Version History

Serendipity Software maintains an ongoing commitment to improve and evolve our colour management solutions.

The timelines list the significant features, enhancements, and supported devices added to Blackmagic, Megarip and Veripress from version 5.4 (June 2013) up to and including our current releases.

Links to more detailed descriptions of certain new features are provided in the text.

For comprehensive details, including bug fixes, on all version releases, see the Release Notes.

 

Select a Product to view the Timeline

Version 9.0 - March 2022

  • Dark Theme option added to the Server window and Client interface. Choose Dark, Light or operating system preference.
  • ServerLog now features Loglevels with colour coding and filters allowing easier error tracking, diagnosis and debugging.
  • Maintenance contract status and expiry date is now displayed in the Server window.
  • User accounts can now be notified by email of upcoming Maintenance contract expiry.
  • An Ncolour colour space option has been added to Calcheck chart allowing the import or entry of Ncolour patches for Calcheck verification.
  • Spot colour tolerance fields have been added to the △E, △H and △Ch Target Standard panels of Calcheck chart. Spot colour tolerance fields have been added to the △E, △H and △Ch Target Standard panels of Calcheck chart.
  • Added 95th percentile control metric to Calcheck summary and reports.
  • Calcheck report now includes graphs to allow users to quickly compare reports.
  • Submit window now includes a page range option when submitting multi-page Postscript, PDF and TIFF files.
  • Priority in the Pagesetup Options now assigns priority to jobs individually, meaning Rush Jobs are now rushed for all processing queues.
  • Change Priority option added to the Queuemanager allowing job priority to be changed at any time during processing.
  • Screen Simulation option added to SoftProof applying a half-tone screen to the previewed image.
  • Debug colourspace and screening pipeline diagnostic previews can now be loaded in Softproof via View Printed.
  • Jobticket now supports the rotation of jobs at angles other than 0, 90, 180 and 270.
  • SoftProof previews can now be rotated to angles other than 0, 90, 180 and 270.
  • Bleedmarks render effect added to Jobticket.
  • Support added for RGB TIFF files with spot colours.
  • SVG file format input now supported.
  • Improved transparency support and handling for TIFF and Photoshop files.
  • Support added for the X-Rite i1Pro3 Plus spectrophotometer.
  • Added Apple silicon (M1) drivers for x-Rite i1Pro3 series spectrophotometers.
  • Support added for the Konica Minolta MYIRO-1 spectrophotometer.
  • Support added for the Konica Minolta MYIRO-9 spectrophotometer.
  • EIZO SDK updated, adding support for macOS 14 Sonoma and Apple Silicon platforms.

Version 8.1.01 - November 2020

  • Minimum Dot feature added allowing the simulation the effects of drop off in the Flexographic print process in proofing output.
  • Minimum Dot % Simulation function added to the SoftProof, simulating the effects off drop off in the Flexographic print process on screen.
  • Ghostscript: PDF interpreter updated.
  • Improved absolute colorimetric rendering of jobs with spot colours.
  • Improvements to overprint simulation for PDF files rendered in RGB.
  • Prime Softproof Press Agent driver now has options to add product, product type and issue short labels to the publication name.
  • Stretch Fit Width and Height, a new fit method, added to the Jobticket Fit and Rotate panel. This stretches both dimensions to fit the specified area, ignoring original image proportions.
  • Improved i1Profiler compatibility for CGATS / ISO12642 device calcheck file exports.
  • Added the Photoshop (.psb) file format to the list of supported files advertised to the operating system. Users can now open or submit them directly from the Finder or File Explorer.
  • A tint value of 0 can now be set when creating special colours, effectively disabling the plate when rendering.
  • The server now automatically detects and skips spot colours that would render with no colour.
  • Gradation Curve table data can now be imported directly from suitably formatted CSV files.
  • Improved i1Profiler compatibility for CGATS / ISO12642 device calcheck file exports.
  • EIZO SDK updated, adding support for macOS 11 Big Sur and above.
  • X-Rite i1Pro SDKs updated, adding support for macOS 11 Big Sur and above.

Version 8.1 - July 2020

  • Veripress’ ghostscript engine improved and updated, providing full 16-bit PDF rendering. PDF and Postscript conversion and interpretation are now provided by Artifex Ghostscript commercial version.
  • Job queues are now backed up to an internal database, improving queue integrity and recovery in the event of machine failure or crash.
  • Server and Client backups can now be restored by double-clicking on the backup file, and by desktop file contextual menu.
  • Users accounts can now be notified by email when Job Printing Completed.
  • Lab Multi colourspace option added to Special Colour Set and Replace Colour Set, allowing created or imported spot colours to be specifically characterised, defining the Lab values of the colour at different coverage levels (Tints).
  • Special and Replace Colour Sets now have the option to Export or Import colours in X-Rite CxF file format, retaining spot ink characterisation data for Lab Multi spot colours.
  • Improved spot colour accuracy when rendering using relative colourimetric intent.
  • Spot colour handling has been added for RGB Photoshop PSD files.
  • Group by Publication added to Output Nesting options. Pages are nested on the output Media in numerical order, in rows from left to right, down the media.
  • Default Copies option has been added to the Pagesetup and Pagesetup Pool Publish panels.
  • Nested jobs containing both CMYK and RGB elements now use the rendered thumbnail to generate a low resolution preview.
  • Support added for the Datacolor SpyderX spectrophotometer (macOS only).

Version 8.0 - November 2019

  • Database Utility added enabling users to verify and maintain the health of Workbench configurations. The database now automatically repairs damaged or non-functional Workbench items.
  • The ability to Step and Repeat a single submitted job without using the Studio application added to the Jobticket options.
  • New Job Genies have been added to the Workbench defaults to support RIP polling for standard PDFs and Serendipity PDF (Retain spot colours) output.
  • Slugline render effect has new options to position the slugline inside the job area.
  • Support added for the X-Rite i1Pro3 and i1Pro3 Plus spectrophotometers.
  • Techkon Spectrodens Wifi connectivity added for Windows, Linux and macOS.

Version 7.1.02 - January 2019

  • Default Press option added to Jobticket. Jobs submitted with this option open in SoftProof using the assigned Press, overriding the SoftProof default press setting.
  • EAE Soft Proof Interface Press Agent now has added flexibility in loading publications from the Press Console and can automatically reload after a Serendipity Client shutdown.
  • Improved JobGenie decoding of page numbers when using the 1A,1B, 2A,2B page sequence type.
  • Displays application support added for Just Normlicht LED lighting systems.
  • Support added for EIZO monitors CG279X, CG2730, CG2420, CG319X, CS2730, CS2420 when using the hardware calibration option in the Displays application.
  • macOS Catalina 10.15 compatibility updates.

Version 7.1.01 - April 2018

  • Proof Lock option has been added to Serendipity Client Preferences, preventing soft proof access to uncalibrated Calcheck Managed displays.
  • SoftProof Status bar can now be hidden when the Calcheck Managed option is disabled for the monitor in Client Preferences.
  • Honour Embedded Screening option for has been added to Jobticket > Postscript/PDF Options for use with Adobe separated postscript files.
  • Mouse Position Hint option has been added to SoftProof Settings.
  • Default Client units for new installations are now automatically configured based on operating system region settings.
  • Press Agent toggle function has been added to the Touch Console and the SoftProof application, allowing press operators to temporarily stop SoftProof responding to publication and page load events.
  • Job Genie now includes a Plate Version option allowing updated individual job plate versions to be recognised by the RIP and re-submitted with existing plates as a new page version.
  • Agfa Arkitex Publication Builder PMD Bookfilter driver now recognises .xml file extensions.
  • "publicationName" field in Arkitex Publication Builder planning files is now included as part of the Book name.
  • Include Edition_Group and Part_Product in publication options added to the EAE Soft Proof Interface Press Agent driver.
  • Support added for the Barbieri Spectro LFP qb spectrophotometer.
  • Support added for the Barbieri SpectroPad spectrophotometer.

Version 7.1 - September 2017

  • Linux installation support added for Fedora 25+ (32 and 64-bit), Ubuntu 16.04.2+ (64-bit) and Debian 8+ (64-bit) operating systems.
  • Linux installation has been simplified. Software is now installed using self-contained .rpm and .deb software packages.
  • Linux desktop user experience has been improved.
  • Improvements to processing, imaging, rendering and soft proof generation times.
  • Improvements and updates to the Workbench application user interface.
  • Windows installation packages now digitally signed, improving installation experience.
  • Server and Client now both have support for TCP/IP v6.
  • Server “About” window has a clearer, tabbed layout and includes a Connected [network] Clients list.
  • Server window now displays options, such as Soft Proofing Add-on, when enabled.
  • Server, Client and all Applications now have full support for high DPI (4K / UHD) monitors.
  • SoftProof application will now display onscreen proofs in full high DPI (4K / UHD) resolution.
  • Improved high DPI support for multi-screen systems.
  • Improved onscreen colour management for RGB spot colour previews.
  • RIP Polling now polls multiple RIPs in parallel, speeding up polling times.
  • Displays application now maintains Calcheck status and history for both Default Press 1 & 2.
  • Truespot colour iteration has been added to the Displays application, automatically adjusting and optimising spot colours to precisely match press output on a soft proof display.
  • Spectro tool control panel has been added to the Touch Console application, allowing Δe colour comparison between soft proofs and press/print material.
  • Spectro tool improves spot colour measurement and verification by deriving the Lab value directly from the spot colour Lab value.
  • SoftProof Spectro tool can now save measurements as Notes in the job.
  • Add to Note button, saving measurements as Notes in the job, added to Touch Console Spectro tool.
  • SoftProof Spectro tool now has a simplified, compact interface.
  • SoftProof Measure Tool now displays the angle of the measurement taken.
  • Calcheck Chart and Calcheck now replace the ΔC standard with ΔCh, in compliance with ISO 12647-7:2016 and other current colour standards.
  • Calcheck Report layout has been improved.
  • Include Job Colours added to Jobticket options, automatically appending job spot colours to the Calcheck being printed and verified with a job.
  • Job ID number now included in Calcheck labels and reports.
  • Barcode (Job ID) effect has been added to the Jobticket Render Effects.
  • Copies Printed column has been added to the QueueManager and Job Info.
  • Spectrophotometer measurements now use and store spectral data when available, in order to provide more versatility when exporting data.
  • Support added for the X-Rite eXact spectrophotometer.
  • Support added for the Techkon SpectroDens spectrophotometer.
  • M3 illuminant condition has been added to the spectrophotometer configuration dialog window when the option is available to the instrument.

Version 7.0.01 - October 2016

  • Updated tabbed panel style user interface added for Media and Output Workbench datatype items.
  • Internal Webserver appearance updated.
  • FUJIFILM Workflow XMF rip driver polling speed improved, significantly reducing poll times for large genstores.
  • Touch Console application settings added to allow SoftProof jobs to be opened in a new tab instead of replacing current tab content.
  • Improvements to Spectro application Lab delta calculations.
  • Version control added to Archives application, preventing users loading incompatible database settings from later software versions.
  • 16-bit RGB colours are now correctly identified in the Client.
  • Improved paper simulation for spot colour jobs rendered using Absolute Colourimetric Intent.
  • Plates with different dimensions now allowed when processing separated postscript files.

Version 7.0 - March 2016

  • Introduction of new driverless USB dongles.
  • Improved Server startup times and improved efficiency for periodic Server tasks.
  • Client lists containing large numbers of items now update significantly faster.
  • Processing speed improvements for PDF files performing large numbers of ICC Based colourspace changes.
  • Improved stochastic screening and CMS dither functions further reducing screening artefacts.
  • TIFF Image output driver now includes additional EXIF data and Photoshop resource tags.
  • Improved handling of Photoshop tags for TIFF file input.
  • Improved multi-display support and detection on Linux platforms.
  • Linux installations can now configure operating system wide ICC profiles using "colord".
  • Linux platform ICC profiles now include a video card gamma LUT for improved colour fidelity.
  • Debug tab added to Server Settings to aid in application support.
  • Operating system now determines Maximum Memory for PS RIP and Rotation.
  • RIP and Bookfilter polling intelligence added to determine when the next polling needs to occur.
  • The EAE Soft Proof Interface press agent driver now supports section-based pagination.
  • Spectro application now loads Lab special colour data directly from individual jobs in the QueueManager for verification purposes.
  • Job ID field added to the Slugline render effect.
  • Drop folder support added for jobs submitted within subdirectories.
  • i1 Pro2 driver spot measurement support added for chart reading.

Version 6.0.01 - November 2015

  • Mac OS X dongle driver is now compatible with Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan.
  • Serendipity Updater now caches downloads locally avoiding re-download if an update error occurs.
  • Improved checking and downloading of additional software after version updates.
  • DCF interoperability index tag parsing added for camera-generated jpeg files, ensuring processing using the correct colourspace when no ICC profile is embedded in the file.
  • Discard Alpha imaging effect added to Jobticket allowing flattened alpha channels in PNG, TIFF, and Photoshop PSD files to be ignored.
  • Date formats in the client are now consistent across operating systems.
  • Automatically detect and configure Duet Display app for iPad and iPhone.
  • Touch Console Show Pages function improved to display any new pages added since the Softproof publication/book was loaded.
  • Touch Console font options now override Client default font preferences.

Version 6.0 - June 2015

  • Increased processing performance across imaging, rendering, de-screening, resampling, rotation, unsharp mask, screening and ICC engine functions.
  • Improved utilisation of hyper threaded CPUs and more efficient thread usage allow more jobs to be processed in parallel with existing system resources.
  • Reduced memory usage for resampling and de-screening operations.
  • Better standard compression for imaged files plus 2 new preview file compression modes.
  • Serendipity Client and Server applications now able to be completely backed-up and restored.
  • Client and Server settings redesigned for ease of use.
  • Integrated Media Catalogue added, giving users access to Serendipity Software's online database of Media configurations.
  • Additional Software panel added to the Serendipity Updater application allowing selection and download of HTM, printer screening and spectrophotometer drivers.
  • Jobtickets added, providing more versatile job submission options via an updated Submit Window.
  • Special Colour Set and Process Grayscale as Black options added to Jobticket.
  • Desktop contextual menu options for job file preview and submission.
  • Multi-resolution image generation option added for imaged and rendered previews, allowing real-time zooming for SoftProof jobs.
  • SoftProof application can now be configured to merge onscreen spot colours in an RGB colourspace, resulting in improved colour matching.
  • Generate Proof View Template option added to the IFRA Track Bookfilter driver, allowing planning file broadsheet spreads to be imposed on-the-fly and displayed in SoftProof.
  • Move to Queue option added to the QueueManager, allowing jobs to be moved to another using the same Output driver without reprocessing.
  • RGB spot/special colour support added Special Colour Sets. RGB spots are rendered directly for RGB colourspace Media for better colour matching.
  • CIE2000 deltaE support added to the Spectro application.
  • M0, M1 and M2 measurement modes added for compatible Spectrophotometers.
  • Calcheck reports and labels now list the measurement condition (M0, M1, M2) used when the chart was measured.
  • Orientation tag present in EXIF data of TIFF, JPEG and photoshop files is now honoured when processing them.
  • BigTIFF, tiled, ZIP/JPEG compression, logL, logLUV and YCbCr image support added to the TIFF image inputs.
  • PDF imaging and rendering speed improvements. PDF files larger than 2GB now supported.
  • Job Statistics web api added.
  • Linux based Serendipity Client now uses colord (Gnome Colormanager) to set and retrieve default monitor icc profiles.
  • Driver search in the Output, RIP, Bookfilter and Media datatypes improved.
  • Support added for the EIZO CG318-4K monitor.
  • Display Pro 3 driver added for Windows 64-bit.

Version 5.4.03 - August 2014

  • Imaging times reduced for RGB / Lab files with embedded ICC profiles, and PDF files with many transparency layers.
  • Software Updater now a fully standalone application.
  • Adobe Photoshop (psd) file format export option added to SoftProof and QueueManager.
  • Improved multi-channel TIFF support for SoftProof.
  • CMC(1:1) and CMC(2:1) deltaE types now supported in Calcheck and Spectrophotometer applications.
  • Custom page sizes can now be configured in Signature Groups.
  • Prime SoftProof Press Agent driver now has improved press console integration.
  • Goss Omnicon driver plugin added to the Press Agent.
  • IFRA Track Bookfilter driver now handles pages with multiple editions.
  • Support added for the EIZO CG277 range of monitors.

Version 5.4.02 - December 2013

  • ThruBlack Render Effect, allowing users to set a coverage level above which black areas of an image are removed on rendering.
  • Spot Colour Mapping data now displayed in Job Info and database Item Info.
  • EAE Soft Proof Interface driver plugin added to the Press Agent application.

Version 5.4.01 - September 2013

  • Significant improvements in PDF and Postscript job imaging times.
  • New spot colour merging significantly improves image and render times for jobs with large numbers of spot plates.
  • Improved on-screen zooming performance for the SoftProof application.
  • Bookfilter now uses the issue date as the book timestamp if it is newer than the date of the polled files.
  • Displays application monitor and light booth calibration improvements, along with improved interoperability and detection of Just Normlicht light booths.
  • RIP input support added for Fujifilm Workflow XMF version 5.5+ which uses a Postgres database backend.

Version 5.4 - June 2013

  • Improvements to Serendipity Client and QueueManager speed and responsiveness, along with processing time improvements when submitting large numbers of jobs.
  • Adaptive compression added to Serendipity Blackmagic Image and Remote Proof file formats, rotation tasks and image buffers to reduce file sizes.
  • Archives application now compresses saved database archive (.sdb) files.
  • Improved handling of ICC based colourspaces in PDF files.
  • Image Overlay added to Render Effects allowing BMG, JPEG, PNG, PPM, Photoshop and TIFF files to be placed anywhere on a job.
  • Dotgain Curve data can now be imported directly from suitably formatted CSV files.
  • Custom page size configuration and storage added to Media, Signature Editor.
  • Output Screening Override added to Media, allowing custom screen methods and characteristics on a plate-by plate basis.
  • Special Colour Set swatch data can now be imported in x-Rite CxF format and from Esko Artpro swatch files.
  • Print Swatch option added to Special Colour Sets allowing printing of configurable colour swatch charts.
  • Mapped spot colours in Media can now have a Dotgain curve assigned.
  • Press Agent / Bookfilter integration allowing Press console paging files received by the Press Agent to open softproof job files defined as pages in BookMonitor.
  • IFRA Track XML planning files are now supported by Bookfilter.
  • “1A, 1B, 1C, 1D...2A, 2B…" page numbering now recognised by Job Genie.
  • SoftProof now has the option to assign two (2) Default Presses. These can be toggled in the Softproof and/or Touch Console interfaces.
  • Horizontal and Vertical Centring options added to SoftProof Settings.
  • Show Channels function added to the Loupe HUD (Heads Up Display).
  • Multi-section softproof publications can now be viewed one section at a time via Softproof and Touch Console options.
  • Improvements to Touch Console interface Navigation and Flipbook controls.
  • Search feature added to Touch Console with a Search Order function to prioritise Publication, Book or Job search results.