Overview (Linux, macOS, and Windows)

To view v13.x documentation, go to the top level of the legacy documentation.

This page applies to Harlequin v14.0r0 and later; and to Harlequin Core but not Harlequin MultiRIP.

Unless specified otherwise, content on this page applies to Linux, macOS, and Windows platforms.

The Harlequin Core is a Raster Image Processor (RIP); it's a tool for generating data in a format that a printing device (such as an inkjet printhead, toner marking engine, or laser plate-setter) can understand, from a page description language such as PDF and PostScript. The format that it outputs may be a raster file format such as TIFF, or it may be a stream of raster data that is delivered directly to the printing device. The exact format required is achieved by writing a “raster back end” in the Harlequin Core Software Development Kit (SDK).

The Harlequin Core is highly tuned for performance to produce the highest speed possible with the hardware available and without compromising on print quality. It is also specialized for delivery of rasters for print, including rich support for spot colors, colorant sets beyond CMYK, overprinting, variable data print optimization, and so on.

Harlequin Core includes sophisticated color management and halftone screening to ensure that it produces exactly what is needed to drive a specific device.

Harlequin Core is therefore an excellent choice for the core of your controller or Digital Front End (DFE) for a digital press. It is designed as an SDK to enable you to integrate into the rest of your system, or for use with Global Graphics’ (GGS) Fundamentals toolkit to provide additional functionality.

The Harlequin Core SDK may be secured using LDK from Thales unless your account manager has provided alternative security.

The PDF document format is documented in the ISO-32000 standard, available from the PDF Association or the International Standards Organization.

The PostScript language is documented in the PostScript Language Reference Manual, by Adobe Systems Inc., published by Addison Wesley. This manual is more familiarly known as the Red Book. There have been three editions of the Red Book; for convenience, GGS documentation refers to these editions as [RB], [RB2], and [RB3].

SDK as delivered includes material that is defined as confidential according to evaluation agreements and OEM contracts.