Düsseldorf, Germany; 8th May 2004 — Global Graphics Software, a subsidiary of Global Graphics SA and a leading worldwide developer of software components for printing, publishing and document management, announced today that it has extended its relationship with HP by partnering with them to provide the Harlequin RIP as the standard on-board RIP that ships with every HP Indigo 5000 digital press, HP’s new offering for medium- and large-sized commercial print service providers. Global Graphics first announced its collaboration with HP to provide printing software technology in 2002 with the introduction of HP Production Flow, a powerful digital solutions platform, containing multiple Harlequin RIPs, that boosts the processing power of HP’s Indigo digital presses by adding expanded, scaleable performance. Jim Freidah, Global Graphics Software’s president and chief operating officer, said, “We are excited that HP has standardized on the Harlequin RIP for the Indigo 5000 because it further strengthens our relationship with them in the digital print market. It also underlines our increasing success in leveraging our core technologies – which have an established reputation in the high-end graphic arts market – into the growing Print on Demand segment.” “Global Graphics has offered us tremendous support to adapt the Harlequin RIP to embed into our Indigo digital presses. The Harlequin RIP’s high-performance processing capability is a valuable addition to offerings,” said Mike Neuffer, product marketing manager, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. Global Graphics’ Harlequin RIP consumes print jobs fast enough to run HP Indigo digital presses at full speed even when processing large or complex files where the content may vary page by page. The Harlequin RIP interprets PDF files directly (without the need to convert them to PostScript first) allowing for a faster and more accurate rendition of the file. It also provides numerous color management options, including support for industry standards on color as well as custom controls. For medium- to large-size commercial printers that want to take advantage of the significant opportunities in digital printing, the HP Indigo press 5000 provides productivity and flexibility with high print quality, speed and a wide media range. Capable of printing 4,000 full color A4, letter size pages per hour, the HP Indigo press 5000 is expected to be available in late 2004 or early 2005, depending on the region, and boasts substantial innovations in paper handling, inking systems, and production software tools.