Screening and Dot Shape Control. Take control of the separations being output on your imagesetter, platesetter, inkjet printer or press using the Express RIP Harlequin. Users can specify screen angle, dot shape and frequency using the RIP's built-in Separations Manager. The Express RIP can be configured to accept the screening and separation information sent over by the front end design computers, or the Express RIP can be configured to override screening and separation information, thus avoiding any screening or frequency mistakes that might have been made when printing to the RIP. The dot shape drop down menu allows users to specify a dot shape. Users may also select 'Generate Extra Gray Levels' and use 'Harlequin Precision Screening' when configuring screening at the RIP.

TIFF Output Option. All Imagesetter Express RIP and TIFF Express RIP include the ability to output a 1-bit or 8-bit TIFF file. TIFF Output can often be used to output to a platesetter. If you are using another version of the RIP (such as Inkjet RIP or Heidelberg DI RIP), the TIFF output option can be added to the RIP at any time.

RIP and Print Simultaneously. While one job is being printed the next job is being RIPped. This provides maximum throughput performance.

Support for PDF v.1.7 and PDF/X-4. Support for PDF/X-4, JPEG2000, optional content, cross-reference streams, compressed object streams and 16-bit images. The RIP also supports PDF v.1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7. Users have the ability to RIP PDFs directly on the RIP computer through hotfolders or the print file menu. Users can also choose to send over to the RIP directly from the latest version of Acrobat or drop PDFs into your favorite design application and RIP them directly over to the RIP.

Accelerated PDF Processing. The RIP is able to retain rasters leading to significant performance improvements when the same image is used on several pages. The raster for the image is retained in the RIP meaning that it only has to be interpreted once. Any PDF file with pages which share a non-variant background and have text which may vary from page to page should be accelerated by this optimization in the RIP. The RIP scans the PDF for such pages, RIPs the invariant background once, and then retains it for use on the subsequent pages with the same background.

Multi-threading. Multi-threading allows the RIP to take advantage of hyperthreading and multi-core CPU architectures as well as multiple processors. Multi-threading is now available as a standard RIP feature and all RIPs are built with this feature enabled. When tuning multi-threading the number of threads (across all instances of the RIP) should ideally be equal to the number of available cores. In this release only rendering is multi-threaded: interpretation is not. The performance therefore depends on the job mix. A selector has been added to the Configure RIP dialog to allow automatic configuration (using one thread per processor core) or manual configuration of the number of threads. The default for a multi-threaded RIP is on automatic selection indicated by a configuration file value of 0. If required, you can manually override the automatic setting. You should set this value equal to the number of processors available in your system: this will produce the fastest rendering. Other, smaller, values may be useful in testing or troubleshooting. Values of Threads up to 160 may be entered.

Imagesetting, platesetting, proofing and press output from one RIP. With the Express RIP's proofing output capabilities, users can purchase plugins that will allow the same RIP to drive both a proofing device and an imagesetter, platesetter or press. Users can also add additional proofing plugins to drive more than one proofer from one RIP. Using the same RIP for proofing and imaging reduces the risk of differences between the proof and the final print.

Drive more than one imagesetter. Users can add a second interface card to drive more than one imagesetter from the RIP.

Preview Jobs Before Printing. The ability to preview jobs before printing can save both time and wasted paper or film. Separations can be viewed individually (each plate separately) or together in full color. With the optional in-RIP trapping program you can also preview your traps or have them highlighted in Red or Green to easily see where traps have been applied by the RIP. This built-in feature saves time and money by virtually eliminating job reprints.

Print to the RIP from Windows and Macintosh Operating Systems. If you are planning to print to the RIP from both Windows and Macintosh operating systems, Harlequin recommends the Windows version of the RIP. When running the Windows version of the RIP, users have the ability to print from both Windows and Macintosh operating systems over to the RIP computer. From Macintosh computers, the RIP will show up in the Chooser (for MacOS 8 and 9 Machines) or Print Center (for MacOS X 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 or 10.5 Machines) and from Windows computers (Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, 2003, XP and Vista), the RIP would show up as a shared network printer. Harlequin also offers the Miramar Appletalk option for customers that want to print to the Windows version of the RIP from Macintosh OS 8 or 9.

Operating System Compatibility. The Express RIP is available in either a Windows version or a Macintosh version. The Windows Express RIP is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP or Windows Vista. The Macintosh Express RIP is compatible with Macintosh OS 10.3 (Panther), 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard). The Harlequin RIP will also run on a Windows 64-bit operating system as long as it is 32-bit compatible. If you are driving an imagesetter with a PCI or PCI-X interfacce card, Halrequin recommends using either Macintosh OS 10.3 or 10.4 or Windows 2000 or XP.

Share and Network Printers. The Express RIP's Input Controller allows you to share your printers over the network. The Express RIP's inputs act as driver level printers from Windows or as Print Center or Chooser level printers from Macintosh OS 8, 9 and X machines. Some of the most common input types used are: (1) Appletalk. Used for printing to the RIP from the Print Center of Macintosh OS X (10.2, 10.3, 10.4 or 10.5) computers or the Chooser of Macintosh OS 8 through 9.2.2 computers. (2) NT Input: Used for printing from one Windows machine to another Windows machine or for printing from Macintosh OS X machines to a Windows RIP. An NT Input allows your page setups (or printers) in the RIP to show up as printers on your other Windows or Macintosh OS X machines. (3) Spoolfolder: Used for printing direct file formats. Useful for direct printing of PDF, TIFF or Postscript files.

Advanced Media Saving (Ganging / Nesting). With Advanced Media Saving enabled in your page setup, jobs processed using that page setup are automatically grouped together with other jobs according to resolution, bit depth, paper type and output device. This feature works well for both TIFF and Inkjet Express RIPs but also works with some imagesetter models. The Express RIP can be configured to either hold the printing of the pages until it fills the flat or until a certain amount of time runs out between jobs before it will start printing the pages.

Extra Gray Levels. The RIP can be configured to print more than 4,000 shades of gray for maximum quality at almost any resolution.

Migrate Feature. The new Migrate Feature makes upgrading your Express RIP Harlequin easier than ever. If you are thinking about upgrading your Harlequin RIP, most users can utilize the Migrate Feature to migrate page setups, input channels and calibrations into the latest version of the RIP

JDF Support. The Job Definition Format or JDF is an XML-based file format that is becoming the industry standard for the definition of job tickets in prepress workflows. Its main purpose is to facilitate the exchange of information between printing applications and systems. JDF allows a designer to attach a ticket to a job which outlines the processes required for that job and how it should be handled. This ticket remains with the job and is carried through the whole workflow until the job is completed. JDF support can be added to any Express RIP Harlequin v.8 and later. JDF offers the following features:
• A job ticket format for the whole workflow.
• A “true” standard which can be implemented by anyone.
• Built using XML with its widely available toolsets, easy connectivity and integration properties.
• Central monitoring.
• Easy identification of the causes of waste, workflow bottlenecks, spare capacity, job status and material requirements.
• Links to the supply chain, accounting, and strategic planning.

New Color Management Engine and ICCv4 Compliant. Epson, HP and Encad Express RIPs or Plugins users can use the pre-configured ProofReady ICC profiles for most of the common paper stocks or import your own custom ICC profiles. The Express RIP integrates standards developed by the International Color Consortium (ICC) to produce accurate proofs on a variety of inkjet printers. Users can also manually adjust colors using the Color Rendering Intent manager. Harlequin RIP v.8 has a new color management engine which contains the following new features:
• ICC profiles are now installed natively without conversion to PostScript language resources.
• ICC profiles are now processed natively.
• Rendering intents are now handled according the ICC specification (ICC.1:2004-10 (Profile version 4.2.0.0)).
• New color management operators to give fine control over color.
• Black point compensation.
• The RIP is ICCv4 compliant.
• Text is an object type which can be tagged with its own rendering intent.

Updated Settings for Faster and Accurate Color Adjustments. If you have the ColorPro option or are outputting to an inkjet device, the Faster or Accurate image color adjustments which are selectable under the ColorPro settings have been replaced. The RIP now uses a different algorithm that is much more predictable than the previous versions. The Faster algorithm no longer uses the error scattering method which avoids problems with the compressibility of the final output. It also means that Faster is now always the fastest method. Similarly, Accurate is always the slowest and most accurate method of output. The Faster algorithm will improve performance particularly with CMYK images.

XPS Document Interpretation. XPS v.1.0 Documents with PrintTickets can be interpreted by the Harlequin RIP. Supported PrintTicket types include: DocumentPageRanges, PageBlendColorSpace, PageMediaSize and PageResolution. The way that the RIP handles the DocumentPageRanges, PageBlendColorSpace and PageMediaSize PrintTicket keys depends on the settings of the XPS Options dialog. By default, all PrintTicket settings are ignored, but these three keys can be honored if the user so chooses.

HD Photo Support. Version 8 supports direct ripping of v.1.0 HD Photo images (previously WMPhoto). Files with the extension .wdp (HD Photo images) can now be RIPped using the Print File menu at the RIP. In compliance with v.1.0 of the XPS specification, v.1.0 HD Photo images and XPS Documents containing v.1.0 HD Photo images are processed correctly.

Enfocus PitStop 4.0 lib/v7 Preflight Profiles. Enfocus PitStop 4.0 lib/v7 preflight profiles have been added to the Harlequin RIP and include: B&W v3.0, B&W + Spot v3.0, CMYK v3.0, CMYK + 1 Spot v3.0, Generic Office v3.0, Generic Press v3.0, PDF to Web v3.0, PDF/X-1a:2001 v5.0, PDF/X-1a:2001 v5.0 Verify, PDF/X-3:2002 v5.0, PDF/X-3:2002 v5.0 Verify, and Soft Proof v3.0, and some new 2003 PDF/X profiles (PDF/X-1a:2003 v5.0, PDF/X-1a:2003 v5.0 Verify, PDF/X-3:2003 v5.0, PDF/X-3:2003 v5.0 Verify).

PANTONE Goe Color System Support. Pantone are releasing a new color system which is designed to complement the existing systems, providing many more colors. This color system is supported in Express RIP Harlequin v.8.

Page Setup Features. The Express RIP includes the following features which can be useful when producing films, plates or proofs: Scaling, Crop Marks, Mirror / Reverse Image, Control Strip, Media Saving (Ganging / Nesting) and Rotation.

Supported File Types. Print directly to the RIP from design applications. If you are not going to be printing directly to the RIP, the following file types can be processed by the RIP:

• PostScript 1, 2 and 3
• PDF 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7
• PDF/X-1a:2001 & PDF/X-3:2002
• PDF/X-4
• TIFF™ 6
• PCL
• JPEG
• GIF
• DCS and DCS 2
• EPS
• JBIG2
• TIFF/IT (Optional Input and Output plugins available)
  
  

The Harlequin RIP uses three main windows which include the RIP Toolbar, the RIP Monitor and the Output Controller (shown below).

Print File: Used for printing files that are ready for the RIP (such as PDF, Postscript, etc.). You can print files from another networked computer, files that reside directly on the RIP station or files that reside on a floppy disk or CD.

Print Calibration: Used to output calibrated and uncalibrated targets for taking calibrations. The uncalibrated targets are measured and then the values from the measurements are then entered into the RIP's Calibration Manager. For color calibrations the RIP can also import color calibrations from a variety of spectrophotometers.

Start Inputs: Starting and stopping the inputs is like turning a printer on and off. From the RIP you can click on the green traffic light to turn the inputs on or you can click on the red traffic light to the turn the inputs off. The inputs are representations of your page setups. The inputs are what show up in the Chooser of your Macintosh computers (Print Center for Macintosh OS 10.2) or in the printers folder of your Windows computers. When setting up the printer you will need to choose a Postscript Printer Description (PPD) which is included on the Express RIP DVD.

Stop Inputs: Starting and stopping the inputs is like turning a printer on and off. From the RIP you can click on the green traffic light to turn the inputs on or you can click on the red traffic light to the turn the inputs off. The inputs are representations of your page setups. The inputs are what show up in the Chooser / Print Center of your Macintosh computers or in the printers folder of your Windows computers. When setting up the printer you will need to choose a Postscript Printer Description (PPD) which is included on the Express RIP DVD.

Page Setup Manger: Used to create page setups that will become printers on the network. Store multiple device settings including resolution, laser intensity, screen ruling, dot shape and screen angles.

Device Manager: Used to create, edit or delete output devices from the RTI Express RIP.

Separations Manger: Used to tell the RIP whether you would like a composite page setup or a page setup that separates the file. You can also specify angles, dot shape and line frequencies from within this section of the RIP.

Color Setup Manager: Used to create and/or edit the color setups within the RIP.

Calibration Manger: Used to create and/or edit calibrations for each of the output devices being used.

Cassette Manager: Used to create and/or edit cassettes. NOTE: Some machines do not have cassettes and do not need to have cassettes configured at the RIP.

Input Controller: Used to share the printers (page setups) over the network. This allows you to publish multiple printers (page setups) each with their own unique settings. Some of the most common input types used are:

• Appletalk: For printing from the Chooser of Macintosh OS 8 through 9.x computers on your network (shown below). Appletalk can also be used to print from 'Print Center' which comes standard with Macintosh OS 10.2 (Jaguar).
• NT Input: For printing from one Windows machine to another Windows machine. This allows your page setups in the RIP to show up as printers on your other Windows machines.
• Spoolfolder: For printing to file.

RIP Monitor Window. From the RIP Monitor you can view valuable job information as each job is being RIPped. The RIP Monitor shows the resolution (dots per inch), frequency (lines per inch), screen angles, and job colors being used at the RIP. All of the information that goes into the RIP Monitor is kept in a logfile within the main RIP folder.

Output Controller Window. The Output Controller provides access to many of the commonly used features of the Express RIP as well as information about job and media activity. The "Active Queue" shows the pages that are RIPped and ready for output. From this queue you can preview (or ROAM) the job to make sure the job is ready for output. While it is possible to ROAM the job viewing each separation individually, users also have the ability to ROAM the job in full composite color. The middle queue shows the separation name and output progress of the page currently being printed. The "Held Queue" shows pages which have already been output. Pages held here can be reprinted if desired by dragging them back into the Active Queue. The RIP Monitor also allows you to view the amount of hard disk space currently being used by the Active and Held Queues along with the amount of free disk space on the hard drive running the RIP.