Mako Core™ 8.1 is the first release to follow the landmark release we made back in April that introduced Apex, a completely new renderer in Mako that runs on the GPU. We demonstrated its extraordinary performance to new and existing Mako customers, and some are already working with it.
In Mako 8.1, we have made it even easier for existing Mako users to experience Apex for themselves, with the introduction of “Apex Eval”. With just the addition of a header and a single-line code change, Mako will use Apex behind the scenes when calls to the Jaws renderer are made, providing an instant speed-up. Of course, the best performance is achieved using the native Apex APIs, but this approach is perfect for evaluation purposes.
We have continued to build out Apex features, and the biggest of these is the introduction of a post-processing API that enables developers working with Apex to extend the GPU pipeline with functions of their own to run on the GPU.
This was how we implemented applying tone curves in Apex’s first release, but now we have opened it up. It offers several opportunities for post-processing of the rendered image while it’s still on the GPU, at GPU speeds! Screening, spot color replacement, ink limiting, watermarking are just a few examples of what is possible, and we are looking forward to hearing of the novel applications Mako customer put it to.
Mako 8.1 will be available for download from 31st July 2025. Pick up the release notes on 31st July 2025.
About the author
David Stevenson is the product manager for Mako Core™ SDK and responsible for the performance component in Global Graphics Software’s SmartDFE™, the AI-accelerated Digital Front End for high-speed, single-pass, roll-to-roll inkjet presses.
Further reading:
- Introducing Mako Core v8 now with a revolutionary PDF renderer
- Film: Choosing a print Software Development Kit (SDK)
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