Centreville, VA; August 26, 2008: Global Graphics' new interactive community and online store for Harlequin RIP users at www.harlequin.com will be launched to the US market at Graph Expo.   Also demonstrated on the Global Graphics' booth will be the Harlequin PLUS Server RIP (v.8.0), the first graphic arts RIP to natively process PDF, PostScript, and XPS.

Harlequin.com provides a comprehensive range of RIP-related information for the Harlequin user including FAQs, White Papers, technical datasheets and a peer-to-peer forum.  It makes it easy for pre-press operations and print shops to evaluate and purchase products that will add new features to their RIP for increased productivity. Most products are available for evaluation free-of-charge for 30 days so that users can 'try before they buy'. Harlequin.com also provides a service to match users who may have lost touch with their original supplier and who want to upgrade their current RIP, or buy a new RIP, with a new supplier in the Global Graphics' OEM network. The site is backed by Xitron, Compose, Fusion Systems, HighWater, ECRM, RTI, Presstek and Polkadots who will provide technical support to purchasers of Harlequin products.

The JDF-enabled Harlequin PLUS Server RIP (v.8.0) is the first graphic arts RIP to process natively PDF, PostScript and XPS for maximum flexibility when handling print jobs from different sources.  The Harlequin RIP has rendered PDF natively since 1997, introducing support for transparency in 2002 so there is no need to flatten transparent artwork.  From a host of new features introduced in v.8.0 highlights include: 'PDF retained raster' that significantly speeds up the processing of variable data in PDF files; and a soft-proofing feature that allows the print service provider to quickly create a PDF that represents exactly how a job will appear on press for customer approvals. Several of the powerful in-RIP features that give the Harlequin RIP workflow-like capability will be demonstrated including in-RIP simple imposition for two-up and four-up conventional and digital print; and the award-winning in-RIP font emulation for time-critical applications such as print- on-demand, newspapers and magazines.  In 2008 The Harlequin RIP celebrates the twentieth anniversary of its first use in a commercial system.