SAN JOSE, Calif. - Adobe today announced the availability of the fourth version of Adobe PDF Print Engine (APPE 4), Adobe's 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 color 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.

Print operations are embracing the best practices of connected manufacturing – "Industry 4.0" – while inkjet and nano technologies are being rapidly adopted in packaging, labeling, textile, signage, ceramics, photography, publishing and personalized direct mail. Adobe has worked to advance these segments, partnering with leading manufacturers of digital presses, wide format printers and Digital Front Ends (DFEs). The launch of APPE 4 marks a decade of success for Print Engine. Today, hundreds of different products are powered by APPE – from digital production presses and label presses, to wide format inkjet printers, to platesetters for traditional printing (offset/flexo/gravure).

New in Adobe PDF Print Engine 4

• Tile Parallel Processing (TPP) 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 more fluid than ever. New algorithms developed by Adobe color scientists smooth out long gradient blends, especially at inflection points where hue can shift abruptly.
• Spot color handling has been expanded. Up to 127 color channels can now be specified and used in any given region.

The industry's leading innovators are harnessing the power of APPE 4 in the next generation of print workflow products. For designers, APPE 4 offers the assurance that their artistic vision will be faithfully reproduced on press, with no unwanted surprises. 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 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 prepress solutions from the industry's most respected vendors.