Following on from his announcement of Mako Core™ v8, which introduced Apex™, David Stevenson, product manager at Global Graphics Software, is back with a second video — this time showing how Apex handles multi-page rendering.
In case you missed it, Apex is Global Graphics’ new technology for rendering PDFs and other Page Description Languages (PDLs) natively on a GPU. It’s available as a powerful add-on to the Mako Core SDK and is designed to deliver exceptional performance and accuracy for modern high-volume workflows.
In my first demo, I showed Apex’s incredible speed when rendering a single page. In this latest video, I push Apex further — rendering hundreds of pages in just a few seconds.
Testing Apex on a 500-page Job
The demonstration begins with a label job created using STEPZ from Hybrid Software, consisting of 1,200 personalized pages. For speed, the demo focuses on the first 500 pages at 600 dpi.
First, I render the job using Jaws, Mako’s standard renderer. Jaws completes the task in about one minute — an impressive result in itself.
Then it’s time to switch to Apex.
Using the GPU-native renderer, Apex processes all 500 high-resolution pages in under 19 seconds — showcasing the extraordinary speed advantage Apex delivers when handling complex, multi-page jobs.
Rendering accuracy: Ghent Working Group test
To ensure that speed doesn’t come at the cost of accuracy, I also demonstrate Apex rendering the well-known Ghent Working Group (GWG) test PDF. This file is packed with challenging transparency, overprint settings, and complex graphics specifically designed to test rendering engines.
Apex generates a wrapped-raster PDF that can be easily proofed and printed without further processing. Reviewing the output in Acrobat Reader confirms that Apex maintains complete fidelity — no rendering errors, no artifacts, just perfect results.
See it for yourself. Watch the full video to see Apex in action!
To find out more about Apex visit: hybridhelix.com/apex
About the author
David Stevenson is the product manager for the Mako Core™ SDK and responsible for the performance component in SmartDFE™, the AI-accelerated digital front end platform for high-speed, single-pass inkjet presses. Throughout his career, he has specialized in electronic documents, starting with Xerox Corporation as a product manager for Venture Publisher, an early star of desktop publishing on PCs. That was followed by a 13-year career at Adobe, specializing in various aspects of PDF, including creative print workflows, electronic forms and accessibility. At Helix he continues to focus on PDF technology and solutions for page description languages (PDLs).
Further reading:
- Using the GPU is not expensive: it’s already there
- Introducing Mako Core v8 now with a revolutionary PDF renderer
- Film: Choosing a print Software Development Kit (SDK)
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