Harlequin Core 14.1r0 Release Notes

Introduction

Harlequin v14.1r0 is a major release since HQN v14.0r0, there have been several quarterly and maintenance releases since 14.0r0. This release consolidates work of HQN v14.0r0 and those that followed. We have responded to many customer issues including compatibility and other issues that required Core changes, as you can see in the "Harlequin Core v14.1r0 change details" table (below).

Nonetheless there was time for some new developments. Harlequin v14.1r0 introduces:

• Addition of ColorLogic CMM

• HVD improvements

• Performance enhancements

Alerts and guidance

• Updated Windows compiler to VS2022 LTS

• LDK components must be updated with version 10.21. These are now included in RIP distributions (previously version 8.51 was provided with 14.0r0)

Windows 11 support (Current guidance)

Harlequin Core is fully supported on Windows 11 64‑bit and is automatically validated and qualified on Windows 11 since the first v14 release. The Core and it's SDK components are optimized for modern CPU architectures, taking advantage of SIMD/AVX2 capabilities available on current desktop and workstation hardware.

Key points for OEMs and integrators:

Windows 11 is the primary supported Windows desktop platform for new Harlequin Core integrations. Harlequin Core v14 is 64‑bit only, aligned with Windows 11 requirements and modern toolchains. Integrations should therefore be built and tested using recent Visual Studio toolsets supported by Windows 11. Systems must meet the minimum CPU SIMD requirements enforced at RIP startup; older CPUs that lack AVX2 may fail startup checks.

Windows 10 is now considered a legacy deployment platform but may continue to operate, new integrations and certifications should target Windows 11.

Windows Server 2025 (Expectations) The following is forward‑looking guidance, not a formal support statement, it is expected that Harlequin Core’s existing architecture (64‑bit only, modern CPU assumption, installer‑less ZIP‑based SDK distribution) aligns well with expected Windows Server 2025 characteristics. OEMs planning long‑lifecycle products (forward 5 years) should architect their solutions so that Windows Server 2025 upgrade paths are supported.

Unless agreed with your account manager or product management, formal qualification and support statements for Windows Server 2025 will be communicated in a future Harlequin Core release once validation is complete.

Alternate ColorLogic CMM tryout

Harlequin Core now supports ColorLogic as an internal color management engine alongside ColorPro and the existing Alternate CMM API, providing an additional, high‑quality option for color rendering. The new path is designed to meet or exceed demanding DFE color standards while matching the performance of existing ColorPro‑based workflows, and is available as a optional feature for OEMs already invested in ColorLogic tools. Please speak to your account manager about using this option. Documentation will be added to our website in the coming weeks.

Change highlight - Overprint Preview settings

HQN‑386585 — Overprint Preview Default Updated to SpotsOnly

The default value of /OverprintPreview has been changed from false to /SpotsOnly.

Previously, when no explicit /OverprintPreview value was set, overprinting of spot colours could be incorrectly previewed, which in some cases led to unexpected or incorrect output, particularly with Harlequin VariData (HVD). With this change, Harlequin Core now defaults to:

<< /OverprintPreview /SpotsOnly >> setinterceptcolorspace

This aligns Harlequin output more closely with Adobe Acrobat, where Overprint Preview is typically enabled, and reduces the risk of incorrect output caused by unpreviewed spot‑colour overprinting.

Impact

• Improves accuracy when previewing and rendering overprinted spot colours.

• Reduces the likelihood of bad output in workflows using HVD.

• Brings default behavior in line with most customer expectations and Acrobat’s overprint simulation.

Notes

• This change only applies when no explicit /OverprintPreview value is configured.

• Existing workflows that already set /OverprintPreview explicitly are unaffected.

• To revert this behaviour, set:

<< /OverprintPreview false >> setinterceptcolorspace

Note: enabling the new default (/OverprintPreview /SpotsOnly) causes isolated colour changes for duotones and tritones in some legacy QuarkXPress jobs, producing colours that do not match Adobe Acrobat Output Preview (with Simulate Overprinting enabled). In these cases, the black plane may replace a colour resembling the original spot colour.

Harlequin Core v14.1r0 change details

Known issues

HQN‑386003 – Correct MPS not to exceed the process' maximum number of mappings on Linux
It was found that the default max_map_count on Ubuntu and Red Hat was not sufficient to allow some jobs to complete normally even with a huge memory of 120 GB.
The workaround is to set max_map_count, which prevents this stuck loop at the end of the job. This is planned to be resolved in a future release.

HQN‑385923 – Scalable crashes on startup on PCs with CPUs without AVX2 support
Running a scalable RIP on an Ubuntu VM without AVX2 SIMD support (not recommended) can result in a crash during ZeroMQ static data initialization. Investigation showed the VM CPU flags did not include AVX2.

Deprecated items

CHM files are no longer provided, please us the html pages in this folder: INSTALLATION DIRECTORY\doc\hqnripsdk-html. CHM file were only ever available in Windows.

Documentation updates

The current documentation, particularly the Extensions Manual has been updated and improved for 14.1.

Updates to the API documentation https://api.hybridhelix.com/harlequin/ are provided both in the INSTALLATION DIRECTORY\doc\hqnripsdk-html directory and online.