The first day of FESPA Global Print Expo saw the launch of Adobe PDF Print Engine 7 which integrates a range of new functions into the rendering pipeline (inside the RIP), reducing the need for specialized skill sets, and eliminating separate prepress operations…enabling fewer steps and smarter prepress workflows.
The new in-RIP Intelligence features of Adobe PDF Print Engine 7 facilitate a number of prepress workflow cost/time savings
In this major Ai upgrade to Print Engine, the added in-RIP intelligence includes:
Multicolour transparency blending: an industry-first feature which overcomes the technical hurdles of transparency blending for ECG (Expanded Color Gamut) print jobs, aimed at accelerating the adoption of multicolour ECG printing for digital, offset, and flexo production.
Merging of variable product data: enabling the merging of dynamic content, such as serial numbers or barcodes, onto a static PDF template, while simultaneously stepping the resulting unique pieces, thereby eliminating up to two sets of prepress activities and facilitating ‘connected packaging’ to fight counterfeiting and track distribution logistics. 
The new in-RIP intelligence includes the merging of dynamic content, like barcodes, onto a static PDF template
Rendering of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator job files: to enable prepress operators to eliminate the manual steps of opening design files received in their native format (e.g. as Illustrator or Photoshop files) and then having to manually convert to PDF – these steps are now integrated into Adobe PDF.
Bleed generation: for jobs that will be trimmed but were submitted with graphics that stop at the trimline, a bleed can be generated as part of the rendering stage.
It may be an 'old dog' but it's got new tricks - Print Engine 7 barks loudlyCutline expansion: for jobs that will be printed on a wide format printer and finished on a cutting table, the perimeter cutline can be automatically modified to account for the thickness, angle, and pressure of the cutting blade/rotor/laser as well as the flexibility of the substrate.
White mask generation for printing on metallic substrates: building on the white ink capabilities of Print Engine 6 to automatically generate a white ink mask from the metallic spot colour plate, thereby minimising waste/costs by reducing the coverage area and quantity of expensive white ink.
The beta release of PDF Print Engine 7 was made available to Adobe print RIP SDK licensing partners in April, and the final Gold Master edition will be distributed to them in August. Adobe expects that industry-leading OEMs and RIP vendors will begin to release products powered by Print Engine version 7 in 2026.
Naveen Goel, Vice President of Products and General Manager of the Adobe print business says: “A number of prepress steps can be eliminated through in-RIP integration with PDF Print Engine 7 and it will enable commercial printers, packaging converters, textile/garment printers and product manufacturers to realise a number of time-saving and cost-saving benefits.”
