System requirements

To operate correctly the HXM screening plugin requires:

  • A v7.1 or later Express RIP.
  • Harlequin Express RIP v10.0r2 or later is required for HXM screens at flexo angles.
  • Express RIP v11.0r0 or later.
  • An updated LDK product key.


You will need one of three HXM license options, depending on the maximum output resolution at which you will use HXM screens. Licenses are available for:

- up to 1500 dpi

- up to 3000 dpi

- up to 5100 dpi.


Installation notes

Any HXM installer supplied prior to v10.0r2 must not be used in a v10.0r2 or later Express RIP. It is always recommended that the HXM installer supplied with the RIP is used.


From Express RIP v10.0r2 and Express RIP v11.0r0, the HXM screen sets are supplied in two separate installers: Install_HXMflexo.exe and Install_HXMoffset.exe.


The “offset” HXM screen sets use the standard offset litho screen angles of 15°, 45°, 75° and 90°. The “flexo” HXM screen sets are designed for flexography and use the angles recommended by the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA): 22.5°, 52.5°, 82.5° and 7.5°.


From v10.1r1 new flexo and offset installers are provided. It is recommended that you use the new installers for flexo and offset screens to install them into your new or upgraded RIP. From v10.1r1 the flexo screen names have been changed. The offset screen names are unchanged.


The flexo screen naming convention is:


HXM Flexo


For example:


HXMFlexo 5080 175 60


Thus, in a previous version flexo screens would be named (for example): HXM FINE FLX 2400 150 and HXM MEDIUM FLX 2400 100. From Express RIP v10.1r1 and Express RIP v11.0r0 the same screens will be called: HXM Flexo 2400 150 11 and HXM Flexo 2400 100 32.


If you use these screens you must upgrade your Express RIP to v10.1r1 and then reinstall the flexo and/or offset screens using the new installers. Once you have installed both the RIP and the screens you can use Migrate to move all your page setups to the new RIP.


Generally, all setups will work correctly and the new screen names will be migrated and changed in the page setups of the v10.1r1 RIP. This is, however, not true for the 5080 dpi flexo screens. Therefore, when using migrate, for all the HXM Flexo screens that map exactly, the new names are displayed at the end of the separations migration and a Warning dialog is displayed prompting you to install the HXM Flexo screens delivered with the new RIP.


If any 5080 dpi screens are used in page setups, they are not migrated, and for each screen in use a message of the following type is entered into the logfile:


HXM Flexo: The screen in Color Setup "CMYK Separations (Halftone) 504" for Device "Preview" needs to be updated to a newer screen


When the migration is completed, a warning dialog is displayed prompting you to manually update your screen selections in the RIP along with a reference to the logfile for more information.


Note: Historically the “flexo” designation has been used for some HXM screen sets at offset angles with round dots. These are now included in the “offset” HXM set and should be selected as “round”.


Note: If you try to use the Express RIP v10.0r2 (or later) flexo installer with an older (pre v10.0rx) RIP, a warning that they are not compatible is displayed and you will not be able to proceed. Also, if you try to use an older HXM screen installer with Express RIP v10.0r2 (or later) RIP the installation will succeed, but future migration to a later RIP version may fail to copy the screens correctly.


To install the offset screen sets for Express RIP:

  1. Double‐click the HXM installer


Install_HXMoffset.exe.


  1. Click < Previous to display a previous screen or Next > to move onto the next screen.
  2. In the “Choose Install Folder” window select the folder containing the Express RIP to which you want to install the screens. Click Choose and select the folder. If an invalid folder is selected an error message will appear. Use the Restore Default Folder option to return to the default folder. Click Next >.

Note: If a message appears stating that the installer is unable to determine the RIP version you can choose to Cancel the install, go Back and select another RIP folder or Proceed with the install if you are sure that this is the correct RIP.

  1. In the “Choose Plugins” window select one or both of HXM Traditional Screening X.Xrx or HXM Round Screening X.Xrx. Where X.Xrx is the version number. Click Next >. HXM Traditional Screening uses a Euclidean‐like spot shape, whereas HXM Round Screening uses a round spot shape.
  2. The “Select HXM Traditional screen set(s)” window allows you to choose which traditional screen sets you want to install. Make your choice and click Next >.
  3. The “Select HXM Round screen set(s)” window allows you to choose which round screen sets you want to install. Make your choice and click Next >.
  4. If the “Evaluation License Agreement” window appears you must accept the agreement and click Next > to continue.
  5. The Pre‐Installation Summary” window allows you to review your previous selections.
  6. Click < Previous to change your options. Click Install to continue. Click Next > and Done when the installation is complete.

To install the flexo screen sets for Express RIP:

  1. Double‐click the HXM installer


Install_HXMflexo.exe


  1. Click < Previous to display a previous screen or Next > to move onto the next screen.
  2. If the “Evaluation License Agreement” window appears you must accept the agreement and click Next > to continue.
  3. In the “Choose Install Folder” window select the folder containing the Express RIP to which you want to install the screens. Click Choose and select the folder. If an invalid folder is selected an error message will appear. Use the Restore Default Folder option to return to the default folder. Click Next >.

Note: If a message appears stating that the installer is unable to determine the RIP version you can choose to Cancel the install, go Back and select another RIP folder or Proceed with the install if you are sure that this is the correct RIP.

  1. In the Choose Screen Sets window for flexo screens select: the DPI of the screen sets you want: 2400, 2540, 4000, 4800, 5080.
  2. Each screen set contains separate CMYK tiles for several levels of detail; coarse, medium, fine, extra fine. Choose to:

- Install all screen sets for 2400dpi

- Install no screen sets for 2400dpi

- Pick which screen sets to install. On selection of this option you can choose from the various LPI options. For each DPI you can choose: 100, 120, 133, 150, 175 or 200 LPI.

  1. Repeat the previous procedure for each DPI you selected.
  2. An HXM Screen Sets successfully installed message appears. Click Next > to move onto the Install Complete window
  3. The Pre‐Installation Summary” window allows you to review your previous selections.
  4. Click < Previous to change your options. Click Install to continue.
  5. Click Next > and Done when the installation is complete.


For Express RIP the HXM screening plugin needs two procsets normally present from v8.0:

HqnHtm and HqnPluginConf. HqnHtm (replacing add_sfdef) adds the screen definitions to the RIP’s screen table. HqnPluginConf adds the definitions to the Screen Names list for use with the Express RIP GUI. The plugin installer will install versions of both files when a v7.x RIP is detected.


For Express RIP, the offset and flexo plugins are installed into a new directory called \SW\Tiles\hxmgeneric. Within this directory is a HXMRound and HXMTrad folder for the Offset files and an HXMFlexo folder for the flexo files.


A new file for each of the offset and flexo screen sets (setHXMoffset and setHXMflexo), in SW\Sys\ExtraStart is provided which activates the HXM screen set on start‐up.


When using the HXM screens you must ensure that the Resolution is correctly configured within the RIP.