of sequence, for example [154, 27, 170].
Page size
This enables the RIP to act on page size settings configured in the Page
Setup dialog or XPS Document’s PrintTicket. The default setting is to
use the Page Setup FixedPage width and height. Alternatively, the
BleedBox or ContentBox settings can be selected. You can override
the Page Setup values by selecting the PrintTicket PageMediaSize
setting.
5.28.1 PrintTickets
The PrintTickets attached to an XPS Document help to define the various printing options
such as the Print quality and Paper size. Also, other options such as the Output method and
Screening
This chapter describes halftone screening in monochrome and color work, and the different
types of screening offered by the RIP. You use the screening options in the RIP in combina‐
tion with the options that control color separations, to create a combined color separations
style.
The RIP does not restrict the concept of color separation to producing separated output.
When processing any job, the RIP creates a separation for each process colorant and also,
where appropriate, for spot colorants. The output format determines whether the separations
are printed together as a composite, or separated. By configuring these separations you can
control the printing of individual colorants in the job. Although there is only one separation
in the monochrome color space, the RIP provides the same options for configuring that sepa‐
ration.
Separations information is saved together with screening information in a separations style,
which can be used in several Page Setups. You can keep a number of separations styles that
you use regularly, for example to define different screening options.
The Separations Manager displays a list of all existing separations styles for the current
device, showing the name of each separations style, the corresponding color space, and the
output format.
From the Separations Manager you can create separations styles, and edit, copy, or delete
existing separations styles. This chapter describes how to set the screening options for an
existing separations style. For details about creating separations styles, see Chapter 13,
“Color Separation”.
Select a separations style from the list and click Edit. The Edit Style dialog box appears. If the
output format of the separations style supports screening, the Edit Style dialog box contains
screening options, as shown in Figure 6.2. For example, if you choose a separation style with
an output format of halftone separations, the Edit Style dialog box contains screening
options.
The screening options do not appear if the output plugin for the selected output device does
not support screening. This usually means that the output device supports continuous tone
(contone) output or that the device accepts contone data and performs its own screening. For
devices that can be configured to support either contone or screened output, the screening
options in the Edit Style dialog box do not appear when you select a contone separations
style, unless you are using external screening.
Some proofing output plugins list two entries (for Device in the Edit Page Setup dialog box)
for each model of printer that the plugin supports. One entry is for a device that uses the
screening options in the RIP, which appear in the Edit Style dialog box for that device. The
second device performs its own screening, and does not have screening options in the Edit
Style dialog box.
The screening options in the Edit Style dialog box include some familiar to anyone who has
used screening and some that are specific to the Harlequin MultiRIP.
• “Halftoning” on page 170, is a quick introduction to concepts if you are unfamiliar
with screening and halftoning.
• “Screen angles” on page 175, “Dot shapes” on page 176, and “Halftone frequency” on
page 179, explain how to use three basic screening functions.
• “Screening options and number of gray levels” on page 180 describes an area where
the Harlequin MultiRIP technology provides some unconventional and valuable func‐
tionality.
• “Edit Style dialog box” on page 383 describes the options available for color separa‐
tions and spot colors.
• “The EskoPNDSN PDF extension” on page 359 provide details on the use of the Ignore
proprietary selection keys and Abort if proprietary selection value is unknown options.
The remaining sections in this chapter describe more subtle controls and some optional fea‐
tures of the Harlequin MultiRIP.
6.4 Halftoning
Halftoning is the process of approximating gray levels or color shades with a pattern of dots.
In many halftoning systems, the dots can have only one color value but can vary in size to
alter the ratio of dot color to background color. The simplest use of this technique is approxi‐
mating gray levels with a pattern of black dots against a white background, as illustrated in
Figure 6.3.
Here, the size of the dots varies to represent different shades of gray. You see an area of small
dots as a light gray, while an area of larger dots (each nearly filling its allowed space in the
pattern of dots) is seen as dark gray. More strictly, it is not the size of the dots but the resul‐
tant ratio of black area to white area that represents the gray value.
Color shades are approximated with three patterns of dots, each in a primary color—cyan,
magenta, and yellow—used with or without a fourth pattern of black dots. (This description
of halftoning assumes three patterns—in fact, the fourth pattern of black dots is almost
always used, for technical reasons that do not affect the principles of halftoning.)
Within each color separation, the size of the dots (in relation to their background) is propor‐
tional to the amount of the primary color in the composite shade. When the separations are
combined, typically by overprinting in registration, they create the illusion of shades of color.
The cyan, magenta, and yellow dots cannot be distinguished when viewed from a distance—
instead, the pattern of color dots appears to be an area of a shade of color.
Cell spacing
(related to screen
frequency)
A screen is an invisible grid that is superimposed on the image—each square in the grid is a
halftone cell. For a particular dot shape, the important characteristics of a screen are its spa‐
tial resolution, referred to as screen frequency, and the screen angle (as shown in Figure 6.5).
Screen frequency
is the number of halftone cells per inch or centimeter. The correspond‐
ing units are lines per inch (lpi), lines per centimeter (lpcm), or lines
per millimeter (lpmm). For example, a screen frequency of 100 lpi
means halftone cells spaced every hundredth of an inch.
Screen angle is the angle between one side of the halftone cell and an axis on the
output device (not a fixed axis on the page): the reference axis is usu‐
ally the direction of the slow scan. The screen angle becomes impor‐
tant when you are combining the separate patterns of dots used for
color reproduction. The most important consideration is the angular
separation of the different screens, not their absolute angles relative to
the device axes.
Screen angle
× ×
90 270
×
180
erence Manual (2nd Ed) and the non‐proprietary types added in The PostScript® Language Ref‐
erence (3rd Edition). This means support for HalftoneType values of 1 through 6, 10, and 16.
Note: Screen Names files created with the Eclipse Release or later RIPs are incompatible with
previous versions. That is, you cannot transfer a Screen Names file from pre Eclipse Release
RIPs to the Harlequin MultiRIP.
• Angles (for all process and spot colors)
The boxes below the list of separations allow you to control the printing of process color sep‐
arations, and change the screen angles.
Note: The ink types are decided using the Ink Set Manager which is only available when one
of the TrapPro options is enabled. See the documentation supplied with TrapPro for more
information.
If the chosen output format supports additional colorants, you can also control the printing
of spot color separations. Any spot color not explicitly listed is controlled by the (Other
colors in job) settings. With the default settings, if a job calls for spot colors not named in
the list of separations, the RIP converts those spot colors to the appropriate combination of
process colors.
To change the settings for a particular colorant, select the colorant from the list and edit the
values in the boxes below. To change the screen angle, type the new value in the Angle text
box. For details of the other options, see “Edit Style dialog box” on page 383.
Note: The Angle column and text box are both blank when the selected Dot shape does not
have a controllable angle. Typically, this is because the dot shape belongs to a threshold
screen (which does not have a conventional angle) or because the screening is being done in
an output plugin or hardware device.
Each colorant has its own screening angle, which allows you to avoid moiré problems when a
job has several spot colors used in duotone combinations with each other or with the stan‐
dard process colors.
The angles shown in the Edit Style dialog box always take effect for jobs that contain no
screening requests. If the job attempts to set screening, you must select the Override angles in
job check box if you want to use the values shown in this dialog box.
spot function defined in the PostScript language is slower rendering of jobs using that spot
function: it is almost always preferable to use a dot shape provided by a RIP in place of one
implemented in the PostScript language. The RIP includes efficient implementations of many
commonly used dot shapes to offer both speed and choice.
6.6.1.1 Round
This is a commonly used dot shape, but dot gain can be a problem in the shadow areas, since
the white diamond at the center of four adjoining circles can easily become filled with black
as the dot size grows. However, round dots give a smooth appearance in the highlights and
middle tones.
To use round dots, choose Round from the Dot shape drop‐down list.
A variant of EllipticalP is Elliptical1.
Note: The CMYK screen angles used for all elliptical dot shapes must be 60 degrees apart,
instead of the normal 30 degrees. This is because of the asymmetry of the elliptical dot.
6.6.2.1 Elliptical
Elliptical dots generally produce a smoother transition than round dots, because the ellipses
initially intersect only along one axis, though this can produce a lined effect. To use an ellipti‐
cal dot shape, choose Elliptical1, Elliptical2, EllipticalQ1, or EllipticalQ2 from
the Dot shape drop‐down list.
Note: As mentioned for Elliptical Euclidean, the screen angles used for all elliptical dot
shapes must be 60 degrees apart, instead of the normal 30 degrees. This is because of the
asymmetry of the elliptical dot.
6.6.2.4 Rhomboid
This dot shape is very similar to the square Euclidean shape, but generally gives a somewhat
smoother result. You should consider using it instead of the square dot shape. To use this dot
shape, choose Rhomboid from the Dot shape drop‐down list.
6.6.2.5 Line
Line‐shaped dots are generally used only to produce special effects, since there tends to be a
lot of dot gain. To use the line dot shape, choose Line or Line90 from the Dot shape drop‐
down list.
ever, the more you increase the frequency, the fewer gray levels you can print. “Screening
options and number of gray levels” on page 180, discusses how many gray levels you can
obtain and how many are required for various types of graphic elements. See also “Control‐
ling extra grays in HPS” on page 185, on the extra grays feature available when using Harle‐
quin Precision Screening (HPS).
resolution 2
---------------------------------------- +1
screen frequency
Thus at 100 lines per inch (lpi) and 2540 dots per inch (dpi) you get 646 gray levels …
2
2540
------------ + 1 = 646
100
… but at 175 lpi and 1270 dpi you get only 53 gray levels:
2
1270
------------ + 1 = 53
175
If you switch on Generate extra gray levels in the Edit Style dialog box then you get as many
gray levels as you define with the Limit number of distinct gray levels drop‐down list. It is a
feature of HPS that the number of levels can exceed the maximum defined in this expression.
Some RIP screening options do not follow this expression:
• Harlequin Precision Screening (HPS) is able to produce more gray levels than pre‐
dicted by the conventional expression.
• HDS does not have a conventional frequency to apply in the expression—though it is
possible to establish a rough correspondence between each HDS setting and a conven‐
tional screen of a particular frequency at a particular resolution.
100 6
---------------------- ---------- = 400
70 – 20 0.03
This rule varies with the screen frequency that you are using, with the particular tint range
(because steps are most obvious in dark graduations), with the hardness of the dots pro‐
duced by the output device and with the size of the difference in gray levels between steps,
but it serves very well as a basic starting point. Because of the variation with the size of the
“Gray level controls” on page 183 describes the use of the gray level controls in the Edit Style
dialog box, including the effect of switching on or off HPS.
There is one extra option within HPS.
The extra option, Limit screen levels, in the HPS Options dialog box allows you to separate
pattern‐reduction adjustments from extra gray generation—set the Limit screen levels value
to a high value and Limit number of distinct gray levels, in the Edit Style dialog box, to the
number of gray levels that you actually require. If you see patterning on individual films, try
increasing the Limit screen levels value: if you believe that there is a shortage of memory, then
reduce the value.
“Job settings and Harlequin MultiRIP settings” on page 184 describes how the RIP arrives at
a set of screening values for a job.
When using HPS, for each screen in a job, the RIP calculates the best set of screen angles and
frequencies to use for the set requested. The process starts with the requested frequency—the
frequency set in the job or, when Override frequency in job is selected, the value in the Edit
Style dialog box. The Edit Style dialog box contains a list of halftone frequencies: one for each
device resolution. The requested frequency is the one that corresponds to the resolution
selected in the Edit Page Setup dialog box.
Some requested frequencies may require a lot of memory or make it difficult to achieve the
desired angle accuracy, while a nearby frequency does not have these problems. If there is a
problem with the requested frequency, the RIP can select one of these nearby frequencies as
the deviated frequency.
The Maximum frequency deviation specifies the greatest deviation from the requested fre‐
quency that is allowed. The RIP selects the individual frequencies for the Cyan, Magenta, and
Black screens such that they are within the specified Frequency accuracy away from the devi‐
ated frequency.
The angle is snapped to the nearest 7.5 if you select Snap angles to nearest 7.5 degrees.
The default value of 7% means that the frequency of the Yellow plate is 107% (100% + 7%) of
the deviated frequency used for Cyan, Magenta, and Black plates.
A number of printers have discovered that increasing the frequency of the Yellow plate can
reduce the residual moiré that is inevitable when using four process plates with halftoning
systems. Values typically used are 5% to 11% greater than the frequency of the other plates.
The effect is very similar if the frequency of the Yellow plate is reduced rather than increased,
and that this allows the more noticeable Cyan, Magenta, and Black plates to be imaged at a
higher frequency when the capability of the plate‐maker/paper/ink/press combination is the
limiting factor on halftones.
Enter a negative number to reduce the frequency used for the Yellow plate.
smoother, particularly in highlights and shadows, because the mottling effects which can be
caused by generating the extra gray levels are reduced. (Even without HPS 2.0, these effects
are unlikely to be significant until the ratio of resolution to screen frequency is less than 12:
for example, you might see mottling with a resolution of 1270 dpi and a screen frequency of
150 lpi, where the ratio is about 8.5.)
Eliminate two other sources of moiré before attempting to tune HPS:
• If you are using a dot shape which is not symmetrical when rotated in 90 steps (that
is, virtually all dot shapes apart from square and round) then all the screen angles used
for cyan, magenta and black plates may need to be 60apart rather than the traditional
30 apart. Yellow should then be at 30 from two of the screens. Suggested angles are
15, 75, 0, and 135 for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black respectively. Whether you
need to follow this suggestion or not depends on the content of the image (because flat
tints in certain colors show moiré most clearly) and on how extreme the asymmetry of
the dot shape is.
• Many older process separating applications (and newer ones using PPDs, PDFs, and so
on to optimize for older imagers) include individual screen frequencies and angles for
the four process colors which are designed to optimize output on older PostScript lan‐
guage compatible RIPs that are not capable of producing halftone screens at accurate
angles and frequencies. Using these frequencies and angles means that the output
from the RIP with HPS is no better than without HPS, and indeed may be far more
prone to moiré.
The best route is to switch off such features in the sending application if possible, or to
set up a PPD (or other configuration file) which uses the same screen frequency for all
separations, and a standard set of angles: for example, 0, 15, 45, and 75.
If modifying the input file is not possible then, in the HPS Options dialog box, select
Snap angles to nearest 7.5 degrees and, in the Edit Style dialog box, select Override fre-
quency in job. You cannot use this second method if you want several different screen
frequencies on a page: for example, for special effects.
Note to OEMs: There are a small number of additional system and user parameters
that may be set through PostScript language jobs (either at RIP start‐up
or in additional page features). For details, see the Extensions manual,
which contains full descriptions of all Harlequin MultiRIP extensions
to the PostScript language.
required. Please contact your supplier for details of pricing on each screen set or bundle of
sets (and other layered options).
Note to OEMs: The PostScript language operator serialnumber returns the
Harlequin MultiRIP serial number. There is an additional routine
called checksum in statusdict which may be used to calculate a
checksum for the serial number. (The checksum procedure requires an
integer argument on the operand stack and replaces it with the check‐
sum for that integer.)
While the RIP is starting up, it reports the serial number and its checksum (a check to reveal
errors in copying the digits of the serial number) in the Harlequin MultiRIP window. This
example report is for a fictitious serial number:
Serial number: 1234-56
Note to OEMs: The dot shape for HSL screens returned by currentscreen or cur-
renthalftone is a valid PostScript spot function, to the extent that
PostScript language code which uses common techniques for changing
screen frequency by calling currentscreen followed by setscreen
does reinstate the same screen set after that code as before. This is a
dummy spot function, however, and is not a true description of the way
in which the screen is generated.
When used at high frequencies, this screening set is extremely good at holding detail in con‐
tinuous tone areas (for example, scanned images), but can suffer from worse object moiré
than, for example, Euclidean dots if the subject of the image contains fine patterns.
HCS is also very good at creating smooth, flat looking tints in process color work even at low
screen rulings, although you must take care at the edges of such tints, where patterns can
occur unless the tints are bounded: for example, edged with a black rule.
For HCS screens, the RIP uses the screen frequency entered into the Edit Style dialog box, but
ignores the entered angle. Instead, the RIP selects an angle automatically based on the color
separation being processed, from the set (‐45°, 45°, ‐15°, and ‐75°).
We recommend that you turn on Harlequin Precision Screening while using HCS—at higher
frequencies, also use the extra grays functionality of HPS.
In general, the higher the quality of the entire printing process the smaller the HDS dot that
can be used. The finer HDS screens are best used with high quality imagesetters capable of
holding single laser spots. The coarser HDS screens are best selected on presses which cannot
hold very fine detail, such as high speed web‐offset presses. The physical size of the HDS dot
created with each of these options varies both with the imagesetter laser spot size, and with
the resolution at which it is driven. HDS Super Coarse (HDS Super C) is designed to be suit‐
able for use in newsprint applications on imagesetters at mid‐range resolutions, that is 1000
through 1600 dots per inch (dpi). HDS Super Fine (HDS Super F) is designed for output
devices where final copy is produced directly: for example, laser or inkjet printers.
HDS Super Fine:
HDS Fine:
HDS Medium:
HDS Coarse:
HDS Super Coarse:
Below is a table with the spot sizes in microns for the different HDS models and different
output resolutions for 20% HDS screen.
HDS Super Fine 1x1 pixel 25 21 14 11 7
HDS Fine 2x1 pixels 35 30 20 15 10
HDS Medium 2x2 pixels 50 42 28 21 14
HDS Coarse 2x3 pixels 61 51 34 26 17
HDS Super Coarse 4x4 pixels 100 84 56 42 28
Both the frequency and the angle supplied in the Edit Style dialog box are ignored when
using HDS screens, except for calibration.
As with any high definition screening technology, accurate calibration is important for good
quality output using HDS, and it may be necessary to create several calibration sets for use
with different presses or different paper stocks on a given press. In most circumstances how‐
ever, a single calibration set is sufficient and you should therefore specify a range of frequen‐
cies likely to cover any line frequency which might be set in the screening dialog boxes or
requested by a PostScript language job. The HDS screens are symmetric, that is, you may use
a single calibration set for both positive and negative output.
Though HDS screens do not have the same lines per inch (lpi) characteristic as conventional
screening the following rough comparisons may be useful. If we take the case of an imageset‐
ter working at 1524 dpi with a relatively small dot size (less than 20 m), then HDS Coarse
has a dot gain on film only slightly higher than a conventional 150 lpi screen in the midtones,
and holds up better than the conventional screen in the highlights and the shadows. HDS
Medium has a similar correspondence to a 200 lpi screen at 1524 dpi. Finally, HDS Fine has
characteristics similar to a 300 lpi screen, and needs similar careful handling to obtain good
results. It should be noted that the lpi correspondence changes more or less in proportion to
changes in the imagesetter resolution. For example, a rough correspondence to a 100 lpi
screen is given by HDS Coarse at 1016 dpi, though if the final press has high dot gain this
still has to be taken into account in the calibration.
As can be seen from the above comparison with conventional screening, many people using
HDS screens may become aware of the issues required to print very fine detail on film for the
first time. The following hints and suggestions are useful when working with HDS screens,
particularly HDS Fine, and also apply to conventional and other screens at very high line fre‐
quencies. These hints are not a definitive guide, but do provide a starting point for producing
good HDS output.
Consider every stage of the process, including:
• While scanning, choose an appropriate unsharp masking setting. You may need to use
unsharp masking settings different from those used for conventionally screened out‐
put.
• When producing film positives, try using different laser spot sizes. We have found that
the best results are produced if a relatively small laser spot size is used in conjunction
with exposures sufficient to give solids with densities in the range 3.5 through 4.0.
However, this may not be applicable to every imagesetter.
• When making plates and proofs, take great care to ensure that the film is clean and
dust free and make any other adjustments that help to ensure intimate contact between
the film and the proof or plate medium. For example, increase the vacuum pump‐
down time from, say, 20 seconds to 60 seconds or more.
• When printing on a press with relatively high dot gain, consider compensating for this
gain. On such presses, particularly on web‐offset, you may have to make an adjust‐
ment for the higher dot gain in the highlights and midtones due to the finer detail in
the screen. Various schemes are possible and have been used for this; one approach is
to calibrate the screen for the press directly, but be aware that images are normally
scanned with a modest press compensation already in place and take this into account.
HDS screens have no angle as such, but are rotationally isotropic (they have the same charac‐
teristics in every direction). Even though the screen angle is ignored, different patterns are
used for each process separation. This does not depend on the screen angle originally
selected, but uses the automatic color separation detection, described in “Automatic detec‐
tion of color separations” on page 198.
The screen caches used by HDS mean that HDS output is produced at virtually identical
rates to that using other screening systems within the RIP. The caches are reasonably large,
although not significantly greater than those used for many combinations of screen fre‐
quency, resolution, and angle. Do not select very large values for Limit screen levels in the
HPS Options dialog box, unless you have very large amounts of RAM available to your copy
of the RIP.
Unlike HPS, HCS, or HMS, the screen caches used by HDS cannot be created by the RIP if
they are not present when a screen is selected. Each of the variants of HDS requires cache
files to be installed into the Screens subfolder of the SW folder. These are saved in folders
named in the pattern HDS-<set>-gen, where <set> is replaced by particular values. The
<set> part of the name is a for super fine, b for fine, c for medium, d for coarse, or e for
super coarse. Each folder has subfolders, named: A, Ai, B, Bi, C, D, Default, E, and F. These
folders allow for up to six independent output colorants, including light and dark versions of
two inks, and spot colors. For example, with a conventional four‐color device, the mapping is
that Cyan uses A, Magenta uses B, Yellow uses C, and Black uses D. Installer applications sup‐
plied by Global Graphics for use with the RIP automatically install all appropriate cache files.
The RIP ignores the value set for Rotate screens according to page rotation (in the Edit Style
dialog box) when screening with HDS.
Compression of page buffers is less efficient with HDS than other screening techniques. (It is
a general rule of compression that increased randomness in data reduces the amount by
which it can be compressed.) You can expect compressed page buffers to be larger when
using HDS, and disk performance to become marginally more important to total throughput.
It is usually possible to maintain or improve throughput with the same output quality, by
exploiting the ability to process jobs at lower resolution.
HDS screens cannot be used if the horizontal and vertical output resolutions selected are not
equal.
To work around this; open the Separations Manager for your page setup with the HDS screen
selected. The selected HDS screen is displayed. Change the selection to another non‐HDS dot
shape, for example, “Round”. In the lower part of the dialog Rotate screens according to page
rotation is displayed. De‐select that option then re‐select the required HDS screen and save
the separation style. The RIP is now able to output the selected HDS screen with a non‐
square resolution.
HMS Elliptical1:
If you have been limiting the screen frequencies that you use because you cannot be certain of
holding the small highlight and shadow dots with finer screens then HMS should allow you
to output at significantly higher frequencies. However, it does not assist you if you need to
limit your screen frequencies because of press registration problems.
HMS may be used to extend the length of print runs in situations where this is normally lim‐
ited by drop‐out increasing as the print run progresses.
HMS acts on both the screen frequency and angle as defined in the Edit Style dialog box in
the RIP.
Careful calibration can improve output quality when using HMS. The Euclidean variant of
HMS is symmetrical, but you should normally produce separate calibration sets for positive
and negative output of the Elliptical HMS form.
Configuring the RIP
Chapter 3 through Chapter 6 describe how you can use the Harlequin MultiRIP to configure
the appearance of any page of output sent to a printer or the screen.
This chapter shows how you can also configure the way in which the RIP works, allowing
you to get the best performance from the RIP working with your particular computer, net‐
work, and output devices; together with system software and any other applications running
on the computer.
You have control over a variety of settings, including the following:
• The folders in which certain files are placed by the RIP.
• The page buffer mode that the RIP uses.
• The use of buffers in memory.
• Job timeouts.
• Memory allocation.
All of the options described here are available from the Configure RIP dialog box or subsid‐
iary dialog boxes.
You can also reset the RIP to its factory settings, as described in “Resetting the Harlequin
MultiRIP to default values” on page 213, or choose a different language to be used in dialog
boxes, menus, and messages, as described in “Choosing the user interface language” on page
213.
Normally when outputting, if the printer reports a stop / start, the page will not be output.
However, when using Single, Multiple, or Multiple Parallel mode, the RIP will always make
page buffers on disk, and if your system is configured with a sufficiently fast disk, the printer
will never stop / start. If the disk may not be fast enough, then you can set the Allow
stop / start option in the Configure RIP Options dialog box to allow the page to output.
When using Single (if required) mode, if the printer runs so fast that it catches up with the
data being supplied by the RIP, the RIP will create a page buffer containing the data for the
current page.The RIP will then reprint that page before carrying on with the next page.
However, if your printer can stop / start, you have two options:
• Allow a page buffer to be created and output again. If the page buffer still cannot be
output fast enough to keep up with the printer, the job will be aborted.
• Stop the printer until enough image has been processed, and then start the printer
again.
You can choose which of these should be done from the Configure RIP Options dialog box, as
shown in Figure 7.2. Display this dialog box by clicking on the Options button on the main
Configure RIP dialog box.
• By altering the timeouts available in the RIP, you can to some extent prevent loss of
productivity by timing out complex, but correct, jobs before they consume too much
machine time. (Subsequently, you can rerun such jobs under operator control and
supervision: for example, with more resources temporarily devoted to the RIP.)
• Because nowadays jobs are much more complex with increasingly more pages a value
of zero can be used for Job timeout which results in an infinite timeout, that is jobs will
never timeout.
threaded rendering (MTR).
Harlequin Parallel Pages is applied to jobs submitted in all PDLs supported by the RIP.
The use of Harlequin Parallel Pages is protected with an LDK product key.
The number of parallel pages is set in the Configure RIP dialog, and you can set a maximum
value of 5. Higher numbers of parallel pages will require more RAM to be allocated to the
RIP to store display lists and resources such as images and fonts. Testing has indicated that
the greatest step gain is achieved by increasing the number of parallel pages from 1 to 2. Each
further increase provides less benefit than the previous one.
areas within a PDF file, retains them and then re‐uses them as necessary.
Any PDF file with pages that share raster elements and have marks which change from page
to page should be accelerated by this optimization in the RIP. The RIP scans the PDF for such
pages, RIPs the shared raster elements once, and then retains them for use on subsequent
pages with the same page elements.
HVD can cache any number of rasters per page in external mode, and one in internal mode
and build the final raster from these parts. In addition, it can cope with situations of an
imposed flat where several images and text layers are placed on top of each other.
Note: HVD supports pre‐imposed PDFs only: the Harlequin MultiRIP’s own imposition is
incompatible with HVD.
Note: The use of HVD and OPI is not a supported combination.
HVD (internal and external mode) is supported in the Harlequin MultiRIP.
HVD internal mode (iHVD) is where the combination of cached and uncached elements to
form the final page raster is performed within the RIP.
In HVD external mode (eHVD), cached and uncached elements are provided to the OEM’s
own code outside the RIP, along with metadata defining how to reassemble these elements
into final pages.
Note: By design, iHVD is more restricted in which marks it can and cannot cache. Hence, the
results of eHVD and iHVD scans may produce different results.
HVD external mode is provided for those customers who have their own method of stitching
together the resulting rasters, for example, using hardware acceleration. GGSL do not pro‐
vide any support for these external raster stitching features. If you do not have your own ras‐
ter‐stitching technology you should use HVD internal mode instead.
HVD internal and external mode require an LDK product key for the option to be activated.
For more information on the check box control see “Use Harlequin VariData check box” on
page 249.
• When the TrapPro feature of the RIP is used, HVD is disabled and a warning message
is displayed:
%%[ Warning: TrapPro enabled - disabling Harlequin VariData ]%%
• When RLE output is used, HVD is disabled and a warning message is displayed
%%[ Warning: RLE output enabled - disabling Harlequin VariData ]%%.
• Some jobs, including some variable‐data jobs, do not gain enough performance
increase from this optimization to be worthwhile. Typically, jobs which fall into this
category are those which have short interpretation times and long rendering times—
which usually means the output format is a large one like CMYK composite at a high
resolution.
• HVD is not compatible with the use of any in‐RIP imposition code, such as Simple
Imposition, that places multiple pages on a sheet, repositions the pages or adds
marginalia.
• HVD internal mode uses a very large amount of memory, which gets larger as the bit‐
depth, page size and number of colorants rises, as well as the number of rasters
retained. Therefore, using PCs of a lower specification will cause VM errors. This
cannot be reproduced on all PCs.
• By not using subset fonts or by using the same subset fonts on every page you may get
faster output with HVD enabled.
• No element of RIP configuration (such as pagedevice), which has any effect on the
RIP’s output may be modified during an invocation of pdfexec or pdfexecid.
• The printer may stop / start.
This is known as data underrun.
To avoid data underrun, the RIP must ensure that the printer buffer never becomes empty.
However at any given time, you cannot guarantee that the RIP is sending data to the buffer—
it may be processing the next page of data if you are running in Multiple (Parallel) mode, or
there may be other applications running that the RIP has to wait for. If the printer buffer
empties and you get data underrun, try making the printer buffer larger.
For example, assume you are sending output to a fast 900 KiB/second printer, while using
another application at the same time, and that application does a screen update that takes 3
seconds (during which time the RIP is locked out). In that time, the printer could consume
3 900 = 2700 KiB (2.7 MiB) of data. To prevent data underrun, you must ensure that you
have a printer buffer at least this big.
In practice, a printer buffer in the range 4 MiB through 12 MiB is usually adequate. This total
includes any buffering memory on interface cards or in the output device, but if there is such
memory it needs separate installation or configuration. From the memory that the RIP con‐
trols, it allocates a minimum of 20 MiB buffer space by default.
To find the best setting for your system, try starting with the default buffer size, and if you
have problems with data underrun, increase the buffer size until the problem goes away. If
this fails, you may need a faster disk or more memory. The ability to roam large or multiple
page buffers is related to the printer buffer size.
To change the size of the printer buffer, enter the number of mebibytes (MiB) you require in
the text box labeled Printer buffer in the Configure RIP dialog box. If there is not enough
memory for the requested printer buffer, its size will be reduced automatically.
The figure you enter is the minimum amount of memory that the RIP will use for buffering
output. Sometimes, especially in Single (if required) mode, the RIP will use a much larger
amount of memory.
Note: The amount of printer buffer memory needed varies according to job and device reso‐
lution, output device speed, computer speed, disk speed, and so on. Experiment with a larger
buffer if necessary.
The other entries in the list can include:
• ColorPro, the color management options within the Harlequin MultiRIP. Harlequin
ColorPro is described in the separate Harlequin ColorPro User’s Guide.
• TrapPro the trapping options within the RIP. See the separate TrapPro User Manual for
full details.
• HDLT, Harlequin display list technology.
Note to OEMS: Enabling HDLT has no immediate effect on the RIP menus and dialog
boxes, but provides access to extra functionality for software written
by OEMs.
• PostScript, for PostScript language input.
• PDF, for PDF input.
• XPS, for XPS input.
• Simple imposition. See Chapter 10, “Simple Imposition” for full details.
• Media Saving for the Media saving facilities.
• HVD, for Harlequin VariData technology (internal and external mode).
• Raster, for the option of producing PDF raster output.
There may also be entries for plugins that require a an LDK product key. These entries can be
the result of:
• Plugins that require a product key for each device type that they provide.
• Multiple device plugins that require a product key but group several device types so
that they can be enabled with a single key.
You will receive appropriate instructions and access to LDK product keys when receiving
these plugins.
where x is a number.
If a particular job is so large that it cannot all be fitted into memory at once, the RIP starts to
paint partial page buffers to disk. To try and avoid this, you can allocate extra temporary
memory for the RIP, using the Memory reserve for RIP option. This option allows the RIP to
use additional physical and virtual memory while completing the job.
Note: If you allocate a large amount of extra temporary memory, the operating system may
start paging. Paging would slow the system down more than painting partial page buffers to
disk. We recommend that you allocate less than 4 MiB of extra temporary memory.
There are some instances when the RIP cannot paint partial page buffers to disk: for example,
when recombining preseparated jobs or using TrapPro. The RIP cannot complete the job if it
does not have enough memory. In such circumstances, as a last resort, you may select the
Allow use of all available memory option. The RIP will use all the available physical and virtual
memory to try and complete the job.
Using all the available memory may severely degrade the performance of the system as a
whole, not just the RIP, possibly causing the operating system to become unresponsive until
the job has finished. For this reason the use of the Allow use of all available memory option
should not be taken lightly.
Note to OEMs: Some output devices need data at a particular rate. If you are generat‐
ing output for such a device, you should set the Memory Reserve for RIP
to 0 and make sure that Allow use of all available memory is not selected.
From the total memory allocated to it at startup, the RIP allocates the printer and network
buffers. All memory not used for these buffers is used by the RIP for processing jobs.
The final allocations used are reported in the Harlequin MultiRIP window when the RIP
starts up.
If there is insufficient memory to allocate the buffers requested, the RIP tries the following
methods of automatic recovery, in the order shown:
• Reducing the network buffer to a minimum of 64 KiB.
• Reducing the printer buffer to a minimum of 512 KiB.
If there is still not enough memory to give the RIP at least 4096 KiB, the RIP will display a
warning and quit.
The amount of RAM used by the RIP is controlled by the Windows XP (or later) Operating
Systems, which are designed to be adaptive. It increases the memory allocation of long‐run‐
ning applications that use large amounts of memory. On the other hand, the RIP allocates as
much Virtual Memory as is needed when large jobs are processed, and on completion of the
job returns that memory to the pool. Thus the value of VM would be high when a large job is
running and low on completion. When examining your systemʹs memory allocations it is
more useful to look at the inter‐job minimum of committed VM rather than the size of RAM.
Note: In the command line, change HARLQN.exe to the exact name of the application that you
are using.
A dialog box appears, asking if you wish to return to the factory defaults.
• Click Yes if you wish to reset any part of the current configuration.
• Click No if you wish to keep all of the current configuration. (the RIP starts up nor‐
mally.)
If you click Yes, the RIP displays several dialog boxes that allow you to reset specific parts of
the configuration, one after the other. For each dialog box, click the Yes button to reset all the
configuration information described in that dialog box. Click No to keep that part of your
configuration.
The RIP allows you to reset most parts of the configuration in this manner, including Page
Setups, RIP configuration, media management information, and window positions.
After the last dialog box, the RIP starts up normally.
7.14.2 Procedure
To check which languages are available or to switch to another available language, choose the
Harlequin MultiRIP > Language menu option. The Select User Interface Language dialog box
appears, as shown in Figure 7.4.
The dialog box shows you which languages are available in a multi‐column list. A language
is available for immediate use if the entries after its name or code (in the Language column)
are all Present or Yes.
The columns have these meanings:
• The Messages and Resources columns show if parts of the RIP localization are present.
• The Locale column shows if the operating system supports the language.
• The Enabled column shows if the RIP localization is enabled, when the entry is Yes; or
disabled, when the entry is No.
Click Cancel if you do not wish to make a change.
You can activate the RIP an enable a language with a new LDK product key if the only thing
making that language unavailable is a No entry in the Enabled column.
To use an enabled language, select your chosen language and click OK. The RIP displays a
dialog box asking if you wish to confirm your choice and quit the RIP. Click Yes if you are
sure, and then click OK to dismiss the second confirmation dialog box.
When you restart the RIP, you should see that it is using your chosen user interface language.
Note: You may still see a small number of options in lists or messages appearing in English or
another language. This is normal. For example, the Feature and Calibration lists in the Edit
Page Setup dialog box display the names of files, which remain unchanged as the user inter‐
face language changes. Similarly, the Harlequin window displays messages if they are pro‐
duced directly by PostScript language jobs and, if needed, some very rare and technical error
messages.
Configuring Input
This chapter describes the different ways in which the Harlequin MultiRIP can accept its
input, and how to configure the RIP to use each type of input. Chapter 5, “Configuring Out‐
put Formats”, describes the different ways in which you can control output from the RIP,
using Page Setups.
There are several ways of providing input to the Harlequin MultiRIP:
• Using one or more managed inputs, as described in “Input management” on page 216,
and the following sections. This is the preferred method for routine use because, in
general, the managed inputs allow users on many machines to submit jobs to the RIP.
• Using the Print File menu command, as described in “Using the Print File command”
on page 236. This command allows a user on the machine running the RIP to print all
of the job types possible on that installation of the RIP. You can use Print File while
managed inputs are active.
• Entering PostScript language code interactively by typing at a prompt on the machine,
as described in “Entering PostScript language code by hand” on page 256. You must
disable other inputs for the duration of your interactive sessions in order to do this.
When you use managed inputs or the Print File menu command, you can print several types
of job. The available types depend on the details of your installation of the RIP. Some types
have associated settings in Page Setups, may require enabling with your an LDK product key,
or require other care in use. The possible types, with references to full descriptions of their
use, are:
• PostScript language files (PS) and Encapsulated PostScript files (EPS), both described
in “Printing PostScript language files” on page 237.
• Portable Document Format (PDF) files, described in “Printing PDF files” on page 237.
• XML Paper Specification files (XPS) files, described in “Printing XPS Documents” on
page 251.
• JPEG and JFIF files, described in “Printing JPEG and JFIF files” on page 252.
• TIFF 6.0 files, described in “Printing TIFF 6.0 files” on page 252.
• Harlequin MultiRIP page buffer files, described in “Printing page buffer files” on page
254.
Note to OEMS: With the off‐the‐shelf version of the Harlequin MultiRIP, OEMs can
add their own input plugins. This means that interfaces to source
devices can be written independently of the RIP.
The Input Controller is similar to the Device Manager, described in Section 5.12, “Multiple
device output plugins”. The main list shows the input sources currently available. Each input
source can be turned on or off individually using the buttons—the state is displayed in the
Status column.
Each row in the list represents one particular source, and contains:
• The Name for the input source. This is used to identify the source within the RIP. It may
also be used by the input plugin itself.
• The Type of input. This determines which input plugin the RIP uses.
• The Page Setup. This is the Page Setup used by all jobs arriving through this source.
• The Enabled state. This should be On to make the source available when you start the
RIP or start inputs.
• The Status. This can be Stopped, Idle, or Busy.
An input is stopped either because all inputs are stopped, because you have disabled
this input in the Input Controller (using Off ), or because of a problem when trying to
start that input. An idle input is ready to receive a job but none is arriving. A busy input
is actually receiving a job.
You can also choose to see the same information about items that are not controllable from
the Input Controller. The check box below the list gives you this ability:
2. Type a name for the plugin device in the Name text box.
The name is used to identify the source within the RIP. It may also be used by the input
plugin itself.
3. Choose the plugin type from the Type drop‐down list.
4. Choose a saved Page Setup from the Page Setup drop‐down list: the RIP applies this
Page Setup to each job arriving at the source.
5. If the plugin is to be initially turned on, select the Enabled check box.
6. Click the Configure button to display an input plugin Configuration dialog box, allow‐
ing you to specify details relevant to the plugin you have chosen.
The Configuration dialog box varies according to the type of plugin chosen. It is used to
give details about how the input is to be handled, and to set up any hardware associ‐
ated with the source. See “Input management” on page 216 for a list of input types and
page references to their configuration and use.
7. When you have specified all the details for the new source, click OK.
To get an actual name, replace <machine> with the name of the computer running the RIP,
replace <pipe prefix> with the name entered in the Named Pipe Plugin dialog box, and
replace <name> with the name you entered in the Input Channel Edit dialog box.
If the RIP is running on a Windows system named BRICK, and the channel has been defined
in the RIP with the name Fred, the pipe name would be:
\\BRICK\pipe\ScriptWorks\Channel\Fred
Note: If the sending application is running on the same machine as the RIP, the correct format
is:
\\.\pipe\HQRIP\Fred
This format can be used to set a pipe as a printer port, when using NT Pipe as a replacement
for the obsolete NTPrint plugin. A Windows printer configured in this manner can be shared
with all other computers on its network, as described in “Connecting an application to the
Harlequin MultiRIP” on page 223.
The local printer connects via a new Local Port which should have a name of:
\\<machineName>\pipe\<pipe prefix>\<name>
3. Identify the particular named pipe to use, giving a name that matches one you have cre‐
ated in the RIP. The general form of the name is:
\\.\pipe\HQRIP\Fred
For example, when the machine is called BRICK, the pipe prefix is the default Script-
Works\Channel, and the name (as entered in the Input Channel Edit dialog box) is
Fred, then the full pipe name is:
\\BRICK\pipe\ScriptWorks\Channel\Fred
A period ( . ) can serve as a shortcut for the name of your local machine. If the supply‐
ing application and the RIP are on the same computer, the pipe name could be:
\\.\pipe\ScriptWorks\Channel\Fred
4. Give whatever other information the application requires, and complete the procedure
that makes the printer available for use with the application.
If you have multiple copies of the RIP, or have published multiple NT Pipe input channels
from a single installation of the RIP, you can repeat the same sequence for each channel.
for details.
This dialog box contains the following control items:
List of Prefixes
This text field specifies files to ignore when they arrive in the spool
folder, if you have also selected the Do not process filenames with the
following prefixes box. The specification is based on the first part or pre‐
fix of the file names.
Prefixes are case sensitive and separated by a comma.
For example, if you type in the prefix ab, the RIP ignores all the arriv‐
ing files whose names begin with ab. Examples of files that the
Harlequin MultiRIP would ignore for this prefix are abacus.pdf,
abandon.ps, and ab123. (The RIP would not ignore ABALONE.PS,
123ab.pdf, or _absence.) Ignoring means that the RIP does not pro‐
cess the files and allows the files to remain in the spool folder until
removed by a user or other software.
Note: If you remove or disable a prefix while the spool folder is still
active, the RIP processes any files previously excluded by that prefix
but still present in the spool folder.
You can enter several prefixes. Separate multiple prefixes by commas
without surrounding spaces. (If you add spaces after a comma, the RIP
treats the spaces as part of the following string.) Each prefix can
include alphanumeric characters, the underscore character, the period
character, and spaces.
agreed uses, but most are available for use in a way specific to a single site, as allocated by the
local network manager or system administrator.
8.6.1 Requirements
All machines need to support TCP/IP over Ethernet and to be linked by a network. This is the
only requirement for machines running the UNIX, Mac OS X, and Windows operating sys‐
tems.
On Macintosh computers, there is no services database. (This means that you must choose
ports using TCP by number on a Macintosh, but you may be able to inspect the services data‐
base on a computer of another type if you are operating on a mixed network.)
Warning: Where used, the services database is an important part of a networked operating
system. Make a copy of the services database file before editing it in any way.
SocketInput from the Type pop‐up menu drop‐down list. Click the Configure button. The
Socket Configuration dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 8.5.
You must make settings for the server (input) socket. The other (output and protocol) settings
are optional but interrelated: you may need to make more than one choice to have a valid
combination of settings.
Address There are up to three possible entries in this box, depending on the
choice made for Socket type, which itself may be limited by the plat‐
forms on which the RIP and the sending applications operate.
Bi-directional comms
Select this box when you wish the RIP to pass responses back to the
sending application. The RIP passes these responses: on the server
socket when Use Separate Output Socket is not selected; or on the out‐
put socket when Use Separate Output Socket is selected (in which case,
you must also configure the Output Socket Details).
socket. It is convenient but not essential to use the same socket type to make it obvious
whether or not the addresses are different. For example, choose numbered addresses that dif‐
fer by 1.
Note: The sending application can continue to listen on the RIP output socket after it has
closed its sending socket. (“Sending machines” on page 231 explained why it is advisable to
close the sending socket—the one connected to the RIP Server socket.)
Choose an appropriate Page Setup for printing the files, from the Page Setup drop‐down list.
Note: If you do not choose a Page Setup, the RIP uses the one that you chose last time you
printed a file. If you have not printed a file in this RIP session, the first Page Setup in the
drop‐down list is used. To change the order of this listing, see “Reordering Page Setups” on
page 93.
The Print File dialog box shows all PostScript language files in the current folder. (To show
files of a different type, or all files, use the Files of type drop‐down list.)
If you want to choose a file that is not in the folder shown, use the dialog box to move to the
correct folder.
Use the Look in drop‐down list to use other folders or drives.
Note: To select all files in the list, click anywhere in the central list of files and type Ctrl+A.
While any file is being processed, an additional Print File menu appears on the menu bar of
the main RIP window.
Alt
You can abort the current job by choosing Kill Current Job from this menu, or by typing Alt+•
(a period character).
When Kill Current Job is selected, the current job is stopped but subsequent jobs will be pro‐
cessed.
By selecting Stop Printing File, the current file will complete but any jobs queued after the cur‐
rent job will not print.
Selecting Abort Printing File will stop the current job and also stop all subsequently queued
jobs from ripping.
Shift
You can select a contiguous block of files by selecting the first file in the block, then selecting
the last file in the block while holding down the Shift key.
Ctrl
You can select several non‐contiguous file names by holding down the Control key while
making your selection.
Note: The list of files to print can include files other than PostScript language, PDF files and
TIFF 6.0. The RIP ignores types of files that it cannot print.
• PDF/X‐4
• PDF/X‐4p
• PDF/X‐5g
• PDF/X‐5pg
These are the only versions supported; any previous support for earlier versions has been
dropped.
The “PDF Options” from the page set up manager allows the user to select from a range of
PDF/X verification settings, see “PDF Types” on page 246.
The aim is to reproduce with high quality all the features of PDF files that can be rendered on
paper or film. You can also preview pages printed from PDF files, but the RIP does not pro‐
vide a fully interactive hypertext viewer or editor: there are no search, cross‐reference, or
annotation facilities.
Note: PDF/X is a standard defining a subset of PDF, designed for trouble‐free use where the
creator sends the PDF file to an external printer or other prepress consumer.
Note: A PDF/X‐3 file containing an OutputIntents dictionary will be color managed using
the ICC profile indicated by the OutputIntents dictionary as long as the job uses a device
independent color space and the Override color management in job option is not selected. For
more information see “PDF/X Color management” on page 239.
Note to OEM: For more information on how to build a PDF/VT solution around the
Harlequin MultiRIP see Technote 079.
The specifications also set out how a PDF/X file should be processed by the receiver of the
file. If different approaches to overprinting, for instance, are taken at different sites then it
will not be possible to predict the exact appearance of the final printed piece from a pre‐
transmission proof.
This section describes how a Harlequin MultiRIP should be configured in order to produce
PDF/X compliant output.
8.12.1.2 Trapping
The TrapPro™ options add in‐RIP trapping functionality to the Harlequin MultiRIP. If these
have been enabled, trapping parameters may be defined in the user interface and automati‐
cally applied to all jobs submitted to the RIP. If a PDF or PDF/X file is labeled as having
already been trapped (by setting the Trapped flag to True), the in‐RIP trapping will automat‐
ically be disabled while processing that file to prevent traps being applied twice.
For more information see the TrapPro™ documentation.
8.12.6 AcroForms
A PDF file can contain information which is additional to the standard PDF format. When
viewed using an interactive application such as Adobe Acrobat, this additional information
provides interactive features making the page more like a form. These files are called Acro‐
Forms.
With features such as text input fields, multiple choice option lists and clickable buttons, a
PDF file that features an AcroForm is used to provide comprehensive electronic form filling
functionality.
You interact with the form via the usual mouse and keyboard actions. The AcroForm can be
programmed to respond to events (such as clicking on a button) to provide various levels of
automation.
Note to OEMs: You are granted a certain amount of control over how the Harlequin
MultiRIP supports AcroForms, particularly with respect to how fields
are formatted and rendered when the PDF file is not print‐ready. This
control is provided through a number of parameters specified in a por‐
tion of a PostScript language file submitted to the RIP as part of its con‐
figuration.
The PostScript file containing the AcroForm parameters is called
HqnPageSetupConf and resides in the SW/procsets folder.
For more information on how to control Interactive AcroForms see
Section 14 of the Extensions manual.
• Popup annotations, because they only apply to interactive applications (that is, pop‐
ping up a window)
• TrapNet (also known as, trap network) annotations.
Note: The RIP ignores (in non‐strict mode only), PDF documents with “FreeText” type anno‐
tations which contain invalid PDF content.
The options are in sections for page selection, PDF type acceptance and passwords
Leave this check box selected to print all the pages in the PDF document. If you wish to
print only a subset of the pages from a PDF job, deselect this check box and enter the
desired pages in the Pages field.
Reselect this check box when you have finished printing the subset of pages. This
enables the printing of all pages from other PDF jobs. (You do not need to delete the
entry in the Pages field.)
Page(s)
Enter numbers for the page or pages that you wish to print. You can enter individual
page numbers or ranges, separating each number or range with a comma ( , ) character.
To enter a page range, enter the numbers of the first and last pages in the range, using a
hyphen to separate them: for example, 7-16. If you wish to print all pages from a par‐
ticular page to the end of the job, enter a range starting with that particular page and
ending with a number that you know to be higher than the last page in the PDF job: for
example, 47-10000.
You can combine individual page numbers and ranges: for example, 1,2,7-16,23,24.
Pages may be repeated, for example [ 27, 27, 27] will print three copies of page 27.
Pages may be listed out of sequence, for example [154, 27, 170].
If not all pages in the document are printed the RIP will display a warning similar to
the following:
%%[Warning: Page range restricts printing to the following page(s):5, 27, 156-
163, 210, 210, 120, 196 from an availalable N pages.]
where N is the number of pages in the document.
If the range is such that no page in the job fits the following warning is displayed:
%%[ Warning: No pages found within range]%%
When printing a PDF job, the RIP displays a message for each page that is not printed
because of being unlisted in this field.
Page size bounding box
PDF version 1.3 offers several options for defining a rectangular area that is the area of
interest for a PDF page. A PDF file may set values for one or more of these areas, to be
used as appropriate to the different ways that the PDF file can be used: viewing, office
printing, imposition, commercial printing, and so on.
The RIP looks for the values of the option chosen in this list and makes a page buffer of
the size set by that option. Only MediaBox must be present in a file, but the other areas
inherit default values from MediaBox.
When using Simple imposition the option chosen in this list is used to calculate the
position of trim marks and page furniture. Any bleed specified within Simple imposi‐
tion will be filled with objects outside that trim box, and the Page buffer will normally
be larger than the chosen PDF Page size bounding box. For more information see “Con‐
figuring Simple imposition” on page 279.
The options in this list are fully defined in the Portable Document Format Reference Man‐
ual, Version 1.3. The default is MediaBox.
MediaBox The size of the media, which may be larger than the page imaged upon
it.
BleedBox The size of the page whose edges must be reached by bleed objects,
though the trimmed size of the page may be smaller. There may be
printer’s marks and parts of the bleed objects outside this area.
TrimBox The size of the page as intended for delivery to the reader, after trim‐
ming any printer’s marks and excess bleed areas.
ArtBox The size of the rectangle to be used when placing a PDF graphic. (Typ‐
ically, this is the bounding box of the graphics plus a possible allow‐
ance for captions or blank margins.)
CropBox Rectangle specifying the default clipping region for the page when dis‐
played or printed. Acrobat Exchange sets this when cropping a page.
This list allows you to define how strictly the PDF file must conform to various stan‐
dards and specifications for PDF jobs. You can use the On error list to define what the
RIP should do if the job does not meet the requested specification.
The options in this list are as follows:
Auto-detect types
This is the default option. The RIP makes the best possible attempt to
print the file according to the type labeling within the job. PDF/X files
will be recognized automatically. If the job claims to be PDF/X‐1 but
does not meet that standard, the RIP treats that as an error but may
still be able to print the file.
Any PDF/X-1a
Only PDF/X‐1a:2001 and PDF/X‐1a:2003 files will be accepted. See
below for the action taken when other files are received.
Any PDF/X-3 or 1a
Accept any supported PDF/X variant, that is; PDF/X‐1a:2001, PDF/X‐
1a:2003, PDF/X‐3:2002, and PDF/X‐3:2003.
PDF/X-4, 3 or 1a
Accept any supported PDF/X‐3 and X‐1a variant, that is; PDF/X‐
1a:2001, PDF/X‐1a:2003, PDF/X‐3:2002, and PDF/X‐3:2003, and only
PDF/X‐4 (that is, not PDF/X‐4p).
PDF/X-4p, 4, 3 or 1a
Accept any supported PDF/X‐3, X‐1a and X‐4 variant, that is; PDF/X‐
1a:2001, PDF/X‐1a:2003, PDF/X‐3:2002, PDF/X‐3:2003, PDF/X‐4 and
PDF/X‐4p.
The options in this list define the action you wish to occur if there is an error: for exam‐
ple, if the PDF file is an unrecognized type or if it fails to meet the condition set in the
Accept type(s) list. The actions are as follows:
Abort job
Report errors and reject (abort) the job. If a file being processed does
not conform to the file type selected, the job will be aborted, and no
output will be produced.
Where a condition in the PDF file is encountered which does not conform to the appropriate
PDF/X specification, a warning message is displayed.
8.12.8.4 Password
Use password to print protected documents
Select this option when you wish to print a document that has been protected by a pass‐
word, and enter that password in the text field. Enter one password only.
For maximum security, remove the password after use. This removal is optional if your
other PDF jobs do not have password protection.
Note: The PDF specification allows for files to have Owner and User (reader) pass‐
words. The RIP checks the password that you enter against both of these passwords,
and allows printing if either password produces a match.
Passwords can be any length but only the first 32 characters are significant. If you have
any way to influence the choice of password used in jobs supplied to you, suggest that
it uses only ASCII characters: the letters A-z and A-Z, the numerals 0-9, and punctua‐
tion marks such as []{} and ;. For example, there may be problems in entering the
password if the password uses characters that are not in the English alphabet. Avoid
multiple white space characters, accented characters, and characters that require a
double‐byte representation.
Note: The Honor ‘PDF Color Management’ check box has been removed. The option is
now called Override color management in job and is part of the Input Document Controls
within the Color Setup Manager. See “Color Setup” on page 391 for more details.
PDF files with pages that share raster elements and have marks which change from page to
page should be accelerated by this optimization in the RIP. HVD can cache one raster per
page in internal mode and build the final raster from these parts. In addition, it can cope with
situations of an imposed flat where several images and text layers are placed on top of each
other.
Note: The HVD check box is only applicable to internal mode.
Default
Use the page default screen for non‐fully opaque objects.
Use topmost
Use the screen from the top‐most object for all objects. In all cases, fully
transparent objects are ignored.
The behavior when Default is selected is in‐line with the PDF specification.
The Use topmost setting is of particular value in workflows where it is important to use the
halftones specified in the supplied PDF file, such as in flexographic printing.
Note: If screening overrides are used, the values from the overrides will be used in prefer‐
ence to those from the job.
Note: Overprinted objects may use a combination of screens for foreground and background
objects, where overprinted colorants will use the screen from the background object.
8.12.9 Usage
The simplest way to use PDF files is using the Harlequin MultiRIP > Print File command. To see
a listing of PDF files in the current folder, use the PDF Files or All Files option in the Files
of type drop‐down list of the Print File dialog box. Select the Page Setup that sets the correct
PDF options from the Page Setup drop‐down list.
You can also supply PDF files to the RIP using spool folder inputs and all forms of network
protocols: sockets, and so on. See the summary of managed inputs in “Input management”
on page 216. If necessary, set the PDF options in the Page Setup corresponding to your chosen
managed input.
Embedded fonts and font substitution
The Harlequin MultiRIP supports the use of fonts embedded in PDF
files as well as fonts already available to the RIP for use with PostScript
language jobs. The embedded fonts can include TrueType (Type 42)
fonts, CID (character identifier) composite fonts, and Compact Font
Format (CFF) fonts.
When fonts requested by a PDF job are missing, the RIP obeys the set‐
ting of the Abort the job if any fonts are missing check box in the Page
Setup Options dialog box. See “Abort the job if any fonts are missing”
on page 156 for more information.
Security settings
The creator of a PDF file can limit access to a PDF file, by requiring a
password of the reader or forbidding changing, copying, or printing of
the content. The only function relevant to the Harlequin MultiRIP is
the ability to forbid printing. In general, the RIP does not print files
where the creator has forbidden printing.
Document Information
The Harlequin MultiRIP window displays the PDF version number
and general information about the document, as supplied by the
author or creating application.
Most PDF Annotation types are supported but only if:
their “Normal” Appearance streams are present and correct in the
PDF file; and they have their “Print” flag set.
Excluded annotations are:
Extensions The RIP ignores all extended content (for example, multimedia content
and private data) that is labeled as such according to the PDF specifica‐
tion.
Note to OEMS: OEMs can configure the PDF input functionality using Harlequin
extensions to the PostScript language. For example, you can specify
the password for printing password‐encrypted PDF files. Contact
Global Graphics for the Extensions manual.
8.15.1 Limitations
A JPEG file in Progressive format (a format option in Adobe Photoshop) cannot be printed by
the Harlequin MultiRIP. Progressive format is often used for web downloads.
8.17.1 Procedures
TIFF 6.0 input is always enabled, but operates only with Spool Folder input and the Print File
command. (It is also possible to use TIFF 6.0 input from PostScript language instructions.)
This extract from the text displayed in the Harlequin MultiRIP window shows the messages
produced when successfully processing a TIFF 6.0 file.
Setup loaded: "tiff"
Ripping file %H%/Suites/PEOPLE/68.tif as TIFF.
% tiffdev: reading "H:\Suites\PEOPLE\68.tif" as a
TIFF 6.0 baseline (with extensions) standalone file
Starting Job On Thursday, January 29, 1998 08:48:48
Using Color Setup "(None)"
Using default device calibration
% tiffdev: TIFF6: compression is None
% tiffdev: bits per sample = 8
% tiffdev: samples per pixel (planes) = 4 (CMYK)
Interpretation time: 32 seconds
. . .
The remaining text (not shown here) is related to rendering and output, not to the input.
• CMYK (including DotRange != 0, 255).
• JPEG compression.
Note: If you are attempting to RIP images which you have prepared using Photoshop and
saved using ZIP or JPEG compression, the RIP may generate a rangecheck error.
This occurs because ZIP compression is not a recognized TIFF compression format, and as
such is not documented in the TIFF 6.0 specification. The JPEG compression that Photoshop
uses is a new version of JPEG data in TIFF files which is also not part of the TIFF 6.0 specifica‐
tion.
• The sending RIP installations must be version 4.5 or later.
• All the RIP installations must be running on the same platform: for example,
Windows XP on an Intel‐compatible processor.
• It must be acceptable to have the original page buffers destroyed after output.
Note to OEMs: You can enable this functionality in other ways. Either add the Post‐
Script language code in the page feature file to the file SW/Sys/HqnOEM
or copy the entire page feature file into the folder
SW/Sys/ExtraStart.
3. Optionally, if you wish to use a spool folder as input, create a new spool folder input
and, in the Input Channel Edit dialog box, choose the Page Setup that you created in
step 2. Configure and name the spool folder, as described in “Configuring a Spool
Folder input source” on page 225, then make sure that it is enabled and that the inputs
are started.
The preparation of the supplying RIP installation is simpler. Create Page Setups that use the
output device plugin with resolution and other settings that match those you have chosen in
the receiving installation. You do not need to select the PGB hot folder page feature.
Note to OEMs: It is recommended that you do not use a spool folder input monitoring
the folder managed by the Output Controller/Monitor of the supply‐
ing RIP. More robust methods include creating a daemon process to
transfer page buffers after creation or use of page buffer redirection
where the supplying RIP creates selected page buffers in another
folder. Page buffer redirection requires RIP version 5.0 or later. The
method used for Page buffer redirection has changed since v5.0. For
more information see the Extensions manual.
• Choose Harlequin MultiRIP > Print File, navigate to the relevant folder, select the wanted
files and click Print. (Page buffer files have the extension .PGB so be sure that you are
displaying all files in the folder.)
Warning: For both methods, the receiving RIP effectively deletes the supplied page buffer
file, at the same time as it creates a new page buffer in its own PageBuffer folder and makes
it visible in the Output Controller / Monitor. Even if you use a spool folder input and leave
Delete on completion unselected, the completed files copied into the Complete Folder are no
longer valid page buffers.
When printing a page buffer file, the RIP displays a message in the main Harlequin MultiRIP
window, similar to this example, where text in italic varies according to the file and plugin:
Introducing new pagebuffer: %C%/my_folder/00000003.PGB
Pagebuffer created for device: my_device
Page name: 2. fontlist (K)
Total time: 1 seconds
Job Completed: 00000003.PGB
The receiving installation of the RIP does not check whether each page buffer was created for
an output plugin that the receiving installation has installed. Any page buffers created by a
plugin that is not installed either fail to appear in the Output Controller/Monitor, or trigger
the error:
could not access a resource for a plugin device driver
Media Management
This chapter describes how the RIP provides ways of monitoring and managing the use of
media in a range of output devices. It also describes how you can configure these ways to suit
your operation.
You must also ensure that the cassette being used to process a job is the same one the RIP
thinks is being used. You can check this by seeing which cassette is chosen in the selected
Page Setup.
Note to OEMS: Alternatively, the RIP is capable of accepting media management
information directly from the relevant output plugin. OEMs can con‐
tact Global Graphics to find out more about writing plugins that can
handle this information.
P2 P1 P3 P2 P1 P4 P3 P2 P1
P2 P1 P3 P2 P1 P4 P3 P2 P1
Using the Media Manager, you can make the RIP perform media cuts and feeds automati‐
cally, choosing when and how much media to feed through and when to cut.
You can also disable or re‐enable all media management facilities as often as you wish. (Har‐
lequin MultiRIP output plugins designed for sheet‐fed devices disable media management
on those devices automatically.) You will probably want to disable media management when
you share feed cassettes between different devices—this will prevent the RIP issuing mean‐
ingless warnings about low media levels.
Display the Media Manager dialog box by choosing Media Manager from the Output menu.
The RIP displays the name of the current device at the top of the dialog box, in the Device
drop‐down list. All selections that you make in this dialog box apply to the displayed device
(and to all cassettes that you use on this device). These selections are not confirmed until you
click OK.
You can select another device using the Device list, then set up different options for managing
media in the new device.
Click OK to confirm your media management choices for the device(s) that you have edited.
Click Cancel to abandon all changes made to media management (on any device) in the cur‐
rent use of the Media Manager.
Note: Any cut operation disables output, unless the output device is using an online proces‐
sor (developer). Typically, you will need to fit a new take‐up cassette before re‐enabling the
RIP outputs: the RIP displays a message to remind you of this.
You can choose from three different policies, available on the left of the Media Manager, in
the section labeled Cut. The three choices are:
• Cut the media after each job.
• Cut the media after a certain number of pages.
• Cut the media when (or slightly before) a certain length of it has been exposed.
To use any of these options, select the check box labeled appropriately and, if there is a text
box alongside the label, type a suitable value in that box.
If you choose a combination of conditions for a cut, the RIP will cut whenever any one of
those conditions becomes true, and will then reset all counts of length or pages.
To cut the media:
After every job printed
select the check box labeled after job. The RIP will automatically cut the
media after every job output on the current device.
After a number of pages
select the check box labeled after pages and enter the number—which
must be a whole number—in the adjacent text box. The RIP will auto‐
matically cut the media after that number of pages has been printed.
At a certain length
select the before length check box and specify a length in the box. This
length is the maximum that will be exposed. For example, you might
choose a length that is convenient to process.
You can select the units you wish to use for length from the Select units
drop‐down list in the bottom left of the Media Manager. The options
available are feet, inches, meters, and centimeters.
Note: The RIP never cuts the media while part of the way through printing a page. Where a
cut at the exact length would fall within a page, the RIP performs the cut before outputting
the page. This occurs even if, for example, you specify a length of 12 inches and a page is 18
inches long.
Around each page
Feed through some media around every page that is produced, per‐
haps so that you can perform cuts by hand more easily. Half of this
amount will be fed before the page and half after it.
Between jobs Feed through some media after every job that has been processed, per‐
haps to make it easier to see where one job ends and the next starts.
Note: This feed after a job will not occur if there is a cut after the last
page of the job, caused by either of the cut after pages or cut after job
settings.
Before cut Feed through some media before making any cut, perhaps to stop film
near a cut being exposed to external light.
The RIP feeds the amount of media you specify here before perform‐
ing any of the automatic cuts described on page 265, or a cut that you
have requested by choosing Cut media with feed from the Device menu.
See also “Hardware feeds” on page 272.
To set up or change the details for a cassette, select the relevant cassette in the Cassette Man‐
ager window and click the Edit button. Figure 9.5 shows the Edit Cassette dialog box that
appears, containing the details for the selected cassette.
The RIP displays the following values in both the Edit Cassette dialog box and the Cassette
Manager. You can only change these values from within the Edit Cassette dialog box.
The RIP displays the information about a cassette in columns in the Cassette Manager and in
corresponding text boxes in the Edit Cassette dialog box.
tion might be Ultre1 and Ultre2, with a separate record of the type of
media. If you use the same cassette to hold paper and use it for proofs
on different output devices then you might call it PaperProof.
Note: The symbol > in front of the cassette name indicates the cassette
in use on the current or most recently used output device.
Remaining length
The amount of media left inside the cassette. The RIP updates this
value whenever it advances or prints media. (The RIP also tests the
updated value against your choice of threshold values so that it can
warn you when the media is running low.)
You must type in the length that you have loaded whenever you refill
a cassette with media.
Number A unique number that the RIP uses to keep track of the cassette. You
can edit this number only when creating an entry for a new cassette—
the RIP suggests an unused number, but you can use any other unused
number.
Units The units used in the measurement fields in this dialog box. Use this
drop‐down list to choose any convenient unit. The RIP converts any
figures already displayed to the units you choose.)
Note: The unit of measurement that you choose here is also used to display media usage in
the Media Monitor window: see “Monitoring media” on page 268).
When you refill a cassette, you must use the Edit Cassette dialog box to inform the RIP how
much media is now in the cassette.
Always inform the RIP when you physically change cassettes, by selecting a Page Setup that
uses the new cassette.
Perform the set up by selecting the output device in the Device drop‐down list in the
Media Manager. The relevant options are on the right of the Media
Manager:Built in feed length
Type into this text box the amount of media that the output device
feeds when it receives a software feed request.
The Media Manager will add this amount to its record of the amount
of media consumed for every job processed, and deduct it from the
details of the relevant cassette. This is used in addition to the around
each page feed value.
To set up the RIP to drive an output device with an online developer, first make that device
current and display the Media Manager. Make these two settings:
The media information is presented in the following fields:
Name The name of the feed cassette.
A series of asterisks ( *** ) in this field shows that the current output
device has media management disabled.
Type The type of media in the feed cassette.
Pages The number of pages exposed since the last cut was performed.
Length The amount of media left in the current feed cassette.
This length is shown in the unit of measurement that you can choose
in the Units field in this dialog box.
Exposed The amount of media that has been exposed since a cut was last per‐
formed. This is also the amount in the take‐up cassette.
Units The units of measurement for figures in the Length and Exposed fields.
Choose any convenient unit from those listed.
Simple Imposition
This chapter describes Simple Imposition, the in‐RIP imposition option provided with the
Harlequin MultiRIP.
PDF, TIFF, JPEG, EPS All schemes
PostScript Language files One‐Up, single‐sided
N‐Up, single‐sided
Note: Simple imposition is not compatible with jobs submitted through JDF.
Of all the schemes, only One-up, single-sided and N-up, single-sided may be used
when processing PostScript language files. PDF files may be submitted to any scheme, and
single page formats such as TIFF, EPS and JPEG may be submitted to any scheme, but only
really make sense for use with One-up, single-sided and Step and repeat, single-
sided schemes, because all others are intended to be applied to multiple pages.
Note: PDF files with mixed orientation and pages sizes cannot be processed with Simple
Imposition. If an attempt is made to process files of this type the following error will occur.
%%[ Error: while running imposition Response procedure ]%%
Note: The Imposition Manager dialog contains listings when it first appears. The setups
within brackets are those supplied as standard. These setups have names that reflect their
intended use. These options cannot be copied and changed or new setups created unless you
have activated Simple Imposition with an LDK product key. Imposition schemes are selected
from the Page Setup dialog.
Please note that the imposition setups provided as standard cannot be edited. You may how‐
ever, use the Copy option to create a duplicate setup which you can then change to suit your
requirements.
Units Before creating any imposition setups you should choose your pre‐
ferred units. All imposition setups use the same units, and any existing
imposition setups will convert any values to the currently selected
units.
Edit Select an existing imposition setup and click Edit to change the imposi‐
tion settings. When you have finished editing the setup, click OK to
save your changes. Please note that the supplied imposition schemes
cannot be edited, they can however be copied to a new name and then
edited.
New Click New to create a new imposition setup. In the Imposition setup
dialog choose your imposition options and then click Save as. Enter a
unique name for your setup followed by selecting Save.
Copy This option allows you to copy an existing setup or use an existing
setup as the base for a new setup. Select an existing imposition setup
and click Copy. In the Imposition Setup dialog make any changes to the
setup and then click Save as. Enter a new name followed by clicking
Save.
Delete Select an existing setup and click Delete to remove it from the Imposi‐
tion Manager. If a Page Setup is using an imposition setup that is
selected for deletion, it will not be removed, and a message will appear
stating this. To remove an imposition setup the setup must not be used
by any Page Setup.
Select If you have accessed the Imposition Manager from the Edit Page Setup
dialog you can highlight one of the existing Imposition setups, and
click Select. This will apply the selected imposition to the current Page
Setup configuration.
• The size of the printing surface (raster).
• Whether the reverse side of the surface can be printed, and how the page is turned on
the printing device.
• How the job is folded or cut.
• Simple imposition acts on the Page Setup > PDF Options > Page size bounding box
option, see “PDF Options dialog box” on page 244 for more information. Therefore,
before configuring your Simple imposition scheme you should consider how the
incoming PDF is constructed in terms of its trim box, bleed box and so on. For exam‐
ple, you can configure the Page Setup to use TrimBox, and then configure Simple
imposition to add bleed from outside the trim. Setting the correct Page size bounding
box is essential to the successful imposition of PDF files. The recommendation when
using Simple imposition is to set the Page size bounding box option to TrimBox because
the size of the page is as it is intended for delivery to the reader, after trimming any
printer’s marks and excess bleed areas. With this selection you can add your trim
marks and page furniture using the Simple imposition options.
The New/Edit Imposition setup dialog is used to configure the imposition setups. You can
access this dialog through the Imposition Manager.
Note: The imposition setup graphic shown above is displayed as it first appears.
The following sections describe the various options within the imposition setup dialog.
One‐up, single‐sided Single‐sided, one page per surface.
One‐up, two‐sided Two‐sided, one page per surface.
N‐up, single‐sided Each surface of this single‐sided layout contains a grid of
pages, all at the same orientation. This can be used for
laser printer N‐up printing, and for media saving. The
number of pages in the grid can be set manually, or can
be calculated automatically for best fit.
In conventional print, it can also be used for two‐sided
printing using either Work & Turn or Work & Tumble
(depending on plate orientation in the press) for two‐up
surfaces that will be cut to produce single‐surface,
unbound jobs.
N‐up, two‐sided Each surface of this double‐sided layout contains a grid
of pages. It is intended mainly for laser printing, and for
the media saving of unbound jobs in conventional
printing.
Note that neither of the N‐up schemes provide support
for generalized conventional imposition; they all take
pages in reader order from the supplied content file,
rather than taking pages out‐of order as is required for
perfect binding, etc.
Step and repeat, single‐sided Single‐sided, multiple copies of the same page are
imposed in a grid.
Step and repeat, two‐sided Two‐sided, multiple copies of the same page are imposed
in a grid. This differs from the single‐sided variant
principally in allowing different surface margins, slug
lines, and so on, or the front and back of the surface.
Two‐up, saddle‐stitched Two‐up Saddle‐stitched production. Surfaces are
gathered after printing, then folded and trimmed to
produce booklets. The binding side is defined by the
setting of Binding edge parameter.
Step and repeat, saddle‐stitched Step and repeat of Saddle‐stitched page pairs. This
option places one or more identical copies of each
booklet side‐by‐side on the surfaces. The surfaces are cut
before gathering, then folded and trimmed to produce
booklets. The binding side is defined by the setting of the
Binding edge parameter.
Cut and stack, single‐sided Single‐sided, multi‐up imposition for jobs that will be
bound with wire, comb binders and so on, and therefore
will be trimmed to single pages. Once printed and
stacked, each set of surfaces will be cut, and stacked on
top of the other to give a full set of pages in order.
Cut and stack, two‐sided As Cut and stack, single‐sided, but for two‐sided work.
For an example see “Cut and stack, two‐sided—12 page
booklet, A4, ring bound” on page 296.
Four‐up, saddle‐stitched Saddle‐stitched, four‐up printing which is folded once
before gathering and stitching. The Binding edge, Spine
fold and Geometry options define the layout on the
surface.
Four‐up, perfect binding Four‐up printing for perfect binding. The Binding edge,
Spine fold and Geometry options define the layout on
the surface.
10.5.2 Surface
The Surface options define the size of the raster to be created, that is, the maximum size, out‐
side of which nothing will be printed. The following options are available:
Size The size options are:
From media: (the default option) where the size of the output is taken
from the size of the media loaded. This of course depends on the
device and type of media. See the Table 10.3 below for more details.
From job: where the size of the output is taken from the size of the
incoming job (plus any margins).
Custom: where the size of the output is defined in the Width and Height
fields.
Note: All imposition schemes are constructed on the assumption that
the image width > height. If the image height > width, the whole lay‐
out is rotated. Thus, if the sheet is rotated, the layout design is calcu‐
lated as if it had been rotated, which is then applied to the media at 90
degrees to what you might otherwise have expected. For one‐up lay‐
outs the only effect is that the page is rotated by 90 degrees in such
cases. This may not be visible if BestFit is selected for the page rota‐
tion.
Table 10.3 Width and height definition when using From Media option
Table 10.3 Width and height definition when using From Media option
Flip on This option is only available with two‐sided imposition schemes, and
allows the surface to be flipped on either its Long edge or Short
edge.
When used for conventional printing, select the option that matches
how the paper lifts are turned for the second side to be printed, or how
each sheet is turned automatically in a perfecting press. When used for
driving a digital printer, select the option that matches the duplex
capability of the printer for the paper size to be used.
The selection of Long edge is where the first surface is printed, and the
media is then flipped from top to bottom. The top and bottom are
switched, and the right and left edges remain in the same position for
both surfaces.
The selection of Short edge is where the first surface is printed, and the
media is then turned from side to side. The right and left edges are
switched, and the top and bottom remain in the same position for both
surfaces.
Simple Imposition can get the page size from the Media, the Custom lay‐
out or from the Job. All Simple Imposition schemes are constructed on
the assumption that the image width > height (landscape). If the image height > width (por‐
trait), the whole layout is rotated and the top of the page is effectively at the right‐hand side.
In normal circumstances when making plates the page size would be set as Custom or to
come from the media.If however the page size is set to come from the job, a portrait page is
configured such that the top of the page is actually at the top. This causes the Flip on long
edge and Flip on short edge options to behave in the opposite way to how you would expect.
Flip on long edge causes the page to flip top/bottom (in effect on the short edge), and Flip on
short edge causes the page to flip Left/Right (in effect on the long edge).
A Work & Turn imposition scheme uses a single plate to print on both sides of the paper.
When the first side of the sheet is printed, the paper is then flipped over from side‐to‐side
and fed through the press again using the same gripper edge. The top and bottom remains in
the same position for both sides, that is the top of the first side remains as the is the top for
the second side.
A Work & Tumble imposition scheme again uses a single plate to print on both sides of the
paper using opposite grippers. When the first side of the sheet is printed the leading edge is
gripped. The paper is then “tumbled”, that is, the top of the first side becomes the bottom of
the second side and the trailing edge of the paper is gripped. The left and right edges of the
sheet remain in the same position for both sides.
Perfecting is when you can print on both sides of the sheet in one pass through the machine.
These imposition schemes can be achieved using Simple imposition. It does however depend
on which edge of the sheet is fed into your printer.
If your press is fed with the short edge first and you have Long edge configured as the Flip
on setting, you are in effect, using a Work & Turn scheme.
If your press is fed with the short edge first and you have Short edge configured as the Flip
on setting, you are in effect, using a Work & Tumble scheme. This method can be utilized for
a Perfecting press configuration.
If your press is fed with the long edge first and you have Short edge configured as the Flip
on setting, you are in effect, using a Work & Turn scheme.
10.5.3 Pages
These options define the settings that affect individual pages within a layout. The following
options are available:
Rotate The rotate options define whether pages within a layout can be
rotated. The Best Fit option will rotate pages as needed (for Nup,
StepRepeat, Cut & Stack only) so that they fit the layout.
The various Trim options crop one or more edges of the raster. The
edges to be trimmed are manually selected.
The Scale to fit option will scale the pages and all associated gut‐
ters and crop marks. This option is intended for use when proofing
and digital printing and would not generally be used when imaging
plates.
Tile allows the same page grid to be imaged over several rasters, each
with different offsets so that the rasters may used together to create the
entire image.
Note: The Tile option cannot be used with PostScript language files.
Also, the use of the Tile option with the Layout of pages option set
with Up and Across equal to zero, with multiple page, Step and repeat
and Cut and stack schemes will only ever produce one tile unless a sin‐
gle page will not fit in the image size available.
10.5.4 Binding
The Binding options determine how the booklet is bound and folded.
Geometry For four‐up, saddle‐stitched and perfect binding schemes these
options decide if the gutter (other than the Spine fold) is head‐to‐head
or foot‐to‐foot. These options change the orientation of the pages on
the surface.
Head to head places the tops of the page pairs together
Foot to foot, places the foot of the page pairs together.
Left to right, place the left and right sides of the page pairs
together.
Right to left, places the right and left sides of the page pairs
together.
Automatic, either head to head or left to right is automatically selected
depending on the aspect ratios of the pages and the available raster.
This option can only be used if Automatic is selected n the Spine fold
field.
Gutter This is the amount of space between the two “sides” of the layout pro‐
duced when Work and t is set to something other than None.
Min This is the minimum gutter value between the two “sides” of the lay‐
out produced when Work and t is set to something other than None,
which is the most common configuration.
10.5.5 Gutters
The gutter is the space between pages on a layout. The options in this section define the size
of the gutter. The following options are available:
Creep Creep occurs on saddle‐stitched and perfecting bindings where the
inside pages extend beyond the image area of the outside pages. This
option compensates for this effect, and specifies the amount to be
removed from the gutter (often called shingling).
case, or if the surface has been rotated using the Page Setup Rotate option, the orientation is
likely to be affected.
10.5.6.2 Marks
These options allow you to define which marks you want placed onto your imposition lay‐
out.
Registration Marks
Select the required option to place registration marks on the selected
surface:
None: no registration marks are placed on the layout.
Desired: registration marks are placed on the layout if space is avail‐
able. If space is not available a warning is generated.
Required: registration marks are placed on the layout. If space for
those marks is not available the job is aborted.
10.5.6.3 Annotations
The Annotations section of the imposition dialog allows you to add slug line text, color bars
and proofing strips. You can, using this option, add just about anything extra you wish to
your imposition layout.
If required custom annotation files can be used. This is done by using the Install Annota-
tion page feature which, when activated via the Page Setup dialog, allows you to print an
EPS file (EPS only), to install that file as a new annotation.
Annotation selections draw the following marks:
PlateBar_ISO12647‐2_1, PlateBar_SWOP_1
Both draw a more or less standard press color bar, with 25, 50, 75%
tints and solids of all the separations rendered, together with trapping
patches, slug patches, registration test patches and neutrals. These do
not include any slug text. The difference between the two is in the neu‐
tral patches; one follows the recommendations from the ISO 12647‐2
standard, the other from SWOP.
PlateBar_small_1
This draws a secondary press color bar, with smaller patches in order
to avoid wasting space; the patches in this bar are not designed to be
large enough for measurement using densitometers. Patches include
shadow and highlight ramps.
PlateText Writes a slug line, including job name, time and date of interpretation,
file time and date (if available), submitterʹs name (if available) and
details of the Page Setup selected.
ProofStrip_1, ProofStrip_2,ProofStrip_4
All draw a combination of color bar and slug text designed to be suit‐
able for proofing. In addition to flat color tints, graduations and neu‐
trals, some patches setting out job meta‐data such as PDF/X
Spacer_18pt, Spacer_6pt
These do not draw any marks, but may be used to position the other
annotations, for example, by moving them away from the edge of the
sheet.
PlateBar_G7_1 This option prints a G7 color bar on the output and provides support
for the use of Gracol’s G7 print characterization data.
To install your own custom annotation:
1. Create a Page Setup (not using Simple Imposition) and select the Install Annotation
page feature. For more information on using page features see “Features” on page 151.
2. Print the Annotation (EPS) file using this Page Setup. A message will appear indicating
that the annotation is being installed.
3. Go back to the Page Setup using Simple Imposition. You can now select and use the
custom Annotation in your Simple Imposition setup. See below for information on how
to add an annotation to the imposition layout.
When used as an annotation the EPS file will be repeated along the length of the selected ras‐
ter edge as many times as it will fit.
Note: If the custom annotation does not fit, there will be no error message.
To add an annotation to the imposition layout:
1. Click New.
Note: An annotation will appear in the list. Do not attempt to delete this. Go straight to
step 2.
2. Select your required annotation file from the Edit selected row drop‐down list. For
example, select PlateText to add slug line information.
3. Select where on the layout you want to add the annotation by choosing either, Top,
Bottom, Left or Right from the Edit selected row drop‐down list.
4. Click New to add further annotations. You can add as many annotation files as you
wish, but you must ensure your layout has enough room to accommodate them.
The annotations are printed in the order in which they appear in the list, and you can change
that order by dragging and dropping them. If two annotations are placed on the same edge
of the layout, the first one will be on the edge of the layout, and the second will be moved
inwards by the size of the first. Similarly, if an annotation has already been drawn on the left
of the layout, a second annotation on the bottom edge will leave room at one end for the first
annotation.
You can edit the any annotation in the list by selecting it and then choosing the required
options from the Edit selected row drop‐down menus.
You can remove any annotation file from the list by selecting and clicking the Delete button.
When you have completed the front and back options select OK to save them. Selecting Can-
cel will abort any change you have made. Similarly, when you have completed all your impo‐
sition configuration options select OK to save your changes.
Note: When using a new annotation file with Simple Imposition the RIP must be re‐started if
the annotation file name needs to be escaped, such as the name “PDF/X Overprint tests ‐
large”, otherwise the following message is reported:
%%[ Error: HqnLayout: Selected file not found: "Usr/HqnLayout/Annots/PDF/X
Overprint tests - large" ]%%
%%[ Error: undefinedfilename; OffendingCommand: HqnLayout; File: ]%%
The vast majority of annotations do not need to be escaped, and can be used immediately
after installation, without having to restart the RIP. Note that in all cases a Simple Imposition
setup can be created using the newly‐installed annotation without a RIP restart. It is only
when using that setup that the error occurs for names requiring escaping. The annotation is
installed by ripping it with a page setup which uses the “Install Annotation” page feature.
16 1 14 3 12 5 10 7
15 2 13 4 11 6 9 8
Back surface
This extra settings for this imposition scheme are:
The resulting saddle‐stitched booklet will look like this:
9
11 7
13
15 5
3
1
Red numbers denote unsighted pages
10.6.2 Cut and stack, two-sided—12 page booklet, A4, ring bound
The plates for this imposition will be laid out in the following fashion:
Front
Surface 1 7 3 9 5 11
Back 2 8 4 10 6 12
Surface
This extra settings for this imposition scheme are:
The resulting sheets before cutting and the stack after cutting are shown below:
2 1 8 7 2 1
4 3
4 3 10 9
6 5
6 5 12 11
8 7
10 9
Blue numbers denote the reverse side
12 11
The final pages are suitable for hole punching and then ring or wire binding.
7
8
2
2
1
5
6
6
4
3
4
Front surface Back surface
This extra settings for this imposition scheme are:
The two resulting saddle‐stitched booklets will look like this:
5 5
7 7
3 3
1 1
Front
6
8
surface
Back 2
5
surface
Note: Page 8 is a special case.
This extra settings for this imposition scheme are:
The resulting saddle‐stitched booklet will look like this:
7
1 2
4
5
5 7
3
3
6
8
Front
surface
4
7
5
Back
surface
This extra settings for this imposition scheme are:
The resulting saddle‐stitched booklet will look like this:
7
1 4 2
5
5 7
3
12
1
6
7
11
2
5
8
10
3
4
9
This extra settings for this imposition scheme are:
10
6
1
5 6
2
4
3
1
4
3
2
13
16
14
15
8
7
6
9
12
10
11
Front surface Back surface
This extra settings for this imposition scheme are:
The resulting 16 page saddle‐stitched booklets will look like this:
9
11
13 7
15 5
3
1
1
4
3
2
5
6
7
12
11
10
13
16
14
15
Front surface Back surface
This extra settings for this imposition scheme are:
The resulting 16 page perfect‐bound booklets will look like this:
13
15
11
9
5
7
3 Red numbers denote unsighted pages
1
Fonts
Whenever the RIP processes a job that uses fonts, they must be available in memory. Fonts
are loaded into the RIP from the disk automatically whenever they are required. However,
the fonts must have been installed first, or they must be embedded in the job that uses them.
Installation is a once‐only process where the RIP configures the font for its use and puts it in
the appropriate place. This chapter discusses how fonts are installed and then used by the
Harlequin MultiRIP.
The RIP provides a suite of facilities that let you manage fonts easily and efficiently. This
suite includes commands that will:
• Install fonts in the RIP.
• Tell you which fonts are currently installed.
• Produce a proof of any font currently installed.
• Remove fonts from the RIP.
The Harlequin MultiRIP also provides facilities for font substitution and font emulation. For
more information see:
• “Font substitution” on page 314.
• “Font Emulation” on page 316.
For Windows, the Microsoft core fonts are governed by the same restrictions as the products
they are supplied with. Therefore, if you can run the RIP on Windows and access it, the
licence for the fonts allows you to use them on that system.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have a suitable license for any fonts used in your
RIP.
The RIP supplies the 35 standard fonts and the special‐purpose fonts installed in the fonts
folder in the SW folder.
DLD1 45 4
Type 1 100 50
Type 4 50 30
Note: It is difficult to give corresponding estimates for Type 3 fonts because they are inher‐
ently so flexible, but they are not particularly efficient.
To install a single font, do the following:
1. Select a font in the list box.
2. Click Install.
Note: PC format files with a *.pfa, *.pfb (Type 1), *.otf (OpenType), *.ttf (TrueType) extension
are visible in the upper list box. If your fonts are not in this format, select All Files from the
Files of type drop‐down list.
Use the Look in drop‐down list to use other directories or drives.
Shift
To select a block of several files, select the first file in the block, and then hold down the Shift
key and select the last file in the block.
Ctrl
To select several unconnected files, hold down the Control key while making your selection.
A successfully installed font produces the message:
Installed font ’font_name’ in TrueType format
Note: The format type will be reported in this way for single‐font packages only (not Font‐
Sets). The type reported will be TrueType, Type 42, Type 1, DLD1, Type 2, Type 3 and so on.
The Install Fonts command will install into the RIP Type 1, Type 3 and single‐byte PC format
TrueType fonts or OpenType fonts with TT outlines.
OpenType/CFF is supported. Single‐font OTTO packages will install as a single font or
1
CIDFont as appropriate. Multiple‐font packages will install as FontSet resources.
If you try to install a file that does not contain a font, or that contains a font of another type,
the RIP displays a message in the RIP Monitor. This will not harm the RIP or the file in any
way—the RIP just refuses to install it.
Using the installer, TrueType fonts only install as non‐CID fonts. They therefore have to be
manually moved to the CIDFont resources directory to make them appear as CID fonts.
If a font is of Type 1, it will be converted into DLD1 format before being added. This can then
be loaded into the RIP whenever necessary.
Installation is performed on a copy of the font, so your original font file remains intact.
If you are installing fonts from the Windows OS into the RIP you can copy those fonts from
C:\Windows\Fonts into a directory which can be accessed by the Install fonts command.
OpenType fonts containing CFF data use the tag “OTTO”
1.
are shipped as a collection of self‐installing PostScript language files. Contact your font
supplier for more detailed information about using particular composite fonts with the
RIP.
• TrueType fonts
No downloader is needed for TrueType fonts. Using a downloader makes them less
efficient if converted to Type 42 format. TrueType fonts should be installed using the
Install Fonts command.
• CID fonts
If your CID font is supplied with a downloader, install the font and any relevant CMap
file using the supplied downloader. If no downloader is supplied, use the Install Fonts
command. At present, however, CID fonts have to be manually moved to the CIDFont
resources directory to make them appear as CID fonts.
All installed fonts are placed in the fonts resources directory, except for CID fonts and
CMap files, which are placed in the CIDFont and CMap resources directories respectively.
Leaf fonts and composite fonts are sub fonts of Type 0 fonts and are installed elsewhere.
The RIP may take slightly longer to start up, but any jobs using these fonts will run consider‐
ably faster. Pre‐loading a composite font takes longer than pre‐loading other types of font,
but saves more time for each job using it.
Palatino-Italic
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR
1234567890‐=!@#$%^&*()_
You can proof fonts, either on a printer or on your screen, by choosing Proof Fonts from the
Fonts menu. The RIP produces the proof using your choice of Page Setup and fits as many
fonts as possible on a page. Figure 11.2 shows an example of a short‐format proof for one
font.
When you choose Proof Fonts, the RIP displays a dialog box that lists all of the fonts currently
installed, as shown in Figure 11.3.
First, choose an appropriate Page Setup for proofing the fonts, from the Page Setup drop‐
down list.
Note: If you forget to choose a Page Setup, the RIP uses the one that you chose last time you
proofed fonts. If you have not proofed fonts in this RIP session, the first Page Setup in the list‐
ing is used. To change the order of this listing, see “Reordering Page Setups” on page 93.
Select the fonts you want to proof, and click Proof. You can select as many fonts as you like.
Shift
To select a block of several fonts, select the first font in the block, and then hold down the
Shift key and select the last font in the block.
Ctrl
To select several unconnected fonts, hold down the Control key while making your selection.
The RIP constructs a PostScript language job and then runs it, as if you had used Print File to
print an existing file. If other jobs are pending, the proof takes its place in the queue.
By default, proofs only show a sample of the full character set in a font. If you want a proof of
the complete set of characters, select the Proof fonts in long format check box.
Note: CID fonts can be proofed, but only in long format. FontSet resources cannot yet be
proofed.
The RIP minimizes the number of character conversions it has to do by storing the results of
conversions in a RAM cache store. This means that the first time a character is seen, it is con‐
verted it into a bitmap and stored in the cache. When that character is seen next, the RIP does
not need to convert it again because it can find the result immediately in the cache store.
Significant savings in processing time can be made using this method, especially when deal‐
ing with frequently used characters.
The RIP is able to cache more character data when more memory is available to it. We recom‐
mend you allow extra memory in the range 16 MiB through 32 MiB. You will need more
memory still if you wish to cache several composite fonts. Try experimenting with memory
allocation, as requirements will depend on the fonts and types of job you have.
If you are going to use a composite font regularly, you should pre‐load it into the RIP. See
“Pre‐loading fonts” on page 310. Pre‐loading makes the RIP slower to start up, but saves a
great deal of time when processing jobs that use those fonts.
Whereas the existing substitution mechanism is unconditional, the new mechanism only
attempts a substitution if the initially given font name cannot be found. However, if a condi‐
tional substitution is made, a message is displayed on the monitor indicating the substitu‐
tion:
Warning: font <-name-> not found, using <-name-> instead
For example:
Warning: font Arial not found, using ArialMT instead.
You can silence this message by uncommenting the line in SW/Config/FontSubstitution
which specifies the /SilentCondFontSub key.
For more information see the Conditional Font Substitution section in the SW/Config/Font-
Substitution text file.
While DroidSansFallback provides potentially usable output for cases where a CID font is
not available and the encoding to be used is supplied, there are instances where that encod‐
ing information is not defined. In such cases using DroidSansFallback is quite likely to lead
to the wrong glyph being used.
Sys/ExtraStart/10HqnFontSetStubs
Generates stub fonts for FontSet resources. The stub fonts will be
installed on the %fontset% pseudo‐device.
Sys/ExtraStart/20HqnCIDFontStub
Generates the CID‐keyed resources for newly‐installed, and previ‐
ously undetected CID fonts and CMaps.
Either of these files may be removed if the functionality is not required. The numeric prefix to
their names is to force a particular running order; FontSet stubs should be created before CID
font stubs, because FontSet stub files may be CID fonts. The files in Sys/ExtraStart are run
in alpha/numeric order.
This creates a file which effectively contains backups of font files, (and some other files) from
the SW folder.
A message appears in the monitor window informing you of the name of the PostScript lan‐
guage file created.
When you have installed your new RIP, you should run this PostScript language file to install
those font files on your new RIP.
2. Font Emulation is enabled and
3. The required font is not disabled in /SW/Config/FontEmulation file and
4. The required font is defined or aliased in /SW/Config/FontEmulation or defined in
the Font Emulation database.
Note: PDF files usually include a PDF FontDescriptor for each font required by the PDF
file, even for fonts which are not embedded. If Font Emulation is employed for a PDF file, the
FontDescriptor in that PDF file will be used in place of the emulation data in the RIP. Also,
the FontDescriptor can be used even if the font is not defined in the Font Emulation data‐
base or /SW/Config/FontEmulation file.
11.13.2 Messages
When a missing font is successfully emulated the following message appears:
%%[ Warning: Font <...> emulated. ]%%
Note: <...> is the name of the missing font.
If Font Emulationʹs attempt to get the required font returned an error, and the font is unable
to be emulated, the following error is generated:
%%[ Error: Font <...> not found. (Emulation unknown) ]%%
However, if the font returned is not what was asked for (for example, Courier), and the font
cannot be emulated, the following warning is output but the RIP will continue to use what‐
ever font was returned:
%%[ Warning: Font <...> not found. (Emulation unknown) ]%%
That is, if a font is missing and it cannot be emulated, an error is only generated with emula‐
tion switched on if there would have been an error with it switched off.
If the missing font cannot be found in FontEmulation or the database, the following message
appears:
%%[ Error: Font <...> not found. (Emulation not known)]%%
If emulation is switched off for a particular font, the following message appears:
%%[ Error: Font <...> not found. (Emulation disabled)]%%
If there is an error in the Font Emulation dictionary the following message appears:
%%[ Error: FontEmulation syntax /<...> invalid value. ]%%
In the unlikely event of an internal emulation font being replaced by a normal font, the fol‐
lowing message appears:
%%[ Error: Font <...> not found. (FontEmulation installation}]%%
• Aliasing of a font in the database so an identical font with a different name can be
emulated.
• Switching Font Emulation off for a specified font. This is useful if a corporate logo is
using a font in the database.
• Override a font definition in the database.
Note for OEM: For more information see the Harlequin Technical Note “Hqn065—
Using and modifying Font Emulation”.
Calibration
This chapter discusses calibration of output devices. Calibration involves the measurement of
test images produced on an output device and the use of those measurements to produce sta‐
ble images with good tonal values: here, good means consistent and usually linearized (in
some measurement system). Some devices have a published specification that you can use in
place of measured data: this is true of many printing presses. In demanding applications, you
may use several different calibrations on the same device, according to the settings on the
device or within the RIP.
This chapter describes how you can produce suitable test images (called targets or test
strips), measure their characteristics, then enter or edit calibration data, while Chapter 5,
“Configuring Output Formats”, describes how you can choose different calibrations when
producing output.
A mechanism is provided that enables a third‐party application to push calibration sets into
the RIP. It is intended to replace the method used by some vendors to emulate the processing
performed by Global Graphics’ Genlin tool, and to avoid the need for a final manual step to
import the calibration data. Calibration sets may be submitted as a PostScript language file to
the RIP, calling the PushCalibration procedure in the HqnPushCalibration procset. Call‐
ing this procedure does not trigger any raster output, and files may be submitted through
any input channel configured on the RIP, such as hot folders, Unix‐style sockets and so on.
For more information on this see the “Push Calibration” Harlequin Technical Note 081.
From HMR v10.1r1 features are added to allow for the calibration of objects based on the
screening used for those objects. This is often important in flexographic printing. For more
information see “Features introduced for flexographic printing” on page 356.
Whatever the physical reason, the result is variability or non‐linearity and some adjustment
is almost always necessary to compensate for these physical artifacts. This is called calibra‐
tion.
Note: In almost all output devices, a solid (100%) black area prints as a 100% black area, and
white always prints as white. Any failure to achieve this degree of faithful reproduction usu‐
ally indicates a problem or maladjustment in the output device, which you must cure before
attempting calibration.
Consider the irregular solid line in Figure 12.1. It shows an example of the kind of response
typically seen from red‐sensitive paper on a Helium/Neon‐based imagesetter. The diagonal
dotted line represents the theoretical line that would be shown for a perfect material. The
arrowed lines show how if you request a 50% tint you will actually see something like a 65%
tint on paper, when measured with a densitometer.
When setting flat tint areas for monochrome print work, variation in gray level is often
immaterial because the relatively small tonal variations encountered will not be visible to an
untrained eye. But as soon as scanned images are introduced into monochrome work, it
becomes apparent that highlight and shadow detail is lacking and, typically, that the image is
darker than expected. The higher the halftone frequency used, the more the shadow areas
will fill in and highlights will lighten—and the more necessary calibration becomes.
Color process work brings the problem into flat tint work as well, because variations of only
a few percent from the requested value in just one of the color plates can throw the final
apparent color well away from that intended.
Note: Calibration is important in color work, but it is not a complete answer. Calibration is
sufficient only where the originally requested colors are prepared with the final output
device in mind; calibration can adjust the individual color values but not the hues of those
colors. A color management system is required to make adjustments which change hues, as
for example in digital proofing.
100
60
40
20
20 40 60 80 100
It is possible to create a single calibration set that compensates for the combined characteris‐
tics of an imagesetter and a printing press, but this scheme is inflexible and clumsy where
several imagesetters and presses may be used in various combinations. Also, you cannot
account for absolute density variations.
A more flexible approach, and one provided by the RIP, is the ability to produce and use a
calibration curve for each color of a printing press, applied separately from film linearization.
This improves the accuracy and ease of compensating for the dot gain of, for example, Harle‐
quin Dispersed Screening (HDS). HDS screens gain more on press than conventional screens.
Calibrating the press for use with an HDS screen replaces a laborious and approximate com‐
pensation previously possible only by changing the film linearity settings or scanning with
HDS in mind. Note that although an imagesetter is not a multi‐color device, you can create a
separate calibration curve for each color, to take account of the different screen angles.
See “Press calibration” on page 339 for details of press calibration.
Note to OEMS: OEMs can configure the Harlequin MultiRIP to use a different calibra‐
tion target for each output device.
• Tone Curves allow you to make another set of color adjustments, in addition to the
device calibration and the press calibration. See “Tone curves” on page 339 for details.
• You can use different measuring systems, as appropriate for the kind of output device
and measuring instruments.
Use the Print Calibration command to display the Print Calibration dialog box. From here, you
can print test strips (targets) which enable you to measure the characteristics of your output
devices.
Note: If calibration strips are used the Overprint preview option is disabled. See “Notes on
Overprint preview” on page 397.
Use the Calibration Manager command to display the Calibration Manager dialog box. This
allows you to create and edit calibration sets using measurements from test strips or pub‐
lished figures, and to enable or disable the use of particular calibration sets. The consequence
is that you can adjust for day‐to‐day or printer‐to‐printer variations in ink density and simi‐
lar variations in the exposure of imagesetters and platesetters.
The Page Setup you use to print a target can use either kind of Calibration entry:
• To create your own calibration set for a device for the first time your Page Setup must
use a supplied calibration profile for the device.
• To edit your own calibration set your Page Setup must use that calibration set.
2. Choose the type of target that you wish to print from the Print For menu. Process
Colors only is often suitable. See “Print Calibration dialog box” on page 343 for
details of all these options.
3. Prepare your printer—for example by loading the correct paper and click Print uncali-
brated target. (Enable output in the Output Controller if necessary to get a printed tar‐
get.)
Note: You must print the target on the paper for which the calibration profile or set was
created in order to obtain an accurate calibration set.
4. Wait for this target to dry thoroughly before attempting to measure it. Even when a
target appears dry, It can take ten minutes or more for some combination of inks and
media to stabilize completely so that the colors are no longer changing and the target is
unaffected by handling.
You can then follow the rest of this overall example procedure from “Creating a calibration
set” on page 330.
Only the relevant messages appear, that is, if color management is not enabled, its ‘switched
off’ message will not appear.
ing one strip of patches for each color, and it is possible to have custom targets supplied with
each output device driver.)
If you have a densitometer, select the correct exposure by reading the density values of the
two squares labeled D Max/Min on each of the test pages from your exposure sweep. (Mea‐
sure both squares to check for a uniform exposure across the page.) Optimum density varies
from material to material, but generally a densitometer reading of between 3.5 and 4.0 is
acceptable for film, and between 1.8 and 2.0 for paper. (The densitometer should of course be
switched to give density readings rather than dot percentage readings.)
If you do not have a densitometer, you can still use this page to select an approximate expo‐
sure setting: study the fine detail in the bottom left of the page, and select the exposure that
gives clear, fine white detail in black areas and vice versa. As an additional guide, you should
be able to tell the difference between the 0% and 2% tint panels, and between the 98% and
100% panels. (These figures are for film or bromide: inkjet output can be black from the 80%
patch upwards.)
Keep the strip that you decide has the right exposure: you can measure values from it to cre‐
ate the calibration set. If you think a value falling between those used in your exposure sweep
might be better, print a new target at that exposure. For example, set Exposure in the Edit
Page Setup dialog box and then use Print uncalibrated target. You can only set the Exposure in
the Edit Page Setup dialog box if your output device supports software exposure control, oth‐
erwise the option is grayed out.
The column headings are various properties of a calibration set. The first column in the list is
the name of the calibration set, the second is the group to which the calibration set belongs,
and the last column is the edited or unedited status of the calibration. Each of the remaining
columns in the list corresponds to the name of one of the Warning / Selection Criteria in the
Edit Calibration dialog box. See “Calibration Manager dialog box” on page 345 for full
details.
Click New to create a new calibration set for the first time. The RIP displays an appropriate
version of the Edit Calibration dialog box.
Subsequently, you will probably edit the set, as described in “Editing calibration sets” on
page 334.
If you leave the Edit calibration dialog by selecting Cancel the new values will not be saved
and the calibration will work as before. If however, you decide to save the new values the cal‐
ibration will work using the default curve and will produce more accurate results.
When you click New to create a new calibration set, you enter the Edit Calibration dialog box
for an uncalibrated target with all Warning / Selection Criteria boxes empty. The Warning /
Selection Criteria list the resolution, dot shape, screen frequency, and so on that this calibra‐
tion set is intended to work with.
If you click Cancel in the Calibration Manager, you discard all changes to calibration sets that
you have made since you opened the Calibration Manager.
When you edit a calibration set for color data, the procedure is very similar, except that you
must enter data for each color channel. Note that although an imagesetter is not a multi‐color
device, you can create a separate calibration curve for each color, to take account of the differ‐
ent screen angles.
Recalibration This is the conventional method. Here an uncalibrated strip is printed
each time calibration is required. On the first occasion, a set is created
with New. On subsequent recalibrations, Edit from uncalibrated target is
selected and the values in the dialog box changed to reflect the new
readings from the strip. Then a calibrated strip is printed and the lin‐
earity of the result is checked, and if the linearity is unsatisfactory
another uncalibrated strip is printed to correct the flaws. (The new cal‐
ibration values are in the existing set, so there is no need to select a
new calibration set in the Edit Page Setup dialog box.)
Adjustment Here a calibrated strip is printed on each occasion (except the first
when an uncalibrated strip is printed to enter the values with New).
Edit from calibrated target is selected. This should then show the perfect
values. If the device has changed, these values will be a little in error
and the new values can be entered. A second calibrated strip can be
printed to check the result. (Again, the new calibration values are in
the existing set, so there is no need to select a new calibration set in the
Edit Page Setup dialog box.)
Note: When working in density rather than percent dot, it is not imme‐
diately obvious what the correct values should be; Edit from calibrated
target provides this information.
However, whatever method is adopted, the most important rule is to match the edit com‐
mand to the type of target. To be explicit:
• When entering measurements using uncalibrated test strips, always do so with Edit from
uncalibrated target (or New).
The title of the dialog box changes to show the kind of target and the device. The general
form of the title is:
Edit <calibrated/uncalibrated> target for <Device name>
<calibrated/uncalibrated>
depends on which edit button you clicked in the Calibration Manager.
<Device name>
is the selection in the Device drop‐down list in the Calibration Man‐
ager.
When you edit the calibration set for a printing press, the differences are:
• The presence of a Press drop‐down list in the Warning / Selection Criteria panel. In this
case the default calibration set is determined by the selected profile.
• You can specify the usual Warning / Selection Criteria options, except Use for Pos & Neg
is always checked and disabled.
• The types of measurements available in the Measurements as drop‐down list.
When you edit the calibration for tone curves, the differences are:
• For tone curves you can specify the usual Warning / Selection Criteria options, except
Use for Pos & Neg is always checked and disabled.
If the value for any tint panel drifts outside your acceptable range, you can use data from the
calibrated target to correct the calibration set. You need record only the values that are in
error. Display the Calibration Manager dialog box, select the calibration set, and then click
Edit calibrated target. In the Edit Calibration dialog box, enter the newly measured value or
values. (Alternatively, you can click Print uncalibrated target in the Print Calibration dialog
box, read all the densitometer values from that target, and then use Edit uncalibrated target to
edit the calibration set appropriately.)
• The press can be accurately tuned for Harlequin ColorPro.
• An adjustment can be made for a different press from the one for which the job was
originally prepared.
This might be needed because it really is a different machine, or because the dot‐gain
characteristics have changed over time: for example, as the blankets have worn.
• An independent adjustment can be made to compensate for changes to the job after
scanning and so on, which affect the gain on press, such as substitution of HDS
screens.
• The gain of the press can be expressed in relative terms.
This form is common in manufacturers’ documentation: for example 20% at 70%, rather
than the more common measure on film as 70% reads 90% (which is equivalent).
• Readings can be estimated from a small number of data points supplied by the manu‐
facturer.
A special case of linear scans is device‐independent color data—images where the colors are
expressed in CIE L*a*b* for example, or held on Photo CDs in YCC format. Here, Harlequin
ColorPro is required to accurately reproduce the intended color, and in this case only the
actual press calibration set is used. This is also the case if CMYK colors are converted to
device‐independent colors first by ColorPro—in that case the gain incorporated in the job is
accounted for during the conversion by ColorPro.
Lastly, note that press calibration is not a substitute for ColorPro. Calibration can compensate
for changes in response of the individual process colors, but it cannot account for variations
in colors of inks and dyes. Therefore if the actual and intended presses are significantly dif‐
ferent processes (a proofing device and a press for example, or two entirely different kinds of
press), the colors cannot be accurately reproduced using only calibration.
12.10.1 Buttons
Clicking a button prints at least one calibration target, and more if you have selected several
Page Setups using the From Page Setups list, as described in “Other controls” on page 344.
The options are:
Note: The Default CMYK targets supplied with the RIP for Uncalibrated Target and Uncali‐
brated Press Target have the same number of patches.
From / To / Step
Print exposure sweep uses the values in these text boxes as, respectively,
the first, last, and increment values of exposure when producing an
exposure sweep. Take care to enter values so that the complete sweep
corresponds to valid exposure values for your output device.
For example, values of 100, 120, and 5 produce a sweep with expo‐
sures of 100, 105, 110, 115, and 120.
To recap, the From box is the first exposure setting, the To box is the last
exposure setting and the Step box is the size of the step. With values of,
From 100, To 150 and Step 5. You will get 11 exposures from 100 to
150 in steps of 5.
Change the Step 5 to Step 10 and you will get 6 exposures from 100
to 150 in steps of 10.
The list of color spaces contains all the color spaces in which a separations style is defined for
the device. For example, if the device has separations styles defined in the Monochrome and
CMYK color spaces, then you can create calibration sets in the Monochrome or CMYK color
space.
Most entries in the Device list are direct output devices—imagesetters, platesetters, proofing
printers (and some preview options and file formats)—but there are also special entries for
Printing Press and Tone Curves.
The ways in which you create and use calibration sets for these types of entry vary.
Direct output devices
The way to create the calibration set is to print and measure a calibration target, as
described in this chapter.
To use a calibration set, in the Edit Page Setup dialog box, you can choose any calibra‐
tion set that was defined for the current device and current color space, in the Calibra-
tion drop‐down list. The choice of separations style determines the color space.
Although an imagesetter is not a multi‐color device, the calibration set for an imageset‐
ter contains a calibration curve for each color specified in the separations style, to take
account of the different screen angles used for these colors.
Note: A special example is the CIP3 output plugin. Its behavior with respect to calibra‐
tion is like that of a printing press, because its purpose to provide ink‐key data for use
with printing presses.
Printing Press
You can use this special device to calibrate the transfer from film to press. In general,
you do not create calibration sets for a press—though this would be possible, but
expensive, once you had created a calibrated output path to film or plate. A more
common way of working is to adjust the press to conform to one of the standard refer‐
ences such as SWOP (CGATS TR001) or a BVD‐FOGRA standard and to use the corre‐
sponding calibration profile as supplied with the RIP.
You apply a calibration set for the press that you are using by choosing its name in the
Actual Press drop‐down list in the Edit Page Setup dialog box. You can also adjust a job
prepared for a different press; do this by choosing a supplied profile or measured cali‐
bration for that different press in the Intended Press drop‐down list, and making the
normal choice for the press that you are using in Actual Press.
Tone Curves
This special device allows you to make another set of color adjustments in addition to
the device calibration and press calibration. Typically, you might create a tone curve
calibration by estimating the required change at one or two tonal values and then
extrapolating and smoothing to obtain the other data values.
You apply a tone curve calibration set using the Tone Curves drop‐down list in the Edit
Page Setup dialog box.
For the special devices, Tone Curves and Printing Press, the Color Space listing contains
all the color spaces for which a profile exists.
To edit an existing calibration set, select it in the list and then click either Edit from
uncalibrated target or Edit from calibrated target, as appropriate.
(Any) Shows that any value is allowed, so the RIP will not warn if you select
the calibration set. This corresponds to clearing the check box for the
warning criterion in the Edit Calibration dialog box.
(n/a) (not applicable)
Shows that the type of entry is not relevant to the device. For example:
Exp (exposure) is (n/a) if the device does not support exposure
control.
The individual columns are as follows, with the names used in the Edit Calibration dialog
box following in parentheses.
Resolution The resolution setting.
Profile (ColorPro only) or Press
Entries in the Profile column are n/a except when ColorPro is enabled,
when each entry shows which profile to associate with the calibration
set. When Printing Press is selected in the Device drop‐down list,
this column is labeled Press, but the behavior is the same. The default
calibration set is determined by the selected profile.
Note: A profile is used in ColorPro options to define the color perfor‐
mance of a combination of output device, media, and colorants.
If you create calibration sets in the RIP without ColorPro and subse‐
quently enable ColorPro, the RIP associates the Linear profile with
the existing calibration sets.
Status The Status column tells you about the source and whether the current
data for the given calibration set came from an uncalibrated target or a
calibrated target.
The possible entries are:
C for data from a calibrated strip
U for data from an uncalibrated strip
E if you have edited the data since entering the Calibration
Manager
D if you have viewed the default curve without editing it
See “Establishing a workflow” on page 334 for a discussion of why
you might use different types of target.
E is an important entry in the Status column because it shows that you have uncommitted
changes for that calibration set, which affects the valid commands and the values you see in
the Edit Calibration dialog box.
If you select a calibration set with status E, you can only further edit the values in the same
way, so only the edit button that you have already used on that set is enabled. If you edit the
set, you see the entries you made in the previous edit.
When you click OK or Select in the Calibration Manager, the RIP commits the changes in all
edited calibration sets. Once committed, the status reverts to C or U, both edit commands are
enabled, and you see the perfect curve when you next view the calibration curve using Edit
from calibrated target. (Perfect, in this context means linear only in some measurement
systems.)
Once you have committed changes, the RIP can show you either the calibrated or the uncali‐
brated curve, for any future updating of the calibration.
Note: The same calibration set can have status U or C depending on the last target (and the
corresponding edit command) used to update it.
12.11.2 Buttons
Most buttons operate on multiple calibration sets. Only the two edit buttons require just one
selected calibration set.
New Click this button to create a new calibration set. You enter the Edit Cal‐
ibration dialog box for an uncalibrated target with all Warning / Selec-
tion Criteria boxes empty. At least, you must name the new calibration
set and provide data values.
Copy Click this button to copy a calibration set. The RIP creates a new name
for the copy by adding characters (for example, ~[1] or ~[2]) after the
original name. If the name is longer than about 13 characters then you
can see the added characters only in the Name field of the Edit Calibra‐
tion dialog box, where you can also edit the name to be more meaning‐
ful.
Delete Click this button to delete the selected calibration set or sets. The RIP
generates a warning if the selected calibration set is used in a Page
Setup.
OK Confirms the changes you have made and exits the dialog box.
Select This button is available if you opened the Calibration Manager from
the Edit Page Setup dialog box and if a calibration set is selected.
The Select button confirms the changes you have made and closes this
dialog box. In addition, using the Select button displays the selected
calibration set in the Edit Page Setup dialog box.
Cancel Closes the Calibration Manager, canceling all changes made since you
displayed this dialog box.
These ways of entry allow you to follow most working practices. The choice is yours.
When you use the New or Edit from uncalibrated target buttons, the RIP creates a calibration
curve directly from the uncalibrated data values you enter.
When you use the Edit from calibrated target button, the RIP creates a calibration curve more
indirectly. In some circumstances and with some devices, this indirect approach can lead to
values that never settle to an error too small to measure; you may find that the residual errors
are acceptable or you may prefer to use Edit from uncalibrated target.
One way of regarding the process for Edit from calibrated target is to say that the RIP uses the
data values you enter from a calibrated target to detect imperfections in the existing calibra‐
tion and adjusts the calibration to remove them. Typically, these imperfections and the corre‐
sponding adjustments are small (compared to those for uncalibrated targets) and may
provide a better calibration curve than working from uncalibrated targets. Another advan‐
tage of working from a calibrated target is that it may allow the use of one fewer target—sav‐
ing both time and media.
The RIP is supplied with default calibration curves for some output devices, each curve rep‐
resenting the linearized state of a typical device of the same kind. If you are using ColorPro,
the default calibration set is determined by the profile. Without ColorPro, the RIP uses the
Linear profile.
There are two special devices, shown in the Calibration Manager as Tone Curves and
Printing Press. When you edit a calibration set for one of these devices, the Edit
Calibration dialog box offers slightly different options (as described in “Variations on the
Edit Calibration dialog box” on page 335).
Profile (not illustrated)
This warning criterion is available only with ColorPro and appears
only if your output device has more than one profile available. There is
no check box associated with Profile: if present, the profile is always
used as a criterion. The choice of profile determines the default calibra‐
tion set.
Press (not illustrated)
This drop‐down list appears in the Edit Calibration dialog box only if
you are editing the calibration for a printing press. There is no check
Resolution The resolution setting.
Exposure The exposure setting, if software controllable by the RIP.
Channel This drop‐down list contains the names of the channels defined in the
calibration set. Depending on the device, there may be one or several
channels. A monochrome device has a single channel, while a color
device has several channels labeled with the names of the colors. For
example: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow are possible channels for a 3‐
color device. If the output device can support additional colorants, you
can add a channel for a spot color. The channel (Other colors in
job) allows you to specify a calibration curve for any spot colors that
do not have a separate calibration curve. Note that although an image‐
setter is not a multi‐color device, you can create a separate calibration
curve for each color, to take account of the different screen angles spec‐
ified in the separations style.
You must specify a separate calibration curve for each process color
channel to produce a valid calibration set. The RIP reminds you to
view the data for each channel to assess if it needs editing, as described
in “Exiting the Edit Calibration dialog box” on page 355. Note that you
can also Copy the data from one channel to another channel.
The RIP does not allow you to change to another channel if the calibra‐
tion curve for the current channel is unreasonable. One example of an
unreasonable curve is a non‐monotonic one that rises but then falls
before rising again. In such a case, the RIP warns you and prompts you
to correct the curve before you can change to another channel.
Add To add a channel for a spot color, click the Add button. In the Add
Channel dialog box, select the name of the spot color from the drop‐
down list and click the OK button. The list of spot colors contains all
the spot colors named in the separations styles for the selected device
and color space.
Note that in the special case of the Tone Curves and Printing Press
devices, the list includes all the spot colors named in separations styles
for any device in the selected color space. This is because tone curve
and press calibration can be used with any Page Setup.
Copy If the data for one channel is similar to another channel, you can copy
the data and then edit it, rather than having to enter it again. For exam‐
ple, to copy the data from the Cyan channel to the Magenta channel,
first select the Magenta Channel and click the Copy button. Then, in the
Copy Channel Data dialog box, select the Cyan channel from the drop‐
down list and click the OK button.
For some devices, for example with an imagesetter, you might feel that
the calibration of the black channel is also adequate for the color chan‐
nels. In this case, use the Copy command to copy the black channel
data to the other channels.
Delete You can delete any spot color channel from the Channel drop‐down list
by selecting the spot color channel and clicking the Delete button. If
you have not defined any spot color channels, the Delete button is not
available.
Measurements as
Use this drop‐down list to declare what kind of measurements you are
entering in the data boxes. The entries available in this drop‐down list
can vary with the type of output device. Two examples are Status T, a
standard measure of absolute density, and % Dot, the area coverage of
halftone output.
Note that if you choose to edit a different Profile which uses an alterna‐
tive measurement system, a Measurement system...not found
warning is displayed and the correct system for the newly chosen pro‐
file is automatically selected in this menu.
12.12.5 Values
You can enter values in any form offered to you in the drop‐down list labeled Measurements
as. Examples are:
• Percent dot (0 through 100%)
• Dot Gain (relative values expressed in values from a perfect transfer curve)
• Status‐T Density
• Visual or ISO Visual (which is the same as the Visual channel of Status‐T)
• L* (from CIE L*A*B*)
12.12.7 Controls
Negative media Select the Negative media check box to show that you are measuring
data from negative output media. Leave it clear when you are using
positive media.
For example, this is a desirable setting where you wish to avoid
screening black text, but using it means you do not have an exact colo‐
rimetric match for the color when using ColorPro. See also the Harle‐
quin ColorPro User’s Guide.
Smooth This button smooths the values near the ends of a curve: typically, to
approximate a smooth curve where the limited resolution of a measur‐
ing device may have truncated similar values to be the same.
Extrapolate This button is enabled when you are calibrating for a printing press or
when the output device supports extrapolation. There also needs to be
at least one empty data value.
You can use Clear to empty all data values, enter a limited number of
values, and then press Extrapolate to have the RIP calculate the remain‐
ing values. A typical source of values is a manufacturer’s data sheet,
for example, giving press gain in the form: a gain of 15% at 50%.
In rare cases, extrapolation may not be able to produce a reasonable
curve: the RIP displays an error message to tell you if this has hap‐
pened. (One example of an unreasonable curve is a non‐monotonic
one that rises but then falls before rising again.)
Clear Click this button to clear all the boxes. This is intended as a prelimi‐
nary to entering data in a small number of boxes and using the Extrap-
olate button to calculate values for the other boxes.
Reset Reset deletes all entered data for the calibration set and displays the
default curves for the device (and profile, if ColorPro is enabled). For a
multi‐channel device, it resets all channels; not just the channel whose
curve is displayed.
Import To import the data from a file rather than typing numbers into the
boxes, click the Import button. The RIP displays the Import Measure‐
ments dialog box, shown in Figure 12.6.
If you have edited the data for one of the process color channels, but not all of them, the RIP
warns you and asks for confirmation that you want to exit without editing the other chan‐
nels.
In this context, “editing the data” for a channel means at least viewing the data to assess if it
needs editing. The RIP keeps a record of which process color channels you have edited and
queries you if you have not edited all of them.
For example, if you edit only the Cyan channel of a 4‐color device, the RIP will query you
about the Magenta, Yellow, and Black channels. The following message is typical:
You haven’t viewed the following channels: Magenta, Yellow, Black. Finish
editing anyway?
The RIP does not allow you to save an unreasonable curve. One example of an unreasonable
curve is a non‐monotonic one that rises but then falls before rising again. If you try to save an
unreasonable curve, the RIP warns you and prompts you to correct the curve before you can
save it.
In this example the calibration drop‐down menu in the page setup dialog can be used to
select one of:
• None ‐ shown as (None).
• An individual calibration set from the Default group shown as Calset in Default—
names are shown without surrounding square brackets.
• A calibration group (other than Default) shown as [GroupTest2]—names are shown
with surrounding square brackets to indicate that they are groups rather than individ‐
ual calibration sets.
This is designed to allow those users who don’t want to use groups to continue to use calibra‐
tion in exactly the same way as with previous versions.
If a calibration group is selected, the RIP will automatically select the best calibration set
within that group for each object in the file, based on the screening specified for that object.
The identification of the preferred calibration set uses the Warning / Selection Criteria from
each calset.
When setting up a group, and you prefer a job not to fail if it cannot find a calibration set, it
can be useful to have a member of the group configured with no or limited selection criteria.
In this way, if the job requests a screen selection not configured in the group the RIP has a
fallback option.
For HMR 10.1r2 the following restrictions are placed on the page setups containing groups
that can be used to print calibration strips.
• It is not possible to print either uncalibrated or calibrated device targets from page
setups containing a group for the Device.
• It is not possible to print calibrated press setups from page setups containing a group
for the ActualPress.
Therefore, if none of the buttons are enabled you should check whether the page setup con‐
tains groups.
Three controls are provided:
Zero output below
Any input tone number below this value results in zero tone output.
Minimum non‐zero output
Any input tone value greater than the “Zero output below” number
that would result in an output tone value below this number will be
increased to this number.
No bump‐up above
The effect of the bump‐up is tapered to join the linear curve at this
input tone value.
The graph to the right shows an indication of the effect of the values entered.
A bump‐up curve which gives 10% output for any input value below 10%, and is linear
above 10% is specified in the dialog as:
See “The EskoPNDSN look‐up table” on page 360.
The two controls are on the Edit Style dialog in the RIP:
The Ignore proprietary selection keys option only applies when Override dot shape in Job is
unchecked, and Abort if proprietary selection value is unknown only applies when Ignore propri-
etary selection keys is unchecked.
When Override dot shape in Job is unchecked and the Ignore proprietary selection keys option
is also unchecked, any EskoPNDSN key encountered is honored and the look‐up table is
used. See “The EskoPNDSN look‐up table” on page 360.
When the Ignore proprietary selection keys option is checked, whatever dot shape specified in
the job will be used and any EskoPNDSN key is ignored.
The Abort if proprietary selection value is unknown option determines what the RIP will do
when it cannot find a match in the look‐up table. When checked the RIP will abort the job.
When unchecked the RIP will fall back to using the Dot shape specified in the dialog.
where the example CustomName1 and CustomName2 Esko dot shapes are mapped to the RIP
internal dot shapes of Round and Euclidean.
Color Separation
This chapter describes some basic concepts of color reproduction and the related parts of the
Harlequin MultiRIP.
The concept of color separation is no longer restricted to producing separated output. When
processing any job, the RIP creates a separation for each process colorant and also, where
appropriate, for spot colorants. The output format determines whether the separations are
printed together as a composite, or separated. By configuring these separations you can con‐
trol the printing of individual colorants in the job. Although there is only one separation in
the monochrome color space, the RIP provides the same options for configuring that separa‐
tion.
Separations information is saved together with screening information in a separations style,
which can be used in several Page Setups. A separations style is defined for a specific device,
color space, and output format. Selecting a separations style in the Edit Page Setup dialog
box determines the color space of the Page Setup.
These are the related parts of the Harlequin MultiRIP:
• The Separations Manager and Edit Style dialog box. See “Creating and managing sepa‐
rations” on page 380 for details of the choices you make for all separations. (See Chap‐
ter 6, “Screening” for details of the screening options for halftone separations.)
• The Color Setup dialog box. See “Color Setup” on page 391. This dialog box contains
the controls for black generation and undercolor removal, trapping, and overprinting.
• Use of the Output Controller to view superimposed color separations. See “Pages in
the Output Controller” on page 403. The Output Controller is available in either of the
multiple modes.
This chapter describes how you can define separations styles, while Chapter 5, “Configuring
Output Formats”, describes how you can choose different separations styles when producing
output.
13.1 Introduction
To produce a color image, many reproduction systems take advantage of the fact that there
are small sets of colors that, when mixed in the correct proportions, can produce any of a
very wide range of other colors. For example, combinations of red, green, and blue inks
(commonly known as RGB), or cyan, magenta, and yellow inks (CMY), can between them
produce thousands of different hues.
Color printing more commonly uses CMY colors, with the addition of a black ink to account
for imperfections in the printing process. This manual uses the term CMYK for the system of
color representation using these four inks (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK). These inks are
the commonly used process colors. There are several other terms in common use, some terms
using B for Black or referring to the order of printing each ink by reordering the letters:
YMCK, YMCB, and KCMY are typical.
Black ink is used for several practical, economic, and quality reasons:
• Black appears very often: for example, in text.
• Black ink is cheaper than colored inks.
• Mixing CMY inks produces an impure black, probably tinged with brown, and can
result in objectionable colored fringes on small objects such as characters in body text.
Additionally, one application of black ink replaces three applications of colored inks so
drying time can be reduced.
• Black can be used to extend the range of colors and tints available from mixing CMY
inks.
There are ways to improve reproduction quality or economy beyond the levels possible with
CMYK process inks. There are two general approaches: to vary the number of process inks
(extended gamut or N‐color printing), or to add spot colors. Each approach has its own advan‐
tages.
The Harlequin MultiRIP is able to make use of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM. Colors
are identified as M (matte), C (coated) and U (uncoated). For example, PANTONE 533 M, PAN-
TONE 533 C, and PANTONE 533 U. Previously, Pantone colors were identified as CV (coated)
and CVU (uncoated). For example PANTONE 533 CV and PANTONE 533 CVU.
The Harlequin MultiRIP is able to make use of the PANTONE Goe coated and PANTONE
® ™ ®
Goe uncoated color system.
™
All the Pantone Databases can be found in SW\NamedColor.
To use the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM the color names must match exactly the names
used in the job. For information on how to include color separations see “Producing separa‐
tions” on page 385.
As previously stated, all the Pantone Databases are in SW\NamedColor.
The PantoneProcess database is found in the SW\NamedColor\Examples folder. To make
this database work, it must be referenced in one of the files in SW\NamedColorOrder. You do
this by editing the Intercept, Recombine and Roam files. If you want to produce all Pantone
colors by their CMYK equivalents, put PantoneProcess before PantoneU in the files. Putting
PantoneProcess at the end of the file (that is, after PantoneMatte) will mean only the PC
Pantone colors will be found (that is, PantoneU and PantoneV colors will still be converted to
XYZ).
336 new colors from the March 27th 2012 update to PANTONE Plus Series Solid Color publi‐
cations are added to the PantonePLUSCoated and PantonePLUSUncoated named color
databases.
SW\procsets\HqnColorDatabase
This procset is designed to help simplify the most common forms of
NamedColor database by providing much of the PostScript language
code required, leaving the NamedColor file itself to just pass a config‐
uration dictionary to the HqnColorDatabase /initialize procedure,
followed by the names and color values.
Note to OEMs: All the Pantone NamedColor resources provided with the RIP are
based on this procset. For more information on HqnColorDatabase see
the Extensions manual.
SW\procsets\HqnNamedColor
This procset is what the RIP invokes when it wants to find out if a
named color is to be intercepted. That is, transformed to another color
space.
SW\NamedColor
This directory contains the database files that contain the named color
values for instance:
PantoneCoated, PantonePLUSCoated, KnownColors
Defines common alternate process colors: Red, Green, Blue—if
required, these can be added to this list. For instance, some have added
Violet, Green, and so on.
IllustratorColors
Defines different values for the alternative process colors and some
additional shades such as Gold and Grass Green.
The NamedColor database options such as PantonePlus and Panto-
neGoe are recent additions.
SW\NamedColorOrder
This directory contains files that determine the search order for look‐
ing up the NamedColors and their color values. Resources are defined
for:
Recombine—defines the order of database lookup used to determine
colors when pre‐separated jobs are recombined.
An OEM can add their own files and/or augment the supplied files in NamedColor directory.
If you need to do anything more than this, such as providing color values in other color
spaces (such as, /DeviceN, as might be required for a extended gamut devices), you are
required to write the NamedColor resource from scratch.
2. Add an override for a standard Pantone color:
a. Add a color
b. Enter in the colorʹs name.
c. Click Lookup to set the values to those of the “standard” color (that is, the first
occurrence of it in the Intercept Named Color Order).
d. Click Print to print a target, which has the color value in the middle and variants
around it. Note that the Lab step setting controls how different the surrounding
patches are.
e. Examine your print in the correct environment.
f. On the Edit Named Color dialog click on the patch from the 3 x 3 “Choose” grid,
corresponding to the best printed patch. This will update the color values to match
your selection.
g. Click Print again, and repeat as necessary.
3. When you are happy with your color click Update to save it.
4. Drag and drop the new database to the top of the Intercept Named Color Order list and
then save and close the dialog by clicking OK.
Note: This is an example process for illustrative purposes. You can use the Harlequin Color
Editor in any way that suits your workflow and environment.
The following is a more detailed explanation of the process.
The Harlequin Color Editor has three lists: top left is the list of Named Color databases
which make up the Intercept Named Color Order (as specified in \SW\NamedColorOr-
der), top right is the list of your other Named Color databases (as specified in
SW\NamedColor). The lower panel displays the list of colors in the selected database (if
any).
You can drag databases between the top two lists to amend and reorder the Intercept
Named Color Order.
You create a new database by clicking New. On selection the following dialog is dis‐
played:
b. You can add a new name for a color or more likely you would add the name of an
existing color (for example PANTONE 1‐1‐1 U).
c. If you have added the name of an existing color click Lookup.
In the above example the lookup has found a match in the database. If no match is
found a message is displayed.
d. Choose a Page setup and if you require a wider range of color increase the Lab step
value. Then click Print. Note that once Print is selected the “Choose” grid changes to
a darker shade of gray.
e. When you have your print you should examine it in the correct lighting environ‐
ment. Select the color which most closely matches your requirement and note its
position on the grid.
f. Click the corresponding position on the Add Named Color dialog. When you do
this note that the XYZ values will change to values of the selected grid position:
If you are happy with the color click Add to save it to your database. Otherwise, select
Print and choose another patch color which more closely suits your requirements. You
can iterate through this procedure until you find exactly the color you want.
3. If you want to edit an existing color, maybe because the media has changed, you can
select it and use the Edit button. When you re‐display the Add Named Color dialog
using the Edit button, the Add button is now displayed as Update. Again, select Print,
choose a closer match from the print out and click the corresponding square on the
dialog followed by Update.
4. Drag and drop the new database to the top of the Intercept Named Color Order list and
then save and close the dialog by clicking OK.
The Magazine
a weekly review
The image in the figure shows the cover page of a fictional magazine. It is mostly black, but
has a small color illustration on the right that consists of some land (in green), over which
there is a road (in pure black), and in the sky (not colored) the sun (in pure yellow) is shining.
Color images are not produced from separations by mixing inks before application to the
page. Instead, the illusion of a full‐color image is produced by seeing different proportions of
the four inks laid together on the page. Each separation adds one color component to the
image—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black in turn—and, when they are overlaid correctly,
they form a full‐color image.
A color separation is, strictly speaking, a monochrome (that is, one color) image. It is called a
color separation because it is the result of separating one color from the others in the color sys‐
tem. For example, the yellow separation in CMYK is a version of the image that shows only
the yellow part of it, separated from the cyan, magenta, and black. (You can control how col‐
ors will be separated from the others in an image.)
Seen in isolation, a single separation may not look much like the full‐color image of which it
will form a part but it is usually possible to identify some features of the final image. In
Figure 13.6, the yellow separation shows the sun, which is pure yellow. It also shows a small
amount of yellow in the ground part of the image, which will combine with the cyan separa‐
tion to form the grass color. However, it does not contribute to the road or the text, and so it is
empty in those places.
Since the yellow and magenta inks can portray yellow and magenta quite adequately on their
own, the cyan and black separations are empty.
The yellow separation shows a square in the middle and nothing else. The square signifies
the presence of yellow in the image at that point. The magenta separation shows a white
square on a magenta background. So, magenta will be printed in every part of the image
except for that square.
Because magenta will not be printed in the white square, only yellow will appear there when
the separations are put together. This is important, since if magenta was printed there too, it
would mix with the yellow, and produce a square that was not pure yellow, but red. Equally,
no other inks will overlap the magenta background, because no separations other than the
magenta one contribute any color to that region.
An area of a separation that is made empty so that it does not interfere with a graphic object
represented by a color or colors in other separations is called a knockout. This is because the
colored area has been knocked out of the separation.
One problem with using knockouts is that if the separations are not overlaid accurately
enough, there may be a white gap at the edge, as shown in Figure 13.8. This effect is the prod‐
uct of misregistering the separations, that is, misaligning them when they are combined. Nev‐
ertheless, in cases where printing one ink on top of another would produce the wrong color,
producing separations with knockouts is essential. Generally, graphic and page design appli‐
cations produce knockouts automatically.
Inaccuracies caused by misregistered knockouts can be overcome by using special printing
effect such as trapping. The RIP provides some support for trapping. See “Trapping features”
on page 402.
Suppose we have another simple image that is a pure magenta background with a black
square in the middle. Figure 13.9 shows the separations that can be produced.
Figure 13.9 Color separations for a simple image, with black overprinting
In this case, we do not need to make a knockout on the magenta separation, because the black
ink should be strong enough to overcome the influence of the magenta ink beneath it. So we
may choose not to let the black separation cause a knockout in the magenta separation. This
effect is called overprinting, and is the opposite of a knockout. Overprinting eliminates the
risk of finding gaps in the final output, but cannot be used unless the overprinted ink is
strong enough to overcome the effects of the ink or inks beneath it. When overprinting is not
possible, trapping remains a possibility.
Figure 13.10 shows how yellow ink for the yellow separation is printed on blank paper. You
can also preview separation printing on screen in the RIP. See “Roaming separations” on
page 403.
Next, the magenta ink for the magenta separation would be printed on the paper, but since
the separation is empty for this image, nothing is printed.
Next, the cyan ink for the cyan separation is printed. To the eye, the pattern of cyan and yel‐
low dots in the area of land will appear green as simulated in Figure 13.12.
Finally, the black ink for the black (K) separation is printed. All of the separations have been
combined, producing a full‐color image as simulated in Figure 13.13.
The RIP can take full‐color jobs as input, and interpret them once to produce separation
information for each color in the space. In CMYK, this creates four monochrome output
pages, each corresponding to a different color separation. When the full‐color image is to be
produced, the colored parts of a separation show where inks should be applied, and the
white parts where not. Alternatively, the RIP can print the separations together as a compos‐
ite.
There some circumstances where you must use recombination with preseparated jobs in
order to use features of the RIP, and some of these circumstances apply even when you wish
to produce separations. These features are:
• Output to a composite proofing (or final output) device.
• Color management, using ColorPro.
• Trapping, with the in‐built options in the RIP.
• Output to progressive separations.
• Output of separations in a different order.
All these features require the RIP to have access to the complete color of all objects on a page.
To ensure that this is possible for preseparated jobs, select Recombine preseparated jobs.
Alternatively, where other settings in the Page Setup prohibit recombination, select Reject
preseparated jobs.
Note: Both colored separations and progressive separations require the output color space to
match that of the separations. For example, it is not possible to produce colored separations
or progressive separations from a job preseparated to CMYK if the output device uses the
PhotoInk color space.
The RIPs separation facilities allow you to preserve device independence in your jobs right
up until you wish to interpret it for output on a particular device. However, you can present
device‐dependent, preseparated jobs to the RIP if you wish, and it will process and output
them correctly.
The Separations Manager displays a list of all existing separations styles for the current
device, showing the name of each separations style, the corresponding color space, and the
output format.
To display the list of separations styles for a different device, select a device name from the
Device drop‐down list. When you use a device for the first time, the RIP generates a set of
separations styles for that device. Some devices can support simple styles only. Others, like
TIFF, can produce many different styles, so the names of the styles are chosen to avoid
ambiguity.
You can edit these separations styles to suit your installation or create new ones.
Edit Select a separations style and click this button to edit it in the Edit Style
dialog box. A shortcut is to double‐click a separations style.
New Click this button to create a new separations style. The New Style dia‐
log box appears, as described in “New Style dialog box” on page 382.
Once you have set the color space and output format, you cannot
change them for the named separations style.
Copy Select a separations style and click this button to edit a copy. The New
Style dialog box appears, as described in “New Style dialog box” on
page 382.
Delete Select one or more separations styles and click this button to delete
them together. You cannot delete a separations style if it is used in a
Page Setup.
You cannot delete the only separations style in a list.
Select This button is available if you opened the Separations Manager from
the Edit Page Setup dialog box and a separations style is selected.
The Select button confirms the changes you have made and exits the
dialog box. In addition, the Select button displays the selected separa‐
tions style in the Edit Page Setup dialog box.
You can also select separations styles and reorder them by dragging them to new positions in
the list. The order in the Separations Manager is the order of appearance in menus where you
choose a separations style.
Shift
To select a block of separations styles that appear together in the list, select the first style in
the block, then, while holding down the Shift key, select the last style in the block.
Ctrl
To select several separations styles, regardless of whether they form a continuous range, hold
down the Control key while selecting the styles you wish to delete.
The remainder of this section describes the separations options appearing in both forms of
the dialog box.
Note: There are also controls for black generation for CMYK output and overprinting in the
Color Setup dialog box, accessed from the Color Setup Manager or the Separations, Screening,
and Color section of the Edit Page Setup dialog box. (See “Color Setup” on page 391.) Also,
trapping options are available from the Separations, Screening, and Color section of the Edit
Page Setup dialog box. (See “Trapping features” on page 402).
This dialog box contains a list showing the separations that the RIP can produce. There are
initially separations for the process colors in the selected color space. In Figure 13.16 there are
separations for the four process colors in the CMYK color space.
If the chosen output format supports additional colorants, you can control the printing of
spot color separations using the (Other colors in job) entry, or you can add a separation
for a specific spot color.
You can rename or delete spot color separations. You cannot delete the standard process color
separations from the list, nor can you change their names. You may, however, ask the RIP not
to produce a certain separation.
For particular jobs, you may want to vary the settings in the interests of efficiency or to
ensure compatibility with PostScript language code that uses Level 1 operators. For example,
the default settings produce separations for all process colors, so you may want to turn off
some process colors if a job is mainly defined in spot colors. Also for example, if you need to
reprint just a single separation (and it is not saved in the Output Controller), you can turn off
all the other separations.
The Print option in the Edit Style dialog box determines which separations are produced. The
RIP produces all those separations marked as Yes and the non‐blank separations marked as
Not Blank.
Note: If you are printing a preseparated job, and you wish to not produce some separations,
select Recombine preseparated jobs, even if you then wish the RIP to produce output separa‐
tions. The RIP produces all separations of a preseparated job except when recombining.
Separation The name of the separation. To rename a spot color separation, type
the new name into the text box. You cannot rename process color sepa‐
rations.
Warning: The name you enter for the spot color must match the one
used in the job in every respect: upper and lower case, use of embed‐
ded space characters and any trailing CV or CU suffixes. For example: a
typical Pantone specification is PANTONE 386 CV but applications may
report this in different ways.
Print If this option is set to Yes, a page will be produced for the separation,
even if the separation is blank. If this option is set to No, the page will
be omitted, although any effects it might have on the others are still
calculated. You might use this feature to suppress process color sepa‐
ration for a job using spot colors only. If the option is set to Not Blank,
the RIP will produce a page for that separation as long as the separa‐
tion is not blank.
For example, to produce only the process colors and convert all colors
defined as spot colors in the job to process colors, set each process
color to Yes and set (Other colors in job) to No. These are the
default settings.
To produce a separation for every spot color requested in the job and
for each of the process colors, set each process color to Yes and set
(Other colors in job) to Yes. Then any calls for unlisted spot col‐
ors in a particular job mean that the RIP produces the required separa‐
tions automatically for that job.
Warning: When Simple Imposition is being used, the Print option must
be set to Yes if you wish to see color patches on either the proofing or
the plate colorbars. Using the Not Blank option will omit color
patches for that color.
If you want to produce a separation for a specific spot color and to con‐
vert all other spot colors which may be included in the job to process
colors, set the specific spot color to Yes and set (Other colors in
job) to No.
Of these ways, the one you choose is likely to be dictated by the char‐
acteristics of your output device and process, such as the number of
inks available in one pass.
Angle This box appears only if you are editing a halftone (screened) style.
Enter the screen angle you want to use for this separation. See “Screen
angles” on page 175 for more details of screen angles.
Note: This box defines a default value, used if the job does not set its
own screen angles. If you wish to use angles entered here even when
the job requests other values, select the check box Override angles in
job, also in this dialog box.
Note: If you have one of the optional TrapPro features enabled, you can create sets of trap‐
ping rules and apply them within the RIP. TrapPro and the Ink Set Manager options are fully
described in the separate TrapPro User Manual.
New Use this button to add a separation for a spot color to the list. A new
row appears in the list of separations. Type the name of the spot color
into the first text box below the list, to replace the text New Color. If
required edit the settings for Print.
Warning: The name you enter for the spot color must match the one
used in the job in every respect: upper and lower case, use of embed‐
ded space characters and any trailing CV or CU suffixes. For example: a
typical Pantone specification is PANTONE 386 CV but applications may
report this in different ways.
Delete Use this button to delete the selected spot color separation. The separa‐
tion disappears from the list. You cannot delete process color separa‐
tions.
This check box has an effect only when producing spot colors.
• Where the job contains more than one set of separations, separations from each set (or
page) must appear contiguously—for example each page (or set) should appear in the
order, KCMYDE (where D and E represent spot colors). That is, KCMYDE for the first
page, KCMYDE for the second page and so on. The pages must not appear ordered by
colorant. For example: the order KKK…CCC…MMM…YYY… DDD… EEE… is not
allowed. Where there is only one set (or page) of separations in the job, the order of
separations in the job is unimportant: for example, CMYKDE and KCMYED are both
acceptable.
• When Recombine is enabled and a preseparated PDF job is provided that contains
SeparationInfo objects (a dictionary containing color separation information for the
page from PDF v1.3), the RIP will treat each set of separations as a logical page. For
example, a job containing 16 separations of CMYK, CMYK and so on, is handled as
four (recombined) pages. If SeparationInfo is missing or Recombine is disabled, the
RIP will treat the job has having 16 pages.
The additional settings for recombined jobs are:
• The Override angles in job option is automatically selected when Recombine
Preseparated jobs is selected. It is highly recommended you leave it selected. In the Edit
Style dialog box set the angle you require for each separation. See “Screen angles” on
page 175 for details.
• It is highly recommended that the Override dot shape in job option is selected.
• It is highly recommended that the Override frequency in job option is selected.
• You can also override other screening features if you wish.
Note: Multi‐page imposition cannot be used with recombine. However, Crop Marks, or other
uses of the One-Up, single-sided imposition scheme, (for example, when adding a color
bar), can be used with recombine.
2. In the Color Setup Manager dialog box, select the device for which you want to create a
color setup. If you are creating CMYK Separations (halftone), you should select
Printing Press in this option.
3. If necessary, select the color space for which you want to create this color setup. Note
that when you create a Page Setup, the separations style you choose determines the
color space of the Page Setup.
4. At this point you have the option to select either, New ‘No Color Management’ setup, or
New ‘ColorPro’ setup (which is only available as a layered option). If you can select New
‘ColorPro’ setup, you should consult the Harlequin ColorPro User Guide for more details.
Table 13.1 Input Document Controls in the New Color Setup dialog box
Fields Description
Table 13.1 Input Document Controls in the New Color Setup dialog box (...continued)
Fields Description
If this option is selected and overprinting is
switched on for that object, the white object simply
disappears from the separations.
If this option is not selected, the white object knocks
out underlying objects, even when overprinting is
switched on.
By default, this option is not selected.
Overprint grays Select this object to enable the Cyan, Magenta, and
Yellow colorants to be overprinted rather than
knocked out when a color is specified as gray (with
the PostScript language setgray operator or spot
color converted to a gray level) and the job requests
overprinting. This behavior is not defined by the
PostScript language, and though it is unusual for a
job to rely on it, sometimes a job will assume this,
especially when the gray tint arises from a named
Black spot color which is converted to process.
Fields Description
Table 13.2 Input Separation Detection angles in Job options in Color Setup dialog box
Fields Description
Cyan The angles specified in these fields help the
Magenta ColorPro application detect the individual plates
within a job. The default angles will usually work.
Yellow
Black If you do change one of these values, for example
Cyan to 30°, and the incoming job has Cyan at 15°,
you will encounter problems.
Table 13.3 Output Controls for RGB options in the New Color Setup dialog box
Fields Description
Fields Description
Some applications, and especially Microsoft Word,
®
Convert RGB to
true black use RGB colors for everything, including solid
black—coded as 0 0 0 setrgbcolor (or 0 0 0 in a
DeviceRGB color space). You should choose this
option to force the RIP to intercept blacks coded in
this way and convert them to (0 0 0 1 in) a CMYK
color space.
After setting options in the New Color Setup dialog box, click Save As and assign a name to
this color setup. The Color Setup Manager dialog box displays the new color setup that you
have created. Note that you can also Edit, Copy, and Delete color setups from the Color Setup
Manager.
5. Click OK to confirm all the changes you have make in the Color Setup Manager and
New Color Setup dialog boxes.
The OK button saves the changes you have made and closes the Color Setup Manager. If you
opened the Color Setup Manager from the Edit Page Setup dialog box, you can also save the
changes by clicking the Select button. In addition to saving the changes, the Select button dis‐
plays the selected color setup in the Edit Page Setup dialog box. Click Cancel to discard all
changes.
cess and without full knowledge of the color values and other graphics state attributes. This
method usually makes the blended regions visible, although they are not correctly color
managed. And if spot colorants are converted to process colors, overprinting of these objects
is disabled by default.
When the Overprint preview option is selected, color managed blending is performed in a sin‐
gle pass of RIP processing with its obvious efficiency benefits. The Overprint preview option is
available on both ColorPro and No color management color setups.
The option is available in No color management setups to achieve better rendering of over‐
printed spot colors. For accurate proofing of jobs containing transparency and/or overprints,
it is recommended that the Overprint preview option is used.
Please note the following points when using Overprint preview:
• The definitions of tint transforms of spot colors in the job (which are used to derive the
CMYK equivalents) will only be used to derive the CMYK equivalent of the 100% color
value. Tints will be rendered with CMYK values derived from the 100% spot.
• If a job contains multiple color spaces of the same spot color, and where there are mul‐
tiple definitions of the tint transform, only the first tint transform encountered will be
used; as above.
• Overprint preview is forced on when used with recombine.
• Overprint preview may affect performance either positively or negatively since it is diffi‐
cult to predict how individual jobs will be affected.
• Overprint preview is disabled when calibration strips are printed.
• Maximum
• None (the default)
• Light, Medium, and Heavy
• UCR
Sections 13.8.5.1 through 13.8.5.5 describe these options.
Rarely, a job will specify black generation itself. You can force the scheme set in the dialog
box to override those set by the job, by selecting the Override black generation in job check box.
13.8.5.1 Ignore
This option does not set black generation and undercolor removal. It replaces as much color
as possible with black, while maintaining the intended color, irrespective of ink densities.
Because no PostScript language code for performing undercolor removal is generated, it is
the fastest method.
13.8.5.2 Maximum
K, ucr
CMY
This option introduces a lot of black, taking into account the maximum black ink density.
Specify the maximum black ink density in the adjacent Max black text box as a percentage
value, as described in “Ink densities” on page 401.
13.8.5.3 None
CMY
K, ucr
This option performs no black generation or undercolor removal. Black is represented as a
mixture of cyan, magenta, and yellow, leaving only those colors expressed explicitly in the
PostScript language job as black—rather than as a mixture of red, green, and blue, or as
device independent color—to be rendered on the black separation.
CMY ucr
CMY
ucr
CMY
ucr
These options introduce black gradually, according to exponential functions, with propor‐
tionately smaller amounts of black added and color removed for the lighter colors than the
darker ones. This is again subject to the constraints of maximum ink densities, specified in
the adjacent boxes. See “Ink densities” on page 401 for details of controlling these ink densi‐
ties.
13.8.5.5 UCR
K
CMY
ucr
Instead of an exponential curve, this option adds no black until the maximum colored ink
density is reached and then adds black linearly up to its maximum. The maximum colored
ink density is the maximum ink density value minus the maximum black density value. See
“Ink densities” on page 401 for details of controlling these ink densities.
QuarkXPress has the ability to generate arbitrary trapping. It can do so in either of two ways:
• By including explicit overprinted borders in the PostScript language page description
it produces. This method works on all RIPs but may produce large job files.
• By indicating that a capable RIP should generate the trapping. The RIP can do this if
you select the settrap (Quark) option. The QuarkXPress operator must use a printer
description file declaring that the RIP supports this feature. Using this option allows
QuarkXPress to generate more compact PostScript language code, which saves disk
space and may lead to faster interpretation by the RIP.
None This option performs no trapping.
settrap (Quark)
Use this option to have the RIP generate overprinted borders accord‐
ing to instructions embedded in suitable jobs by QuarkXPress. See
“Trapping and QuarkXPress” on page 402 for details of how to pro‐
duce suitable jobs.
If your copy of the RIP has one of the optional TrapPro features enabled, there may be extra
entries in this list and you also can create new sets of trapping rules that also become entries
in this list, as described in the separate TrapPro User Manual.
Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are abbreviated to C, M, Y, and K respectively. Red, green,
and blue are abbreviated to R, G, and B respectively. Spot color separations are tagged with
the full name of the separation.
Shift
You can view a block of several separations at once. Click to select the first one, then hold
down the Shift key and click to select the last one.
When you view multiple separations, the colors are overlaid to give an impression of how
they will look when combined on paper. For example, in a high‐resolution screened picture,
you should be able to see the rosettes of the screen pattern. (See Chapter 6, “Screening”, for
more discussion of viewing superimposed screens.)
You can roam a separation in a different color, which can be useful, for example, if you want
to see the differences between two separations of the same color. To highlight the differences,
change the roam color of one page and then roam the pages together. For details of changing
the roam color, see “Changing the color in Roam” on page 404
For more information on roaming, see “Roam and Preview windows” on page 101.
Colorant This is the name of the colorant in the page buffer. In a separation,
there is only one colorant. In a composite page buffer, all the included
colorants appear. (Typical composite page buffers contain only process
colors but, for a small number of output plugins, there can also be spot
colors.)
Red This is the red component of the roam color, in the range 0 (zero)
through 1.0.
Green This is the green component of the roam color, in the range 0 (zero)
through 1.0.
Blue This is the blue component of the roam color, in the range 0 (zero)
through 1.0.
0 Troubleshooting
This appendix provides solutions to common problems that can occur when running the RIP.
The first sections contain information about the warning messages that can appear. They are
grouped according to where the messages appear in the RIP.
Section A.1, “Warning messages and what to do”, gives a list of some of the major error
messages that may occur when running the RIP. All of the messages in this section
appear in dialog boxes.
Section A.2, “Warnings in the Harlequin MultiRIP window”, describes the warnings
that appear in the system monitor. They are grouped according to the type of problem.
Section A.3, “Warnings within the progress box”, describes the messages that appear in
the progress box. The progress box is part of the Output Controller in either of the mul‐
tiple modes, or a separate window in either of the single modes. This list does not
include the warnings generated by output plugins.
The remaining sections provide additional information on specific topics.
“Page imposition and media saving” on page 415 contains information on imposition
and media saving.
“Seybold timings” on page 415 describes Seybold test timings.
“PDF troubleshooting” on page 415 describes solutions to problems when imaging PDF
jobs.
“Network troubleshooting” on page 420 describes solutions to network problems when
configuring the RIP.
“Spool folder problems and considerations” on page 421 describes how to set the access
permissions for the spool folder.
System warning—Insuffi‐ Create more free disk space before reprocessing the job
cient Disk workspace that gave the warning.
Error VMerror Offending This appears after a partial paint fails.
Command: renderbands
Make sure that compression is turned on in Configure
RIP.
If this does not help, free‐up some disk space.
System Warning: Free The RIP waits for some disk space to be freed.
disk space gone below
This is not a fatal error. It can happen, for example, if
requested limit
the RIP is outputting pages, or has pages waiting to be
output in the Active Queue. When these pages have
been output, they are deleted automatically and the
RIP continues with its current job.
If there are no pages waiting to be output, free up disk
space by doing some of the following things:
Delete some files.
Turn on page compression in the Configure RIP dialog
box.
Reconfigure the PageBuffers folder by placing it on
another disk with more free space.
Ensure that there are no locked pages in the Output
Controller.
Error: invalidfont; Check that the RIP has installed the font correctly.
Offending Command:
Try proofing the fonts using the Proof Fonts option on
<command>
the Fonts menu. If the font fails to proof it may be cor‐
rupt. If the fonts proof correctly, the job itself may be
corrupt.
If any job requires a particular font which is not
installed, the RIP attempts to use Courier as a substi‐
tute.
<FontName> Font not The font specified in the PostScript language file is not
found; using Courier actually loaded into the RIP. Courier is the default font
in this case.
Courier Font not found; If this message appears, the RIP currently has no fonts
using Courier loaded at all. Use Install fonts to install some fonts—
the minimum font set that must be installed is Courier,
Times, Helvetica, and Symbol. Alternatively, reinstall
the RIP.
ERROR IN CONFIG FILE The RIP failed to finish interpreting the file.
For example, you will see this message if you try to
print a TIFF file that is corrupt, unsupported, or of an
unrecognized type.
This can also occur if a file in the spool folder is locked
by another application. Close the file and try again.
Inappropriate compres‐ This message appears if you try to print a file that has
sion an inappropriate compression format. For example, a
color or grayscale TIFF file with CCITT compression.
CCITT compression is only suitable for monochrome
TIFF files.
Buffer full
The page buffer on the output device is full
Buffer space low
The output device is running out of buffering memory
Busy
The output device is working on another job
Busy or off‐line
The output device is either busy or off‐line
Communications failed
Communication between the RIP and the output device has
either been broken or was never established
Cover open
The cover of the output device is open
Data transfer failed
Image data transfer between the RIP and the output device has
either been broken or was never established
Data underrun
The output device has not received data from the RIP when it
was expected
Deleted cassette
The required cassette has been deleted, in the Cassette Manager.
Ink low
The ink supply to the output device is running low
Ink out
The ink supply to the output device has been exhausted
Interface card failed
Communication between the RIP and the interface card in the
machine has either been broken or was never established
Invalid clipping
An invalid clipping was requested of the output device
Invalid resolution
An invalid image resolution was requested of the output device
Laser diode failed
The laser diode of the output device is not working satisfacto‐
rily
Low power
The output device is low on power
Misplaced cassette
The required cassette is in another output device.
Missing cassette
There is no cassette in the output device
No cassette
The input media cassette requested is not available
No power
The output device has no power
No take‐up cassette
There is no take‐up cassette for the output device
Not ready
The device is not ready, for an unspecified reason—perhaps
unknown or too complex to show. Look for an extra message in
the Monitor window.
Off‐line
The RIP cannot communicate with the output device
Page stop‐started
The RIP has supplied data quickly enough, but the device has
stop/started
Paper jam
Media has jammed in the output device
Paper low
The paper or film supply to the RIP output device is running
low
Paper out
The paper or film supply to the output device has been
exhausted
Printer caught up
There was a data underrun, and stop‐start was either not
selected or is not supported by the printing device
Take‐up full
The take‐up cassette is full
Take‐up space low
Space in the take‐up cassette for the device is running low
Toner low
The toner supply to the’ output device is running low
Toner out
The toner supply to the output device has been exhausted
Unknown error
An unknown condition has caused an error
Warming up
The output device is preparing itself for communication with
the RIP
Wrong cassette
The wrong cassette is in the output device
missing or in the wrong location. Always inspect the RIP Monitor window or log file if you
see problems with printed output.
You may see the following effects or messages.
No pages printed
Check in the PDF Options dialog box that the PDF job is of the required type (for Accept
type(s)) and that it contains at least one page matching the pages or ranges in the Pages
field.
Poor color matching
Check that you have an appropriate match of color spaces and management in the PDF
job and in the Page Setup in use. If the problem appears in an image, also check that it is
not a low‐resolution OPI preview being used to substitute for a missing OPI high‐reso‐
lution image.
Areas missing from the page or printed at low resolution
Check that any files referenced by OPI are present and that OPI is enabled in the RIP.
(Files referenced by OPI must be embedded in a PDF/X‐1 file.)
%%[ Warning: Skipping page 1 - not in requested page range ]%%
This is not an error. It is a reminder that the options chosen in the PDF Options dialog
box have caused a page to be omitted from the PDF job being printed. This omission
may be intentional.
%%[ Error: invalidaccess; Offending command: pdfexec ]%%
The PDF files may have been saved with security settings that require a password to be
entered for printing. Obtain the password (from the supplier of the PDF job) and enter
the password in the text field in the Password section of the PDF Options dialog box.
Passwords are case‐sensitive.
If you enter the correct password (in the Harlequin MultiRIP) and still see this error,
check that you have not entered one or more white space characters at the end of the
password. Another possible cause of this error is that the password uses characters
from an extended (non‐ASCII) character set. The way in which these characters are rep‐
resented can vary from platform to platform and the PDF password may have been set
on a platform different from the one on which you are running the RIP. Request a new
file using a simpler password.
Finally, the PDF file may be damaged. Try using another application to view or print
the file, taking note of any messages given by that application.
High resolution file is embedded in PDF job file.
This is not an error nor a warning. It is information about the structure of an OPI job.
This message is most likely to occur when processing a PDF/X‐1 job, but could occur for
a basic PDF file.
The job is not a valid PDF/X‐1 job. See the following messages for explanations of the
various reasons that can appear in messages of this form. The RIP may be able to pro‐
cess the job as a PDF 1.3 file, if you have allowed this by a choice in the Accept type(s)
list.
Note: If you have used a creating or editing application that claims to be compliant
with PDF/X‐1:1999, you should report these errors and warnings to your supplier of
that tool. The RIP performs strict checking of referenced files as well as the basic PDF
content of a PDF/X‐1 job.
****** PDF/X-1 Warning: Clipped out 'stroke' operator in EPS
The job deviates from the file PDF/X‐1 standard—in this example because of a Post‐
Script language operator used in a referenced EPS file. (The operator is illegal in an EPS
file referenced from a PDF/X‐1 job but harmless in this context.) Any message starting
“PDF/X-1 Warning:” has some problem, for the reason given in the rest of the mes‐
sage, but will not cause the RIP to abort the PDF job.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: Invalid TIFF compression
An embedded TIFF file uses a compression method not allowed by PDF/X‐1. Many
TIFF files use LZW compression, which is not allowed. Ask the creator of the file to rec‐
reate the file using an allowed compression method; PDF/X‐1 allows an embedded
TIFF file to be compressed using the CCITT or (new) JPEG methods.
Note: The new JPEG method is given the TIFF tag value Compression=7 and is
expected to be adopted as part of the forthcoming TIFF 7 specification. The new
method was designed (by the Independent JPEG Group) to overcome severe problems
in the method of JPEG compression as described in the TIFF 6.0 specification, dated
1992. The old scheme used the TIFF tag value Compression=6 and several related but
separate fields.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: Vector painting operator in EPS: stroke
An embedded EPS file uses a vector painting operator. PDF/X‐1 does not allow embed‐
ded EPS files to contain vector painting operators: stroke, fill, show, and so on.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: Invalid alternativeSpace in Separation
colorspace
The PDF job uses an illegal color space. PDF/X‐1 places restrictions on the alternative
Space of Separation color space and the base color spaces of Indexed color spaces in
embedded EPS files.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: LZWDecode in EPS
An embedded EPS file uses LZW compression, which is illegal in PDF/X‐1.
The PDF/X‐1 file must specify the type of an EF object (embedded file) using the Sub‐
type key. The Subtype key can be TIFF, EPS, DCS, and so on. The RIP checks that the
Subtype key is present, is one of those allowed, and matches the actual type of the file.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: Invalid TIFF PhotometricInterpretation
The PDF job references a TIFF file of an illegal type. Embedded TIFF files must be
CMYK, monochrome, or gray scale. PDF/X‐1 does not allow RGB, Lab, or other color
spaces.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: PDF referenced from PDF/X-1
The PDF job references a file type that is illegal for PDF/X‐1. The PDF/X‐1 standard
allows only TIFF, EPS, DCS, or TIFF/IT‐P1 files to be embedded.
The following messages can appear as Errors or Warnings. They appear as Errors if you
have set up the RIP to accept only PDF/X‐1 jobs.
In most cases, understanding the messages requires detailed knowledge of the PDF specifica‐
tion but all the messages indicate that the job is not PDF/X‐1 compliant. If you see these
errors when printing PDF/X‐1 jobs, you have two alternatives: one alternative is to ask for the
job to be re‐created in a form that is compliant with PDF/X‐1 and wait for that job to be sup‐
plied to you; the other alternative is to use a Page Setup that accepts basic PDF (using the
option Any PDF <= 1.3 as basic PDF) and print the non‐compliant version. (In rare cases,
there may be a more fundamental error in a PDF file that prevents you printing it at all; in
such cases, you must use a different PDF file.)
****** PDF/X-1 Error: unknown PDF/X version
The PDF version number is too low, too high, or otherwise unsuitable for use with this
version of the RIP and the settings in use.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: missing Info dictionary
PDF/X‐1 jobs must have a valid Info dictionary.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: missing trailer ID key
PDF/X‐1 jobs must have an ID entry in their trailer object.
If encrypted, PDF/X‐1 jobs must have a blank User password.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: invalid operator
PDF/X‐1 files have restrictions on the allowed PDF operators, parameters in the graph‐
ics state, transfer functions, color spaces, methods of compression, halftones, and pat‐
terns. The job has tried to use an invalid option.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: missing embedded font
PDF/X‐1 jobs can use only embedded fonts. The job has tried to use a font without
embedding it.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: invalid filespec
Files referenced through OPI in a PDF/X‐1 file must be embedded within the PDF/X‐1
file itself. The job includes OPI references to files that are not embedded.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: invalid external file
PDF/X‐1 jobs can use external files only for OPI. The job has tried to use an external file
for some other purpose.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: invalid embedded file
PDF/X‐1 jobs can embed a limited number of file types. The job has a file specification
that is badly specified for Macintosh, UNIX, or DOS platforms, is not embedded, or
where the Subtype of the file indicates that the file is not TIFF/IT, EPS, DCS, or TIFF.
****** PDF/X-1 Error: invalid PS XObject
A PDF/X‐1 job cannot contain a PostScript language XObject (PostScript language code
embedded in the PDF page description).
All data in a PDF/X‐1 job must be prepared for exactly one characterized printing con‐
dition, which is identified using embedded ICC profiles. (A job can embed multiple
ICC profiles and each must contain a characterized printing condition but all condi‐
tions must be the same.) The RIP reports the first condition to the Monitor window, in a
message similar to this example:
Prepared for printing condition "CGATS TR 001".
Spooler problems
Some spoolers check for a specific product name. The RIP is set to
LaserWriter-Sim. If the spooler does not recognize this, it may not
send the job to the printer. This name has been chosen to minimize
such problems.
Jobs Containing Color
0
Management Data
Settings within the RIP, in the job, and in the images themselves can all control the processing
of images in a job. This appendix describes the settings that influence this processing and
explains which setting takes precedence in each particular case. “Summary of options” on
page 424 summarizes this information.
Important: Different rules apply when you are using Color. See the Harlequin ColorPro Users’
Guide for details.
If you are not using ColorPro, the RIP checks the following for Photoshop and PDF jobs, and
allows independent control of what happens.
When processing jobs containing Photoshop EPS images:
• Is the Override color management in job option selected in the Color Setup dialog?
• Does the image contain a PostScript language color space array?
• Is the UseCIEColor parameter set to true in the job?
See Section B.1 and Section B.2 for details.
When processing jobs containing PDF files:
• Is the Override color management in job option select in the Color Setup dialog?
Otherwise, if the UseCIEColor parameter is set to false or has no value in the job, the Harle‐
quin MultiRIP treats the job as CMYK or RGB.
False Treat job as CMYK
or no value or RGB
No True Use the DefaultGray,
DefaultRGB or
DefaultCMYK color
space resources to
transform image
colors
False Treat job as CMYK
or no value or RGB
Settings within the Harlequin MultiRIP, in the PostScript language or PDF job, and in the
images themselves can all control the processing of images in a job.
Note: Some options apply only to EPS files produced by Adobe Photoshop.
“PDF color management” on page 425 describes the cases specific to PDF jobs.
Typically, when using device‐independent color spaces, PDF version 1.2 files use the Cal-
Gray and CalRGB color spaces and PDF version 1.3 files use the ICCBased color space but
these usages are under the control of the creating applications — see the Color tab in
Distiller 7.0.
Full use of device‐independent color requires ColorPro to be enabled.
Note: A PDF/X‐3 file containing an OutputIntents dictionary will be color managed using
the ICC profile indicated by the OutputIntents dictionary, as long as the job uses a device
independent color space and the Override color management in job option is not selected.
Note to OEMs: Photoshop images saved to EPS always include the input profile from
Photoshop, which a job may not want to actually have applied when
color managing. For details on overcoming this, see Appendix C of the
Extensions manual.
• Output color is 1 or 8‐bits per color per pixel.
• All XPS input image formats are supported.
0 Using Genlin
Genlin is a utility provided with the Harlequin MultiRIP to read calibration targets generated
by the RIP.
C.1 Introduction
Genlin supports these measuring instruments:
• X‐Rite 408
• X‐Rite DTP41 series
• X‐Rite DTP32
• X‐Rite DTP34
• X‐Rite DTP12
• X‐Rite 938
• Gretag Macbeth Eye‐One
• X‐Rite i1‐Pro 2
The remaining sections show how to set up and use Genlin, and how to troubleshoot any
problems.
• “Using Genlin” on page 427 describes set up and use
• “Troubleshooting” on page 432 describes troubleshooting
• “Measuring each target” on page 429. This section describes the steps involved in
using Genlin to measure a target.
For DTP41 and DTP34 devices:
<RIP installation folder>\Genlin\drivers\XrDtp
For Eye‐One devices:
<RIP installation folder>\Genlin\drivers\EyeOne
5. Click Open to return to the Copy manufacturer’s files from dialog and then click OK.
Windows will confirm that it has found drivers for the device.
6. Click Next to install the drivers.
Once you have you installed the USB drivers for your measuring device, you can use Genlin
as described in “Starting a work session with Genlin” on page 428.
Select your desired settings, as explained here, and then click OK.
You can read targets that have been created by the RIP running on
another computer if you have network access to the corresponding SW
folder. If you want to do this, click Change and use the file browser to
select the SW folder of the remote the RIP installation.
The default is the relative path to the SW folder of the the RIP with
which Genlin is supplied (as shown in Figure C.1).
Instrument A list of supported measuring instruments. Choose your desired mea‐
suring instrument and ensure that the correct Port setting is selected.
Measure Measurement types supported by your chosen measuring instrument.
Choose a suitable measurement type.
Media A list of types of media that targets are printed on, including press and
imagesetter media. Choose the type of media that your target is
printed on. For example, choose Press Paper when using a proofing
printer.
To do this, select the channel you wish to edit and choose Yes or No from the menu
below the Read? column. If both your measuring instrument and target support more
than one measurement system you may also have a choice of alternative filters and
measurement types in the menu below the Measure As column. For example, choose
Cyan Status T (X-Rite), then click OK. See “Values” on page 353 for details of mea‐
surement types.
Strip‐readers and other semi‐automatic instruments
Ensure that you scan the target in the right direction. When reading
strips, the instrument should be positioned so that approximately an
inch of blank paper is available at the end of each strip. Try to avoid
any marks outside the area of the patches, such as the strip numbers.
You may see a Bad reading message appear if the instrument has
been unable to correctly measure the strip: if so, click OK. If you wish
to retry reading the strip, click Yes, align the strip with the instrument
and click OK. Click No if you wish to abandon measuring the target.
Manual instruments
Follow the screen prompts to measure the target. If you are using a
manual instrument such as the X‐Rite 938 you will also see prompts in
the display panel of the instrument to read individual patches within
strips. For example, the prompt Move to: C100 means read the 100%
Cyan patch.
Choose File > Abort Target if you wish to abandon reading a target.
5. Click OK when you have finished measuring the target.
At this point, Genlin has created a data file containing all the linearization data for the target,
which you can import into the RIP. (The file is named import and is located in the caldata
folder within the RIP’s SW folder.)
6. Use the menu option Output > Calibration Manager and, in the Calibration Manager,
choose the appropriate Device and Color Space for the target. (See “Calibration Manager
dialog box” on page 345 for details of the Calibration Manager.)
7. The next action depends on whether you are updating an existing calibration set or cre‐
ating a new one. Choose the appropriate action:
• If you are updating an existing calibration set, select it in the table listing. This must
be the calibration set that you used to print the target. Click Edit from uncalibrated
target. The Edit Calibration dialog box appears. Go to step 8.
• Click New if you are creating a new calibration set. Then, if there are entries in the
Profile menu in the Edit Calibration dialog box, choose the supplied calibration
profile that you used to print the target. Enter a Name for the new calibration set.
You can use the same name as the supplied calibration profile, but omitting the
enclosing parentheses—( )—that supplied calibration profiles use; this makes the
link between the two profiles more obvious.
8. Click Import; see the description on page 354 for more details. After importing the data
and making any other settings, exit the Edit Calibration dialog box and Calibration
Manager by clicking OK.
Warning: You must read the values from the data file (or copy the data file to another loca‐
tion) before measuring another target for the same RIP installation. Genlin uses the same file
name for every data file so any existing measured data is lost when you measure a new tar‐
get.
Start again from “Measuring each target” on page 429 to read another target.
Note: If you no longer need to measure any of the targets that you have printed using the RIP,
you can choose File > Purge. This means that the numbering of targets can restart from 1.
C.3 Troubleshooting
This is a list of some possible error messages and symptoms that you may see, together with
suggestions for avoiding them.
There is a mismatch between the Port setting in the Configuration dialog box and the
port interface to which your measuring instrument is connected. Try changing the Port
setting or connecting your measuring instrument to the specified interface port.
Error: The USB device cannot be found
This message appears if Genlin is unable to locate the chosen USB device. Ensure the
measuring device is connected to the USB port and is powered on. Ensure also that you
have selected the correct Instrument and Port in the Configuration dialog box.
Error: No responding device attached to selected serial line
Error: The USB device is not responding
Either of these messages may appear if the measuring instrument does not have any
power supply. Check the power supply to the measuring instrument and ensure that it
is switched on. If the problem persists there may be a fault with the power adapter or
cabling.
C.3.2 Symptoms
Failure to communicate with the measuring instrument
This may be due to a mismatch between configuration settings and the actual instru‐
ment or interface port used. A break in cabling, or a failure in software between the
computer and the measuring instrument may also be the cause of a communication
failure. Check the connections and settings in the Configuration dialog box. If these
appear to be correct, try switching off or disconnecting the measuring instrument for 30
seconds and then reconnecting it.
Alternatively, Genlin may not be able to communicate with the measuring instrument
due to the re‐configuration of the interface port by another application. If you think this
is the case, close the application that you suspect is causing the conflict. If necessary,
shut down and restart your computer.
Failure to read the correct data from the target
A problem in this area is most likely to be a mismatch between the Target file selected
in Genlin and the type of target you are physically measuring. First make sure that the
number you select in the target list after clicking File > Read Target matches the refer‐
ence number printed on the target itself.
If recalibrating, you may have printed the target on the wrong paper type. Otherwise,
you may have read the wrong patches when using a manual instrument, or incorrectly
aligned the target when using a strip‐reader. Finally, the target may be incorrectly
printed or the measuring instrument may need recalibration.
Failure to transfer correct data to the RIP
Ensure that the RIP Folder specified in the Configuration dialog box is the path to the SW
folder of the RIP installation into which you are importing data.
If the RIP Folder is correct, this problem may be due to a problem with the content of the
caldata folder where target and import data is stored. This is very unlikely event but
if it happens, delete the caldata folder, which is a subfolder of the Harlequin MultiRIP
SW folder and print the target again.
Note: After deleting the caldata folder you cannot use Genlin to read targets created
before you deleted the folder—you must reprint the targets.
The reference number printed on the target does not appear in the list when you click
File > Read Target
This can happen if the target was printed using a different Harlequin MultiRIP installa‐
tion. Ensure that the RIP Folder setting in the Configuration dialog box is the correct
path to the SW folder of the RIP installation used to print the target.
This can also happen because the caldata folder was deleted between printing the file
and trying to read it with Genlin—reprint the target and measure the new print.
This glossary gives a brief description of many of the important terms and concepts sur‐
rounding the Harlequin MultiRIP. Italics are used to indicate terms with their own entry else‐
where in the glossary.
active device
The active device is the imagesetter or other output device to which the RIP is sending
its output. This is the output device specified in the Page Setup for the job. See also
menu device.
anti‐aliasing
A technique in which intermediate colors or grayscale tones are used to visually
smooth boundaries between different colors. Anti‐aliasing is most useful at low or
medium resolutions and with boundaries between very different colors. The Harlequin
MultiRIP TIFF output plugin can perform anti‐aliasing, with a control offering choices
between more smoothing and faster preparation.
aspect ratio
The height‐to‐width ratio of a page.
banding
The white bands which can be produced if interpreted data is sent to certain kinds of
imagesetter too slowly (see also data underrun)—the result is that media continues to
feed through, but no image is available to print, leading to white bands in the output.
The RIP uses a printer buffer which ensures that data is sent to the imagesetter at a
steady rate, in order to reduce the chances of this problem occurring.
Banding will only occur in imagesetters which cannot stop–start successfully.
black generation
The process of adding black to CMYK images in variable amounts according to printing
effects required.
choke
The process of overprinting a small border on graphics to make them look smaller.
Spread and choke are often used as part of trapping to protect against misregistration of
color separations.
CIP3
CIP3 was a group called International Cooperation for Integration of Pre‐press, Press,
and Post‐press (CIP3). The CIP3 group developed the Print Production Format (PPF)
for files to contain information about print jobs including administrative data, informa‐
tion about inks and register marks, comments, and preview images. CIP3 has become
CIP4, and maintains a web site at http://www.cip4.org/.
CIP4 is a similar group called International Cooperation for Integration of Processes in
Prepress, Press, and Postpress, formed to continue the work of CIP3 and to develop a
new file format called Job Description Format (JDF).
CMYK
A color representation scheme (or color space) where cyan, magenta, yellow, and black
are combined to create full‐color images.
color separation
A monochrome image that describes a component of a color image that has been
described using a particular color space. In printing, images are commonly depicted in
the CMYK space, leading to four separated pages for each full‐color page.
color space
A scheme of representation for color images, such as CMYK or RGB. Colors are repre‐
sented as a combination of a small set of other colors, or by other parameters, for exam‐
ple: hue, saturation, and brightness (HSB).
composite font
A font which consists of more than 256 characters. Composite fonts are indispensable
for producing images which contain, for example, Japanese text. However, they need to
be treated as separate from ordinary fonts.
crop marks
Marks, printed near the edges of an image, which indicate where the paper should be
trimmed.
current cassette
The cassette feeding media to the output device receiving commands. This can be the
active device (receiving a job) or the menu device (receiving commands from options in
the Device menu).
current device
The term current device is ambiguous, because it can refer to two different devices.
The active device is the imagesetter or other output device to which the RIP is sending its
output. This is the output device specified in the Page Setup for the job.
The menu device is the output device that provides the name of the Device menu, and
receives the commands generated by choosing options from the Device menu.
See also current cassette.
current color space
When you are creating or editing a Page Setup, the current color space is the color space
of the selected separations style.
data rate
The speed that an imagesetter receives data for imaging. It is important that the RIP
sends data to the imagesetter at approximately the data rate of the imagesetter, other‐
wise data underrun may result. You can find out the data rate for a particular imageset‐
ter from the instructions for that imagesetter.
data underrun
The result of a RIP failing to supply data to an output device quickly enough. If the
output device cannot stop / start successfully, banding or other effects will occur which
may cause a loss of output quality.
DCS (Desktop Color Separation)
DCS is Quark Inc’s method of image substitution in PostScript language jobs. The
Harlequin MultiRIP supports both DCS 1.0 and 2.0, and the similar OPI scheme.
device type
The Harlequin MultiRIP’s concept of a multiple device driver means that you can use a
single device driver to run several different imagesetters or other output device, rather
than requiring a separate device driver for each one. One multiple device driver can
run several imagesetters which have the same device type. The nature of the device
type depends on the multiple device driver, and is likely to consists of groups of image‐
setters. For instance, Ultre may be one device type, and Pelbox may be another.
DLD1 font
The Harlequin MultiRIP’s own font format, into which most fonts can be converted.
Operations with DLD1‐formatted fonts can be performed significantly faster than they
would be with normal font descriptions.
dot gain
A printing effect which results in dots being printed larger than they should be. It
occurs as a result of ink spreading on the printed page, and if not compensated for, can
lead to an image appearing too dark.
dot range
The range of numerical values used to represent color values.
Note: The value 0 may be associated with white and 255 with 100% black or the full
density of a particular ink, but this is not essential: in the MP data type, for example,
these end values can be associated with particular colors and the intermediate values
represent proportionate blends of these two colors.
See also TIFF (Tag Image File Format).
dot shape
The shape in which dots on the image are generated. See Chapter 6, “Screening”.
dpi
Dots per inch. A measure of the resolution of an output device. Dots per centimeter
(dpcm) and dots per millimeter (dpmm) are also offered by the Harlequin MultiRIP.
error diffusion
A technique that can be used to screen contone images into a halftone reproduction.
The technique works by calculating the error between the required (contone) value and
the achieved (halftone) value at each point (which might be a single pixel or a halftone
cell), distributing that error to neighboring points, and using the error to modify the
contone values for those points. This is repeated for the errors at all points. The result is
an irregular and non‐repeating screening pattern that shows very little color error.
Error diffusion is easy to implement on low resolution devices but can be difficult to
use for high resolution or color output, where the irregularity makes it difficult to pre‐
dict moiré or dot gain effects. Another problem occurs where the image is rendered in
bands, which may be processed in an order that is different to their spatial order: this
can lead to visible discontinuities.
The Harlequin MultiRIP does not support error diffusion directly but Harlequin Dis‐
persed Screening has some of the same “random” visual qualities while remaining pre‐
dictable with respect to behavior on physical output devices. Also, output plugins can
implement error diffusion screening in their output, while accepting contone page buf‐
fers from the RIP.
executive
A special mode in some versions of the Harlequin MultiRIP which allows you to type in
PostScript language code and to see the interpreted results. You should only use this
mode if you are familiar with the PostScript language.
exposure
Some imagesetters (for example, Pelbox) have an exposure setting which can alter the
strength of the laser which produces the image. In these cases, the exposure may be set
using the Edit Page Setup dialog box.
feature
A section of PostScript language code that may be automatically interpreted with any
job, specified using the Edit Page Setup dialog box.
halftone
A complex image which has been broken up into a series of very small dots so as to
reproduce it. A newspaper photograph is a good example of a halftone image. See
Chapter 6, “Screening”.
halftone cell
A single dot in a halftone image.
hard copy
A physical copy of a document, on media such as paper or film.
hardware feed
Some imagesetters will automatically feed through media whenever a job is completed.
In versions where the Harlequin MultiRIP’s media management facilities are available,
the RIP can take account of any devices that do this.
hinted font
When previewing images on a low resolution screen (or when printing them on a low
resolution printer) text can look odd when rendered, because of the size of the output
pixels becoming significant when compared to features in the characters. Hinted fonts
can improve the appearance of text rendered at low resolution or at very small sizes on
higher resolution devices.
This figure shows a simple example for the letter h in low resolution without hinting
(left) and with (right). Here, the hinting has balanced the width of the vertical strokes.
See also font.
HDLT (Harlequin Display List Technology)
Provides a programmatic interface for customization between interpretation and ren‐
dering. HDLT appears as a layered option but is most likely to be used by your supplier
as a way of providing functionality that is not otherwise obvious in the RIP GUI.
IFD (Image File Descriptor, Image File Directory)
This structure used for each collection of information within a TIFF file, A typical IFD
contains several entries, most of which are pairs of tags and values.
See also TIFF (Tag Image File Format).
input plugin
A device driver which controls an input device connected to the RIP.
Note to OEMS: Several input plugins are provided as standard with the Harlequin
MultiRIP, but OEMs can undertake to write their own, or can contract
Global Graphics to do so.
Input plugins have several uses—they are primarily used as methods in which input
can be sent to the RIP (for example, using a spool folder), but they can also be used as
PostScript language devices or data manipulation filters, and they can be used to per‐
form asynchronous actions.
JDF (Job Definition Format)
JDF is an XML‐based file format that is becoming the industry standard for the defini‐
tion of job tickets in pre‐press workflows. Its main purpose is to facilitate the exchange
of information between printing applications and systems.
keyboard accelerator
A set of key presses which have the same effect as a mouse‐based operation—such as
selecting a menu item—while probably taking less of a user’s time to perform.
lpi
Lines per inch. A measurement of halftone screen frequency. Lines per centimeter (lpcm)
and lines per millimeter (lpmm) are also offered by the RIP.
media
The various materials, such as paper or film, that are used in producing hard copy.
menu device
The menu device is the output device that provides the name of the Device menu, and
receives the commands generated by choosing options from the Device menu.
See also active device.
mirrorprint
An option in the Edit Page Setup dialog box which allows you to produce a mirror‐
image copy of your job. See Chapter 5, “Configuring Output Formats”.
multiple device driver
A device driver which can drive more than one output device. Normally, you need a sep‐
arate device driver for each output device you are using. By using a multiple device
driver, however, you can use this one driver to run all devices of the types that it sup‐
ports. For example, one multiple device driver might support all your Ultre and Exxtra‐
Setter devices.
N‐color
N‐color is a name representing a family of systems of process colors other than the con‐
ventional four‐color CMYK system (and CMY and RGB). N represents a variable
number of inks, which can be less than four for economy in simple jobs such as forms
printing or more than four for high quality or extended gamut color. Examples of N‐
color systems are the PANTONE Hexachrome Color Selector system and Photo‐ink
technologies.
OPI (Open Prepress Interface)
OPI stands for Open Prepress Interface and was originally specified by Aldus Corpo‐
ration. Systems using OPI enable designers to use relatively low‐resolution and easy to
handle images on design workstations but to have higher quality images substituted
for final output. The RIP supports both OPI and the similar DCS scheme.
The use of Harlequin VariData and OPI is not a supported combination.
output device
A computer peripheral capable of producing printed copy of a document, such as an
imagesetter or laser printer. See also active device, menu device.
output plugin
A device driver that controls an output device connected to the RIP.
Note to OEMS: Several output plugins are provided as standard with the RIP, but
OEMs can write their own plugins or commission Global Graphics to
produce custom plugins.
page buffer
A file on disk used to store a page of interpreted output, before it is printed or pre‐
viewed. Depending on the page buffer mode in which you run the RIP, it can produce
page buffers always, or only when required. Once produced, page buffers can either be
retained on disk, to allow reprinting; or deleted after printing, to save space on your
hard disk.
Page 2 Page 3
The pattern needs to be printed on both sides of the A3 sheet, reversed vertically on one
side. Two copies of the pamphlet could then be produced simply by cutting the paper
along the horizontal line, and folding along the vertical line. This process is much sim‐
pler than producing and trimming each page separately and rearranging them so as to
form a booklet.
Imposition is one of the applications dealt with in the PostScript language extensions
provided by the Harlequin MultiRIP.
Note to OEMS: See the Extensions manual for details.
Page Setup
In the Harlequin MultiRIP, a Page Setup is a named collection of settings used to pro‐
cess a PostScript language job. All Page Setups are visible in the Page Setup Manager,
which allows you to create new Page Setups and to copy or edit existing Page Setups.
Using the Input Controller, you can create multiple ways of sending a job to the RIP,
each with an associated Page Setup, so that any user can choose an input that applies
the desired settings for each job. For full details, see Chapter 5, “Configuring Output
Formats”.
partial page buffer
An incomplete page buffer. A partial page buffer does not yet contain all of the details of
the page being rendered. The RIP produces partial page buffers when there is insuffi‐
cient physical memory to interpret a job while holding a complete page in memory.
PDF
PDF has these meanings:
Portable Document Format. A PDF file describes pages, using graphic capabilities similar
to those in the PostScript language. Compared to PostScript language files, PDF files are
typically smaller and more portable to different printers while producing more predict‐
able output. This is the most common usage of PDF.
Photo‐ink
Photo‐ink technologies use different densities (light and dark versions) of one or more
colorants. A capable system is then able to use the light ink in highlight areas and the
dark ink where more colorant is required. A typical set of colors is light cyan, dark
cyan, light magenta, dark magenta, yellow, and black.
pica
A unit of measurement in printing. Usually, equal to 12 points or 0.166 inches.
pixel
A single element of a VDU’s display, or of an image.
plug‐in module
A software product that can be interfaced with the RIP to provide extra features or cus‐
tomizations.
point
A unit of measurement used in printing. There are 12 points to a pica. Historically, there
have been several definitions of the point: a common definition is 0.01384 inches, or
approximately 72 points to the inch. The PostScript language uses a default user unit
which is exactly 1/72 of an inch (0.01389 inches or 0.3528 mm). This unit is frequently
called a point, and this is the definition used by the RIP.
PPD
PostScript Printer Description. Each PPD is a file that defines the characteristics of a
printer. When installed correctly, a PPD customizes an operating system printer driver
or a creation or page layout application to optimize PostScript language jobs for the
printer described by the PPD. Many imagesetter and printer manufacturers provide
PPDs for the printers that they produce.
precision screening
See HPS (Harlequin Precision Screening).
prep file
A PostScript language header file, which is interpreted before the main job processing
in order to provide a standard setup to be used by a range of different jobs.
preview
To view an interpreted job on the screen before producing a hard copy of it.
progressive proof
A proof or series of proofs in which (some) intermediate stages of laying down the
colors are shown. For example, a CMYK page is usually printed in the order yellow,
magenta, cyan, and finally black. The full set of corresponding progressive proofs
would be Y, Y+M, Y+M+C, and Y+M+C+K. If the page is to be printed with two passes
on a two‐color press, the most useful proofs are likely to be the ones representing the
product of each pass on the press: Y+M and Y+M+C+K.
proof
A preview or hard copy of some or all of the characters in a font, or of an image. The RIP
can create various forms of proofs—as composite output, as a set of separations, or as a
progressive proof—to suit the needs of the situation.
Raster Image Processor
See RIP.
rendering
The term rendering refers to the process of creating a bitmap image or raster from the
interpreted page description. This bitmap can be used by the output device to produce
a visible image.
resolution
The degree of detail with which an image is reproduced, usually measured in dots per
inch (dpi). The higher the resolution, the greater the detail in which the image will be
reproduced. The resolution of a computer screen is usually around 72 dpi, whereas an
image detailed enough to print in a magazine may be closer to 2500 dpi.
RGB
A color representation scheme (or color space) where separations in red, green, and blue
are overlaid to create full‐color images. The RGB scheme is usually used by computer
monitors and televisions, and by some printers.
roam
To preview interpreted jobs in the Output Controller, available only in either of the
multiple modes. See also preview.
rosette
The pattern in which halftone cells are arranged in a separated image. This figure
shows how the RIP can produce rosettes which either have dark centers (on the left of
the diagram) or clear centers (on the right of the diagram, with the central dot
removed).
screen angles
The angles at which the halftone screens are placed in relation to one another.
screen frequency/ruling
The density of dots on the halftone screen, commonly measured in lines per inch (lpi).
This is sometimes called ‘raster’ or ‘mesh’.
spread
The process of printing a small border just outside the edges of graphics to make them
look bigger. Spread and choke are often used as part of trapping to protect against mis‐
registration of color separations.
stop / start
The ability of an output device to stop and restart during printing.
tag
In TIFF, an Image File Descriptor (IFD) contains a number of entries (tags), each consist‐
ing of an unique tag number from 0 to 65535, and its corresponding value or values. Tag
numbers are generally determined by the TIFF 6.0 specifications, and each has a spe‐
cific meaning. (In TIFF 6.0, tag numbers above 32767 are vendor defined.) For example,
the tag number for the tag named DotRange is 336.
TIFF (Tag Image File Format)
The basic TIFF file format. Without further details, you cannot assume that something
described as being a TIFF file conforms to the TIFF 6.0, TIFF/IT, or TIFF/IT‐P1 stan‐
dards.
Note: TIFF/IT is sometimes referred to as Transport Independent File Format for Image
Technology.
trapping
Techniques used to tackle undesirable printing effects caused by misregistration of
printed separations, optical effects, and so on. See spread and choke. See also Chapter 13,
“Color Separation”.
virtual memory
Virtual memory has these meanings:
In PostScript terminology, virtual memory or VM is a pool of memory used for the stor‐
age of composite objects such as strings, arrays, and dictionaries. PostScript language
compatible interpreters are free to implement VM using all appropriate types of
memory in their working environment.
In computer operating systems, virtual memory is disk memory used as an extension to
physical memory, built‐in memory, or RAM. Many operating systems support the use
of virtual memory.
January 2016
Part number: HMR–11.0.1–OEM–WIN
Document issue: 502
Copyright © 2016 Global Graphics Software Ltd and its licensors. All Rights Reserved.
Global Graphics Software Ltd. Confidential Information.
Certificate of Computer Registration of Computer Software.
Registration No. 2006SR05517
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
Global Graphics Software Ltd.
The information in this publication is provided for information only and is subject to change without notice. This
publication could contain technical inaccuracies, typographical errors and out‐of –date information. Use of the
information is therefore at your own risk. Global Graphics Software Ltd and its affiliates shall not be responsible
or liable for any loss or damage that may arise from the use of any information in this publication.
The software described in this publication is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accor‐
dance with the terms of that license. Global Graphics Software Ltd accepts no responsibility or liability for any
special, punitive, incidental, indirect or consequential damages of any kind, or any damages whatsoever, includ‐
ing, without limitation, those resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether or not Global Graphics Software
has been advised of the possibility of such damages, and on any theory of liability, arising out of or in connection
with the use of this software.
Protected by U.S Patents 5,862,253; 6,343,145; 6,330,072; 6,483,524; 6,380,951; 6,755,498; 6,624,908; 6,809,839;
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Other U.S. Patents Pending
Portions Type 1 font renderer contains licensed third party software
Portions copyright 1991 International Business Machines, Corp.,
Portions copyright 1991 Lexmark International, Inc.
Portions Adobe Glyph List. Copyright 1990‐2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Portions Adobe Cmaps. Copyright 1990‐2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated
Portions TrueType ® font renderer copyright 1997 Bitstream, Inc.
Portions developed using the Kakadu software. Copyright 2001 David Taubman, The University of New South
Wales (Unisearch Ltd)
The ECI and FOGRA ICC color profiles supplied with this Harlequin RIP are distributed with the kind permis‐
sion of the ECI (European Color Initiative) and FOGRA respectively, and of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
(HEIDELBERG).
The IFRA ICC profiles supplied with this Harlequin RIP are distributed with the kind permission of IFRA and of
GretagMacbeth.
Harlequin and the Harlequin RIP are trademarks of Global Graphics Software Ltd, which may be registered in
certain jurisdictions. Harlequin ColorPro, Harlequin Dispersed Screening (HDS), Harlequin Precision Screening
(HPS), TrapPro, SetGold, SetGoldPro, Harlequin MultiRIP, Harlequin Host Renderer, Harlequin Parallel Pages,
Harlequin VariData, Harlequin Contour Processor and the Harlequin Screening Engine are all trademarks of
Global Graphics Software Ltd. Other brand or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their
respective holders.
TrueType is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
A B
Abort if calibration on Background reading 174
Page Setup option 156 Banding 435
Abort Printing File command 236 Black generation 399, 435
Abort the job if any fonts are missing overriding in job 400
page setup option 156 Bootlist file 47
Accelerators Bromide. See Media
hardware processor for the Harlequin MultiRIP Buffer full message 412
17 Buffer space low message 412
keyboard equivalents for menus 11 Buffers
Accurate color display 102 network 205
Acrobat 9 241 page, defined 442
AcroForms 241 printer 207
Active device 435 Busy message 412
Active queue 76 Busy or off‐line message 412
Add Channel dialog 352
Add showpage at end of job C
page setup option 156 Caldata folder 44
Adding Calibration
a new input plugin 219 and color process work 322
a new page feature 152 calibration sets 325
See also Installing creating a calibration set 330
Adjusting tone curves 163 densitometer use 330
Advance n inches command 263 entering data 332
Advanced Media Saving 131 factors affecting accuracy 338
Advancing media 262 for positive and negative 337
Allow stop /start maintenance strategies 334
configure RIP option 202 printing a target 326
Allow use of all available memory 211 printing presses 339
Always, delete option in Output Controller 81 screen frequencies 336
Angles smoothing 333
screens expected in incoming job 401 stopping output without calibration set 156
screens for process colors 175 turning on in Edit Page Setup dialog 162, 163
Anti‐aliasing Calibration Manager dialog 333, 345
defined 435 saving calibration sets 337
Aspect ratio 435 Calibration sets
Asynchronous actions 216 copying 348
Asynchronous Socket creating from imported files 354
input plugin 216 creating from published data 354
Asynchronous Socket Quit editing 335
input plugin 216 naming 351
Automatic cassette selection 132 operating on several sets 348
Automatic Prep loading saving 337
Configure RIP option 210 status in Calibration Manager 347
Cassette Manager dialog 268
Cassette Manager Edit dialog 269
V
VariData, Harlequin 22
Version
file in SW folder 48
Vignettes
defined in spot colors 158
Virtual memory 447
allocating for the Harlequin MultiRIP 211
virtual memory
setting 41
W
Warming up message 415
When necessary
delete option in Output Controller 81
Width
of media 270
page default 139
Windows
See Microsoft Windows
Workflows
for maintaining calibration 334
WorkSpace folder 47, 200
Wrong reading. See Mirrorprint
X
XPS Documents
printing 251