Frequently Asked Questions

Adobe PDF Print Engine is a Software Development Kit (SDK) that renders PDF job content. It converts graphics, text, and images to rasters (pixels) to drive digital presses, wide-format printers, label presses, textile presses, print bars and platesetters. PDF Print Engine is the rendering technology built into at the heart of next-generation prepress solutions from key industry leaders. View our partner list.

Mercury is a parallel processing framework that harnesses multiple instances of PDF Print Engine in tandem. It runs on multiple CPU cores, blades, networked systems, and RIP farms. Mercury RIP Architecture can drive multiple presses simultaneously. Mercury dynamically assigns job surfaces to available instances. It is optimized for variable data printing (VDP) and variable product printing (VPP) jobs in packaging, labels, industrial printing, direct mail, and customer correspondence. Over 20 industry-leading products are certified on the Mercury RIP Architecture. To learn more, click here.

PDF/X is an international standard, officially named ISO 15930. The standard specifies the optimal way to construct a PDF file for commercial printing. The “X” stands for “eXchange.” PDF/X files are exported by design applications such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. The latest version is PDF/X-6, which was published in 2020.

PDF/VT is officially named ISO 16612 This standard is built on PDF/X and specifies the optimal way to construct a PDF file for VDP. The “V” stands for “Variable, and the “T” stands for “Transactional.” PDF/VT files are generated by VDP and VPP applications. The latest version is PDF/VT-3, which is built on PDF/X-6.

Version 7 of the PDF Print Engine was announced in Berlin on May 6, at the FESPA print industry trade show. It will boost productivity and automation by executing prepress and postpress functions inside the RIP, reducing the need for interactive prepress steps and specialized skill sets. These new capabilities will accelerate high-volume custom printing, web-to-print job submission, direct-to-garment printing, and a range of industrial and packaging workflows. In an industry first, version 7 will blend and separate complex transparency effects for printing on multicolor ECG presses (Expanded Color Gamut) that include additional inkstations beyond the standard process inks (for example Orange and/or Green and/or Violet, in addition to Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black). Version 7 will also perform in-RIP merging and stepping of variable data, in-RIP rendering of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator files, in-RIP generation of bleeds, in-RIP expansion of cutlines, and in-RIP generation of white masks when printing on metallic substrates. To learn more, click here.

If your company manufactures printing equipment or develops DFE software for rasterizing PDF files, please email us to learn about partnering with Adobe.