A breakthrough in inkjet quality - Harlequin Multi-Level Digital Screening

Copyright © Global Graphics Software Limited 2016

A BREAKTHROUGH IN INKJET QUALITYGlobal Graphics Software, dip, hall 7.0, stand C 20 / B 21

Martin Bailey, CTO Jill Taylor, drupa media contact 2 March 2016


Our customers

We develop the software that provides the power to drive all of these and more:


Who we areInternational companyListed in Brussels on Euronext (GLOG)

• 80% world’s photo books

• 70% world’s newspapers

• In high-speed digital since

2002

• Harlequin RIP since 1986

• Expert in transforming

design and pre-press data

into a format that can be

printed

• Active on ISO standards

bodies, notably PDF, PDF/X

and PDF/VT


Harlequin today

We’re going to focus on

and why more vendors are switching to our technology

Harlequin in high-speed inkjet

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Bill

ion

s o

f le

tter

/A4

eq

uiv

alen

t im

pre

ssio

ns

Brochures

Catalogs

Direct Mail and Inserts

Books and Manuals

Magazines and Newspapers

Other Color (includingTransaction)

Higher Quality Applications Printed on Coated Stocks Will Be

a Key Driver in High-speed Production Color Inkjet Growth(10M+ Color Duty Cycle Segment, U.S. & W.E.)

Source: U.S. & W.E. Digital Production Printing Application Forecasts: 2014-2019, InfoTrends

• Overall page growth = 21.0%• Higher quality application growth = 28.7%• Other color growth = 9.1%

Medium or high quality requirements

Direct Mail and Inserts

Books & Manuals

Magazines & Newspapers

High quality requirementsBrochures & Catalogs

Lower quality requirements

Other Color (Including Transaction


To put it another way

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Bill

ion

s o

f p

ages

incr

ease

per

yea

r

Growth in impressions

High quality (Brochures,catalogs)

Mid to high (DM, publication)

Low (transactional etc)

Low quality

applications

still growing,

but rate of

growth is

slowing

Mid to high quality

applications

growing rapidly,

and at a steady

rate

High quality

applications are

quite a new

space for inkjet,

but growing

rapidly

Source: U.S. & W.E. Digital Production Printing Application Forecasts: 2014-2019, InfoTrends


Trends in inkjet printingInfoTrends and other industry research show the following:

Increasing top speed of the presses – still working toward

matching offset and flexo

Increasing use of inkjet in higher quality sectors

And adoption in higher quality sectors of labels & packaging

TransactionalDirect mail & publication

Brochures

and

catalogs

Increasing use

of coated stocks

in GA (and

impermeable

media in labels

and some

packaging)


Common quality issuesInk drops should

ideally form a

regular grid on the

media

Images are available on a USB stick in your

press pack, and at our online press office

They usually don’t You can see

straight lines

along the media

(up and down),

but uneven lines

across the media


Common quality issuesIrregular drop

positioning leads to

drops ‘randomly’

coalescing on the

media:

Images are available on a USB stick in your

press pack, and at our online press office

These microscopic

effects cause visible

artefacts, often

described as

mottling or streaking:

Synthetic image with exaggerated artefacts in order to be visible

on a projector, or reproduced on another print process


Quality matters!

Brand managers and buyers are driving change by pushing the

boundaries. They need high-quality at high-speed

Inkjet press manufacturers are frustrated with output

quality. They are reaching the limits of what can be

achieved with mechanical improvements

The faster the press runs, the

harder it is to control drop

placement precisely

Coated and impermeable media

suffer more from coalescing


Quality matters!

Brand managers and buyers are driving change by pushing the

boundaries. They need high-quality at high-speed

Inkjet press manufacturers are frustrated with output

quality. They are reaching the limits of what can be

achieved with mechanical improvements

They know they need to significantly improve output quality and operate at

high speeds to keep pages fed to the press.

They’ve come to Global Graphics to help them fix their problems


Software is the answer

It’s not financially viable to fix these press problems in hardware

Global Graphics have developed the solution to solve them in

software

Today we’re launching Harlequin Multi-Level Digital Screening

the technology you need for the future of inkjet

By carefully tuning multi-level halftones we can significantly raise

output quality, even on challenging media

Harlequin can meet that challenge, today.


How does it work?


How is it available?

Digital press

Harlequin

RIP v11,

with

ScreenPro

Using Harlequin

for RIPing as

well as

screening

resolves

additional

challenges, such

as driving the

press at speed

for variable data

jobs

Any workflow or RIP

Harlequin Screening Engine


What difference does it make?

Gives press vendors an immediate

competitive advantage

Harlequin Multi-level Digital Screening enables press vendors to …

• Bring new presses to market faster

• Address customer complaints around existing presses

• Print confidently on challenging media and at higher speed

• Expand into higher quality (higher margin) applications


Intelligent software

is as critical a component as

the print head, media, ink,

fluid control, paper

movement, electronics, etc We’ll be

making

announcements

about who is

using this

technology in

the future


Harlequin 11

Latest version of Harlequin launched today

• Yet more processing speed, including PDF/VT hints

• More quality: including multi-level screening

• New features for labels and packaging

Harlequin 11 at drupa?

• HP SmartStream Production Pro 6.0 is based on Harlequin 11

and will be driving HP Indigo digital presses at drupa

Harlequin 11press

release is in your pack


The future

Our goal is that within the next 5 years all digital press

vendors will be switching to Harlequin.

We have the speed, quality and compliance with industry

standards

We are fully focussed on solving press vendors’ issues

Why wouldn’t you switch?


Summary

We have the answer to fix inkjet quality problems in software

We are the only company in the market with this technology

Our solution can be applied to any workflow

Manufacturers have approached Global Graphics because they

cannot solve it themselves and they know we have the expertise


QUESTIONSContact us:

• For a one on one interview to find out more

• To book your personal demo on our drupa stand

Speak to us if you are writing about DFEs, inkjet printing, variable data printing

& PDF/VT, screening, colour management: [email protected]

Your press pack is on-line at: www.globalgraphics.com/company/drupa-news

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.globalgraphics.com/company/drupa-news