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"Harlequin (software)" is a raster image processor first released in 1990 under the name ScriptWorks running as a command-line application to render PostScript language files under Unix. It was developed by Harlequin, a software company based in Cambridge, England.
ScriptWorks was created in 1986 as the final-year University project of software developer Andy Cave. The project was dedicated to building a subset of a postscript interpreter that could preview the conversion of LaTeX to PostScript so that the PhD students would use less paper on the new LaserWriter. Although only a subset was required, Cave ended up creating quite a complete implementation. In 1987, Cave joined Harlequin Limited, founding the RIP division.
In the early 1990s, Harlequin was commissioned by Xenotron to develop a raster image processor to run on Macintosh computers to drive their Ultre-based image setters, exposing onto film and resin-coated paper. The Macintosh version proved successful, and Harlequin signed up a number of other Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners to sell it, including Pongrass, ECRM, Autologic, Xitron, Koronix, Purup, Graphic Enterprises and Compose.
In 1992, a DOS variation of ScriptWorks was developed, and was also sold through OEM partners, before being replaced by a version running under Microsoft Windows in 1993.
In 1999, Harlequin went into receivership and was bought by Global Graphics. The Harlequin Group, including all staff and assets, was renamed to Global Graphics Software Limited. [1] The Unix-based command-line version of ScriptWorks was phased out, and a few years later ScriptWorks was renamed to Harlequin RIP.
From 2004 onwards Global Graphics expanded the reach of the Harlequin RIP by producing a number of variants for different market sectors:
The Harlequin RIP is sold only through OEM partners, each of whom builds it into their own prepress system, Digital Front End (DFE) or controller. It is therefore sold under a variety of names and it is not always easy to identify whether a system uses a Harlequin RIP or not.
Current versions of the Harlequin RIP can interpret:
The Harlequin Embedded SDK also supports Printer Command Language 5e, PCL 5c and PCL XL, including HPGL and Printer Job Language (PJL).
All file formats are interpreted natively, without conversion to an intermediate format (PDF is not converted to PostScript and vice versa, for example). [2] Global Graphics claims that processing without conversion allows for higher speeds and avoids artifacts arising from the conversion.
Native processing of live transparency in PDFs was recognized by several awards: Publishing Essential's Impact Award for "RIP of the Year" in 1997 and 1998 and the Silver Award in the Pre-press News and Publishing Awards of 1997 for "RIP/Server product of the year".
The Harlequin RIP also explicitly supports PDF/X-1a:2001, PDF/X-1a:2003, PDF/X-3:2002, PDF/X-3:2003, PDF/X-4, PDF/X-4p, PDF/X-5g and PDF/X-5pg and can be set to reject files that do not comply with those standards, or to include conformance information on the control strip of a proof.
Harlequin's OEM partners have built DFEs with full support for additional formats such as the Personalized Print Markup Language (PPML) around the Harlequin RIP.
A number of extra components are available for the variants of the Harlequin RIP, leading to descriptions of the Harlequin Server RIP as a "prepress workflow in a box". Included and additional options include:
The Harlequin Host Renderer was launched in 2005; version 1.3 was released in late 2009. Core RIP functionality in HHR has tracked with Harlequin Server RIP except that HHR currently has the following additional features in comparison to HSR 8.3:
HHR is supported on Linux and Windows.
The Harlequin Embedded SDK (EBD) has been optimized for use within home and office printers. To that end it supports several versions of the Printer Control Language (PCL), as well as the Printer Job Language (PJL) and Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language (HPGL).
EBD version 3 was released in 2009. It is supported under a variety of real-time and near-real-time operating systems including Embedded Windows XP, Linux, VxWorks and ThreadX, and on a variety of hardware architectures, including Intel, Freescale and ARM, with or without a system-on-a-chip (SOC) around the CPU. Global Graphics has announced a partnership with Conexant to provide a combination of hardware and Page description language (PDL) software for home and small office printers.
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Based on the PostScript language, each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, vector graphics, raster images and other information needed to display it. PDF has its roots in "The Camelot Project" initiated by Adobe co-founder John Warnock in 1991. PDF was standardized as ISO 32000 in 2008. The last edition as ISO 32000-2:2020 was published in December 2020.
PostScript is a page description language and dynamically typed, stack-based programming language. It is most commonly used in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm, but as a Turing complete programming language, it can be used for many other purposes as well. PostScript was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Doug Brotz, Ed Taft and Bill Paxton from 1982 to 1984. The most recent version, PostScript 3, was released in 1997.
Vector graphics are a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display and printing hardware, vector data models and file formats, as well as the software based on these data models. Vector graphics are an alternative to raster or bitmap graphics, with each having advantages and disadvantages in specific situations.
Metafont is a description language used to define raster fonts. It is also the name of the interpreter that executes Metafont code, generating the bitmap fonts that can be embedded into e.g. PostScript. Metafont was devised by Donald Knuth as a companion to his TeX typesetting system.
A raster image processor (RIP) is a component used in a printing system which produces a raster image also known as a bitmap. Such a bitmap is used by a later stage of the printing system to produce the printed output. The input may be a page description in a high-level page description language such as PostScript, PDF, or XPS. The input can also be or include bitmaps of higher or lower resolution than the output device, which the RIP resizes using an image scaling algorithm.
Ghostscript is a suite of software based on an interpreter for Adobe Systems' PostScript and Portable Document Format (PDF) page description languages. Its main purposes are the rasterization or rendering of such page description language files, for the display or printing of document pages, and the conversion between PostScript and PDF files.
QuarkXPress is desktop publishing software for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG environment. It runs on macOS and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc. in 1987 and is still owned and published by them.
The device independent file format (DVI) is the output file format of the TeX typesetting program, designed by David R. Fuchs and implemented by Donald E. Knuth in 1982. Unlike the TeX markup files used to generate them, DVI files are not intended to be human-readable; they consist of binary data describing the visual layout of a document in a manner not reliant on any specific image format, display hardware or printer. DVI files are typically used as input to a second program which translates DVI files to graphical data. For example, most TeX software packages include a program for previewing DVI files on a user's computer display; this program is a driver. Drivers are also used to convert from DVI to popular page description languages and for printing.
Xfig is a free and open-source vector graphics editor which runs under the X Window System on most UNIX-compatible platforms.
Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) is a presentation architecture and family of associated printer software and hardware that provides for document and information presentation independent of specific applications and devices.
A number of vector graphics editors exist for various platforms. Potential users of these editors will make a comparison of vector graphics editors based on factors such as the availability for the user's platform, the software license, the feature set, the merits of the user interface (UI) and the focus of the program. Some programs are more suitable for artistic work while others are better for technical drawings. Another important factor is the application's support of various vector and bitmap image formats for import and export.
Printer Command Language, more commonly referred to as PCL, is a page description language (PDL) developed by Hewlett-Packard as a printer protocol and has become a de facto industry standard. Originally developed for early inkjet printers in 1984, PCL has been released in varying levels for thermal, matrix, and page printers. HP-GL/2 and PJL are supported by later versions of PCL.
An image file format is a file format for a digital image. There are many formats that can be used, such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Most formats up until 2022 were for storing 2D images, not 3D ones. The data stored in an image file format may be compressed or uncompressed. If the data is compressed, it may be done so using lossy compression or lossless compression. For graphic design applications, vector formats are often used. Some image file formats support transparency.
Open XML Paper Specification is an open specification for a page description language and a fixed-document format. Microsoft developed it as the XML Paper Specification (XPS). In June 2009, Ecma International adopted it as international standard ECMA-388.
UniDrv is a GDI-based Microsoft Windows universal printer driver and architecture for non-PostScript printers. It is used to simplify driver development of non-PostScript printers for printer manufacturers. Unidrv allows the creation of a printer-specific minidriver in the form of a GPD file, similar to a PPD file, which is much simpler than kernel mode driver development. Unidrv was introduced in Windows 2000 and replaced the Raster Device Driver (RASDD) interface used in Windows NT 4.0 and earlier versions.
In printing, Preflight is the process of confirming that the digital files required for the printing process are all present, valid, correctly formatted, and of the desired type. The basic idea is to prepare the files to make them feasible for the correct process such as offset printing and eliminate costly errors and facilitate a smooth production. It is a standard prepress procedure in the printing industry. The term originates from the preflight checklists used by pilots. The term was first used in a presentation at the Color Connections conference in 1990 by consultant Chuck Weger, and Professor Ron Bertolina was a pioneer for solutions to preflighting in the 1990s.
Apple's Macintosh computer supports a wide variety of fonts. This support was one of the features that initially distinguished it from other systems.
Prinergy is a prepress workflow system created by Creo in 1999 and maintained and sold through Kodak. It is a client/server system that integrates PDF creation, job proofing, imposition, and a raster image processor (RIP) into one unified workflow.
PPML is an XML-based industry standard printer language for variable data printing defined by PODi. The industry-wide consortium of 13 companies was initially formed to create PPML, and now has more than 400 member companies.
PDF/VT is an international standard published by ISO in August 2010 as ISO 16612-2. It defines the use of PDF as an exchange format optimized for variable and transactional printing. Built on top of PDF/X-4, it is the first variable-data printing (VDP) format which ensures modern International Color Consortium-based (ICC) color management through the use of ICC Output Intents. It adds the notion of encapsulated groups of graphic objects to support optimized efficient processing for repeating text, graphic or image content. Introducing the concept of document part metadata (DPM), it enables reliable and dynamic management of pages for High Volume Transactional Output (HVTO) print data, like record selection or postage optimization based on metadata.
