Adobe launches PDF Print Engine 4

Adobe recently launched the fourth version of Adobe PDF Print Engine 4 (APPE 4), its high-speed, high-fidelity print platform used by the leading print equipment manufacturers, and running in more than 150,000 print operations around the world. As the fastest and most reliable PDF rendering technology, APPE 4 will “deliver new performance efficiencies and breakthrough colour features to extend Adobe’s market-leading print technology. APPE 4 will enable printers to increase workflow efficiency and capitalize on the profit potential of new innovations.”
New features include

• Tile Parallel Processing (TPP) that brings the efficiencies of the Mercury RIP Architecture to wide-format printing. TPP accelerates system performance by breaking up large assets, like a poster, retail sign or architectural drawing, into smaller sections, each of which is assigned to a separate instance of APPE, running on a separate CPU core. By processing multiple tiles in parallel, then seamlessly re-assembling them, TPP significantly reduces overall rendering time.
• Performance is now 10 times faster for graphics consisting of a pattern, which repeats over an extended area.
• Continuous shading effects are now more fluid. New algorithms developed by Adobe colour scientists smooth out long gradient blends, especially at inflection points where hue can shift abruptly.
• Spot-colour handling has been expanded. Up to 127 colour channels can now be specified and used in any given region.

“For designers, APPE 4 offers the assurance that their artistic vision will be faithfully reproduced on press, with no unwanted surprises,” said Adobe. APPE 4 shares the same core technologies used in Adobe InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Photoshop CC and Acrobat DC, and has been optimized for the latest updates. This guarantees, said the company, results in reliability across proofing cycles and reduces the need for last-minute fixes.
PDF Print Engine 4 has been distributed to Adobe’s print partners. It will become available to printers throughout 2016, integrated into next-generation pre-press solutions from the industry’s most respected vendors.