Aldridge Solutions

Helping Your Work Flow

One of the main mechanisms that Global Graphics Software Inc. give us all to adapt the powerful Harlequin™ RIP are Page Features. Many Harlequin RIP users will have heard of them, or may recall in the Page Setup dialog box on their RIP a place to select a Page Feature (just called "Feature" in newer editions of the RIP). Page Features are pieces of Adobe Postscript® or Global Graphics extensions to the Postscript language, written in plain text, which can be run by the RIP with each job that is processed through the Page Setup in which they are selected, in order to modify the processing of the job in some way.

Common and simple example of Page Features we might use to get a problem job onto press when you don't have the source files might be automatically adding printers marks to a page, such as crop and register marks, colour bars and annotations. But the scope is huge, anything you can write in postscript, as much a high level programming language as it is a page description language, can be used to manipulate or modify the processing of job through the Harlequin RIP to achieve the results you need. Special file naming conventions, overriding settings in customer jobs that you don't want to use, performing automated imposition or ganging tasks, detecting RGB colour, announcing missing fonts .... the list goes on.

Here we provide a library of common useful page features which all Harlequin RIP users, no matter which brand you have, be that Xitron Navigator™, Compose Express RIP™, ECRM RIPMate™, HighWater Torrent™, Dianippon Screen HQ510™, RTI RIP-Kit™, Presstek Momentum RIP™ or any other brand current or no longer available, can use to fix a problem or save themselves some time (some Page Features may require a certain version number, but the brand doesn't matter at all).

All Page Features are provided "as-is" with no warranty as to the fitness for purpose or that any errors will be corrected by Aldridge Solutions. However we would be pleased to discuss with you any customisation or development of new features to meet your specific needs. Please contact us with your requirements.

 

Name Description Download
CopyInput
Captures incoming file stream data from sockets, appletalk and ntprint devices and places capture file in ..\sw\capture - adds a sequence number to each file to avoid overwrites
CopyInput.ps
Preps (v5) Naming
Adds the Preps section number and side identifier to each Page Buffer name in the RIP so output files printed to the RIP from Preps v5 will have correct identifiers in the names, i.e. MyJob - 1A, MyJob - 2B etc. Does not work with Preps6 as Kodak decided to remove the useful comments from the file that made this possible :-(
PrepsNaming(PrepsV5).ps
ErrorLogger
When a file errors in the RIP it's name and the date/time of the error are logged in a file.
ErrorLogger.ps
Fixed Output Size
Forces the RIP to output a fixed size plate or film, and positions your job in the centre of this area. Edit the feature to set your fixed size
Fix_Output_Size.ps
Slugline 1
Adds a fixed line of text at the edge of your jobs, either just on the Black sep or on All seps. Edit the feature to customise the text
Fixed_Slugline1.ps
Full Crop Marks v5 or lower Expanded CropMarks feature compatible with RIPs v5 and earlier. Customisable to add crops, register marks, plate text, progressives and more. FullCropMarks_v5_or_lower.ps
Full Crop Marks v6 or higher As above but compatible with version 6 and newer RIPs FullCropMarks_v6_or_higher.ps
Size Report Displays in the RIP Monitor Window the Page Size defined by the PS or PDF job being RIPed SizeReport.ps

 

 

 

Copyright © Aldridge Solutions 2019. All Rights Reserved.