Output methods

This page applies to Harlequin v13.1r0 and later; and to Harlequin Core but not Harlequin MultiRIP.

A number of raster backends supporting different output methods are provided in lib\skintest. A list of included backends can be obtained using the -l (that is, lower case ‘L') command-line option to clrip.exe.

The raster backend to be used can be selected by defining the PageBufferType key with setpagedevice using one of the raster backend names as a PostScript name object as its value, usually in a configuration file. See example files supplied in the SW/TestConfig directory; note that names are case-sensitive.

The selection in a configuration may be overridden using the -o option on the command line to clrip.exe, although this usage is discouraged in production systems; see Override pagebuffer type.

Typically, the available raster backends include the following:

`LIBTIFF`	Writes the output raster from the RIP to a TIFF file; by default files have the extension `.tif`. This is is done in the usual way, band by band (as opposed to `FRAMETIFF`). This backend also supports eHVD.
`FRAMETIFF`	Writes the raster into a TIFF file with the extension of `.framebuffer.tif`. This is an example backend for supplying a framebuffer for the RIP to write into. It also supports eHVD. Note that `FRAMETIFF` does not support band-interleaved output (`InterleavingStyle 3`).
`ASYNCTIFF`	Writes the raster into a TIFF file with the extension of `.async.tif`. This is an example backend for supplying bands for the RIP to write into, and for processing the bands asynchronously with the rendering.
`JPEG`	Writes JPEG files, with the file extension `.jpg`.
`PNG`	Writes PNG files, with the file extension `.png`.
`RAW`	Outputs the raster as-is with no additional formatting, with the file extension `.raw`. As it outputs all the data to one file, it is suitable for `STREAM` and `SOCKET` output.
`RLE`	Writes a run-length encoded representation of the rasterized page. The configuration must enable this using the `/RunLength` page device parameter.
`HVDNONE`	Follows all of the eHVD protocol for communication with the RIP about sub-page rasters, but then discards the raster data delivered to it. The example code for this backend may aid in understanding the eHVD protocol as it is an extremely simple implementation. This has a `/OptimizedPDFCacheID` value of `GG_HHR_HVDNONE_ERR2`.
`HVDRAW`	Follows the eHVD protocol and generates a raw file for each element, named `<id>.raw`, and an XML file containing the page and element info, named `<job>.pages.xml`. This is a fuller implementation than `HVDNONE` but still does not deal with combining the rasters to create the final page output. This has a `/OptimizedPDFCacheID` value of `GG_HHR_HVDRAW_ERR2`.
`None`	Just discards all raster data.

Two additional synonyms for LIBTIFF are provided for backward compatibility: LIBTIFFPS and DEMOTIFF ; before Harlequin v13 they were separate raster backends, but as from Harlequin v13 their functionality is selected by using RasterParams; see documentation of LIBTIFF.

Internal HVD will work with any backend, but external HVD requires support in the backend. While only some of the above have that, from version 14, it's not hard to enable such support in any raster backend using our libHVD, see the example backends and the documentation.