Mako Core(SDK)

At the core of smart print applications

Fast, intelligent, and brilliantly evolved, the mako shark finds its match in Mako Core. Designed as the ultimate software development kit (SDK) for print industry developers, Mako stands out as the core of Smart Print solutions.

With decades of print knowledge and expertise encapsulated within, Mako is purpose-built to provide unmatched capabilities, flexibility, and reliability for creating multi-PDL viewers, editors, and custom workflow components.

Whether you aim to optimize workflows or pioneer cutting-edge print solutions, Mako is your indispensable tool for success. Powered by the Intelligent DOM (iDOM), our robust document object model, you'll attain unrivaled control and precision, elevating your print projects to unprecedented levels of excellence.

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Features and benefits

Unleash the power of intelligence: decades of print intelligence built in
Effortless high-speed handling of large documents, gigabytes of data and millions of pages
Extended gamut support and precision color management
Add flow text using the Layout Engine
Simplify development across multiple Page Description Languages (PDLs)
Your trusted partner in ISO standards compliance
Unlock savings and streamline operations: consolidate your document processing
Seamless integration with Mako's multi-language APIs
Cross-platform development for cloud, mobile, and desktop
Simple price and licensing with Mako Core's partner-centric approach
Seamless PDL Conversion
Rapid rasterization
Innovative graphics engine
PDF viewing with overprint simulation
Comprehensive PDL analysis
Flawless transparency flattening using raster and vector techniques
Streamline PDLs through preflighting and optimization
Generate new documents, such as brand new PDFs from raw data
Build precise Microsoft Windows printer drivers (v3 and v4)
Create accurate master images for camera- and scanner-based vision systems

The role of PDLs in printing

Page Description Language (PDL) documents are typically used in the printing industry to generate high-quality output from digital content. The most popular PDLs include PostScript, PDF, and PCL. These languages allow for precise control over the printing process and ensure that the final output accurately reflects the original document.

Who is behind Mako?

The name "Mako Core" was chosen to evoke a sense of adventure and daring; this attitude reflects the team's commitment to going above and beyond in serving their customers. The Mako Core team is dedicated to ensuring their customers' success and, with a focus on customer satisfaction, is a trusted partner that is committed to achieving excellence in all that they do.

Global Graphics Software has been a trusted and leading developer of innovative software technologies for the printing industry for over 30 years. With a rich heritage in print, the company's founders were instrumental in developing the Harlequin RIP®, the world's fastest raster image processor (RIP).

Global Graphics Software's technologies are used by leading print vendors around the world and cover a wide range of print applications, from commercial printing to industrial inkjet and packaging. The company is recognized for its deep knowledge of print workflows, color management, and image processing, and is dedicated to helping customers unlock the full potential of their print equipment through software innovation.

Unleash the power of intelligence with iDOM

Mako sharks are renowned for their intelligence, and similarly, the Mako Core SDK stands out among other SDKs with its exceptional feature called iDOM, or Intelligent Document Object Model. This remarkable capability grants comprehensive access to every element within a document, including fonts, images, vector art, layers, metadata, and more. What sets Mako apart is its unique ability to handle multiple PDLs simultaneously, a distinguishing feature absent in other libraries. Furthermore, Mako streamlines document processing by automating complex operations in the background. For instance, converting any PDF to an ISO standard like PDF/X-4 is effortlessly achieved by simply selecting it as the output format. By encapsulating decades of print experience within its iDOM, Mako significantly reduces the reliance on developers with extensive print knowledge, offering unmatched convenience and efficiency.

For example you can use the iDOM to:

Seamless PDL conversion: effortlessly convert between different PDLs
Rapid rasterization: RIP any page to a raster swiftly
Innovative graphics engine: create new print solutions using Mako as a powerful graphics engine
PDF viewing with precision: view PDFs with accurate overprint simulation
Comprehensive PDL analysis: thoroughly analyze PDLs for enhanced understanding
Effortless handling of large documents: easily manage gigabytes of data and millions of pages
Flawless transparency flattening: achieve seamless transparency flattening using both vector and raster techniques
PDL preflight and optimization: streamline PDLs through preflighting and optimization
Advanced color operations: handle complex color operations, including Extended Gamut Color (ECG) support
Dynamic document creation: generate new documents, such as brand new PDFs from data
Windows printer driver development: build precise Microsoft Windows printer drivers
Vision system development: create accurate master images for camera- and scanner-based inspection systems

Harness the speed of the mako shark

Renowned as the world's fastest shark, the mako shark serves as a fitting inspiration for the Mako Core SDK. Just like its aquatic counterpart, Mako Core possesses remarkable attributes. Its highly efficient, multithreaded, and thread-safe architecture empowers swift processing of PDFs and other fixed-format PDLs. Mako Core is meticulously crafted to handle colossal PDFs, encompassing millions of pages and spanning multiple gigabytes in size, while maintaining industry-leading speed and performance.

Extended gamut support and precision color management

Mako's color management module, powered by ColorLogic CMM, ensures ICC profile compatibility and consistent color rendering. Its versatile APIs facilitate accurate evaluation and transformation of color properties, simplifying corrections and automating workflows. Mako supports extended gamut color for vibrant reproduction beyond CMYK. Whether working with PDF, XPS, PostScript, or PCL formats, Mako provides precise and confident color management for print applications.

Conform with confidence: Mako Core, your trusted partner in ISO standards compliance

Mako simplifies ISO compliance for PDF standards, including PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000-2) and PDF 1.x. It offers options to save PDFs in various ISO formats like PDF/X-4 (ISO 15930-7:2010), PDF/X-1a (ISO 15930-4:2003) for prepress, and PDF/A-1b (ISO 19005-1) or PDF/A-2b (ISO 19005-2) for archiving. Mako ensures readiness of documents by adhering to these standards, such as saving to PDF/X-4 for print jobs with consistent fonts and colors.

Simplify development across multiple Page Description Languages with Mako Core

While Mako provides a wide range of APIs that apply specifically to PDF, many features are common to all PDLs, making it easy to use the same APIs and techniques. For example, suppose you need to know how many pages in a document use color. With Mako, you can write a utility that works with any of the supported inputs, including PDF, OXPS, PostScript, PCL5, IJPDS, PPML and PCL/XL. This cross-PDL development capability saves time and effort by eliminating the need for multiple libraries or tools.

Seamless integration with Mako's multi-language APIs

C++

#include <jawsmako/jawsmako.h>
#include <jawsmako/xpsoutput.h>
#include <jawsmako/pdfinput.h>

Create our JawsMako instance.
IJawsMakoPtr jawsMako = IJawsMako::create(".");
IJawsMako::enableAllFeatures(jawsMako);

// Input
input = IPDFInput::create(jawsMako);

// Output
output = IXPSOutput::create(jawsMako);

// Get the assembly from the input.
IDocumentAssemblyPtr assembly = input->open(inputFilePath);

// Write to the output
output->writeAssembly(assembly, outputFilePath);

C#

using System;
using JawsMako;

// Create our JawsMako instance.
IJawsMako jawsMako = IJawsMako.create".");
IJawsMako.enableAllFeatures(jawsMako);

// Get the assembly
IDocumentAssembly assembly;
using (IPDFInput input = IPDFInput.create(jawsMako))
{
    assembly = input.open(inputFilePath);
}

// Write to the output
using (IXPSoutput output = IXPSOutput.create(jawsMako))
{
    output.writeAssembly(assembly, outputFilePath);
}

Mako offers you the flexibility to work in your preferred programming language, whether that's C++, C#, Java or Python. Mako's comprehensive SDK includes APIs for each of these languages, so you can seamlessly integrate Mako into your projects.

Furthermore, Mako provides a range of ready-made sample code in each programming language, making it easy for you to get started and understand how to use the APIs. This makes the development process faster and more efficient, allowing you to focus on the unique aspects of your project rather than spending time writing boilerplate code.

Unlock savings and streamline operations: consolidate your document processing with Mako Core

Many organizations find themselves licensing multiple libraries and SDKs to process digital documents, leading to significant costs over time. Often, this happens because previous developments required a specific capability that wasn't available in their existing tools. If you're facing this challenge, it may be time to audit your SDK use and consolidate with Mako. With Mako, you can meet all your PDF requirements, as well as those for XPS, OXPS, PCL5, PCL/XL, and PostScript, all in one solution. To help identify potential cost savings from consolidation, take advantage of our free Switching Service.

Cross-platform development for cloud, mobile, and desktop

Mako’s core code is built for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, Windows 10 UWP and Raspberry Pi. Linux support includes Ubuntu, Centos, RHEL and Alpine. Solutions developed with Mako range from fast and fluid interactive tablet apps to scalable, cloud-based systems processing hundreds of documents per hour.

Cloud: Mako's versatility allows it to be used in various scenarios: thanks to its small footprint, Mako is perfect for containerization, making it an ideal choice for scalable cloud implementations on platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure. For instance, a Mako-based component developed to run under Alpine Linux in a Docker container is ideal for building micro-services that can easily scale in and out to handle tasks, enabling the development of high-speed, high-volume solutions.
Mobile: Mako provides platform-tuned rendering for iOS and Android, allowing it to take full advantage of the hardware-accelerated rendering capabilities of these platforms. This ensures that you can enjoy a fast and fluid document viewing experience, regardless of the operating system or device you are using.
Desktop: with Mako you can create robust Windows applications that can load, visualize, edit, process, and save documents. To help get you started, a minimally viable product of a PDF viewer/editor, the Mako PDF Editor, is available as a foundation to build upon. The Mako PDF Editor is a C# WPF application written in an MVVM pattern, making it easy to brand and extend. It can be used to build a dedicated workflow component for a specific task or as a standalone application. This approach can also be applied to macOS or Linux applications with equal ease.

Simple price and licensing: Mako Core's partner-centric approach

We exclusively supply OEM and ISV partners, as our focus lies on serving your needs rather than selling directly to end users. We understand the importance of flexibility in selling to your customers, free from our cost structure or licensing complexities. To simplify the process, we offer a straightforward licensing and purchasing approach for Mako Core. It involves a single one-off payment per year, which grants you access to the technology, inclusive of the SDK, support, and maintenance. With this approach, there are no royalties to pass on to your customers, and we collaborate with your licensing protection. However, we recognize that our simplified model may not fit every scenario, so we are open to discussing alternative purchasing options that align better with your go-to-market plan. Feel free to reach out to our sales team, and we can explore the available options together.

Revolutionizing print solutions: Mako Core, the unrivaled preference of print OEMs and ISVs

Mako Core stands as the unrivaled choice for print OEMs and ISVs, achieving remarkable recognition and widespread adoption in smart print applications across diverse segments. A remarkable testament to its dominance, an astounding 90% of Managed Print Services solutions are powered by Mako Core.

Working with you

Here at Global Graphics Software we understand how difficult it can be to get started on your digital print journey, and so our Technical Services team is ready to offer free expert advice and help.

Dedicated experts in RIP and screening technology, principal software engineers and color scientists, all with decades of real-world experience, are ready to guide you through the process of selecting the right software components and then successfully implementing them into your press.

We pride ourselves on offering a personal, friendly service and work with you to ensure the fastest time to market.