Wide-format RIP and workflow developer Onyx has introduced Onyx 18.5 which includes the Adobe PDF Print Engine (APPE) 5.1 and support for PDF 2.0 files for significantly increased productivity and improved colour handling.
Version 18.5 of the company’s eponymous RIP software is claimed to bring RIP speeds twice as fast as in previous versions, and when implemented in the Onyx Thrive workflow, increases in production speeds via multiple RIP configurations of up to five times.
Onyx says it is the first wide-format vendor to implement APPE 5; Agfa announced its inclusion in the Apogee workflow for CtP and cut-sheet digital workflows last summer. APPE 5 brings built in black-point compensation, anti-aliasing for graphic components to provide a smoother appearance, especially at lower output resolutions, special data for spot colours and PDF 2.0-specific capabilities such as page-level output intents; Onyx has added a colour rendering mode for colours that are out of gamut which maintains chroma (“colour”) and vibrancy without compromising in-gamut colours.
Other features in Onyx 18.5 include Quick Sets, collections of settings for rapid job setup that include automatically added tiles, finishing marks, cropping, scaling and rotation, that can be applied to different substrate types, printers and job types. They are intended to reduce human error and increase production efficiency. A QuickSet application library management feature gives users the ability to bulk export and import their QuickSets to different printers to speed set up time.
‘Onyx 18.5 continues to lead the wide-format print industry with technological advancements that future-proof print service providers needing to differentiate themselves from their competition,’ said Bryan Manwaring, director of product marketing.
