Global Graphics

Global Graphics SA

Company type	Public (Euronext GLOG)
Industry	Software
Founded	Nancy (1996)
Headquarters	Cambourne, Cambridgeshire , UK
Website	Global Graphics

Global Graphics SA is a group of companies known for their digital printing products, including the Harlequin and Jaws RIPs. In May 2009 the company launched gDoc Fusion, an edocument builder software application designed for ease of use to create, review, edit, share and archive PDF and XPS documents. On 1 December 2009, Global Graphics launched enterprise-level free PDF creation software; gDoc Creator.

Global Graphics started in Nancy, France in November 1996 and was listed on the Euronext market in Brussels. An initial public offering on the Easdaq market started trading on June 23, 1998 with a total of 765,000 shares, increased from 680,000 in the March prospectus.

History

• On June 30, 1998 the company finalised the acquisition by its wholly owned subsidiary, Photoméca, of the Italian company AZ srl, who manufacture flexographic equipment.

• On 2 May 1999 the company acquired Heights Design Production Ltd, a manufacturer of lithographic plate-processing equipment and proofing equipment based in Wainstalls, near Halifax, U.K.

• On 21 April 1999 the company signed a letter of intent to buy Technigraph Products Limited, a Thetford based provider of lithographic processing equipment, to be completed in July.

• On 12 July 1999 the company bought Harlequin Group Plc after Harlequin Ltd (the R&D company in the group) went into receivership, and have since used the Harlequin RIP products to build a product portfolio in the graphic arts and commercial print, newsprint, digital print, and document markets.

• During 1999 the company also acquired ICG, a scanner and platesetter manufacturer.

• On August 29, 2000, Jaws Systems Ltd was formed from the Digital Publishing division of 5D Solutions Ltd., bringing the existing products Jaws RIP and Jaws PDF Creator into the Printing Software division. The company business model includes selling software to OEMs who build products around it; for example, by licensing RIP software for use by laser printer manufacturers who embed the software inside their printer.

• In 2001 the company reorganised its subsidiary companies, with former hardware businesses Photomeca, Colomag, Kelleigh, AZ, ICG, Heights Technologies and Technigraph forming the Hardware Division, and Harlequin Limited, Harlequin Inc, and Jaws Systems Limited forming the Software Division. The Hardware division of the company, which dealt in lithographic, flexographic, letterpress and scanning equipment, was sold in October 2002 to a group led by the former head of the hardware division, Gary Jones, who had resigned from the board in February.

• In 2003 Global Graphics was chosen by Microsoft to provide consultancy and proof of concept development services on XPS and worked with the Windows development teams on the specification for the new format.

• In May 2009, Global Graphics launched gDoc Fusion [1], edocument builder software aimed at knowledge workers and designed with usability in mind for users to create, review, edit, share and archive PDF and XPS documents.

• On 1 December 2009, Global Graphics launched gDoc Creator [2], a free enterprise-level creator to create, review, edit, share or archive PDF and XPS documents.

• In January 2010, Global Graphics completed a survey [3] with 400 Chief Information Officers from organisations with over 1000 employees across the US and the UK that shows three quarters (76 per cent) of large organisations use free software across the enterprise with over half (51 per cent) planning to deploy more free software in 2010.

• In May 2010, Global Graphics launched gDoc Fusion 2.5 allowing multiple incompatible files to be merged into a single document through a simple drag and drop action. gDoc Fusion 2.5 enables users to create a summary, report or other document that combine spreadsheets, slides, images, text, PDFs and more than 200 other types of document.

Information about gDoc Fusion

gDoc Fusion lets users drag and drop pages from PDF, XPS, Word, Excel or PowerPoint as well as image files, edit them, and save the results as a PDF, XPS or Word document without the user needing to have Microsoft Office or other software installed.

Key Features:

• Page View – enables users to read and modify individual PDF pages with the context-sensitive toolbar. Sticky notes and bookmarks can be added to pages and users can use text search and replace
• Document View – allows users to extract, move, copy or delete pages between multiple open documents using easy drag and drop actions. Users can combine pages from multiple PowerPoint files, easily retaining different templates and formatting
• Flick View – allows users to visually search through pages to find information like a physical document but onscreen
• Assembly View – collate, convert, read and share documents from over 200 different formats in a single view page. Page preview functions and ‘page stacks’ features allows organisation of chapters or document sections
• Multi-format viewer – gDoc Fusion is able to view more than 200 word processor, spreadsheet, image and drawing formats
• LaunchPad – Compact interface to take minimum screen space and use drag-and-drop action to open files
• Finish Document Wizard – offers a guided process to enter document summary information, password security, opening view modes before saving with settings for print or web publishing

gDoc Fusion is available initially in English and German for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Information about gDoc Creator

gDoc Creator [4], is a free enterprise-level creator to create, review, edit, share or archive PDF and XPS documents.

Key Features:

• Create PDF, PDF/a (for long-term archiving of electronic documents) or XPS documents from any Windows application that prints
• Create PDF, PDF/a or XPS from the toolbar in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, complete with bookmarks, hypertext links
• Create PDF, PDF/a or XPS from a drag and drop user interface
• Convert PDF to .doc format for re-use in Microsoft Word
• View documents in multiple formats and in a 'flick view' to quickly browse documents

Information about Harlequin

When Global Graphics bought Harlequin in 1999, the press release included the following information about the Harlequin product line of the time:

"The Harlequin flagship RIP management product (ScriptWorks) is widely regarded as the benchmark high-resolution, high-speed, full feature RIP for the DP&P sector. Harlequin has further RIP offerings, notably its recently launched SOAR; (Scalable Open Architecture) line."

"A second product offering, HIntS (Harlequin Intelligence Systems), which is aimed at the law enforcement, banking and insurance industries, among others, represents 15% of total sales. HIntS consists of suites of powerful, scalable integrated information management solutions."

Global Graphics has main offices in Cambourne, UK; Acton MA, USA; Tokyo, Japan; and Pune, India.

External links

• Global Graphics
• gDoc Fusion