SAN JOSE, Calif.--Aug. 27, 2001-- Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in Network Publishing, today announced the availability of Adobe Acrobat Approval 5.0 software, a new member of the Acrobat product family that allows corporate customers, government agencies and solution providers to deploy cost-effective electronic forms solutions based on the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Acrobat Approval 5.0 enables users to easily fill-in, spell-check, digitally sign, save, and submit eForms that have been created using award-winning Acrobat 5.0 software. "Corporations are always searching for technology solutions that improve internal workflows, are easy to deploy, and save time and resources,'' said Elizabeth Sun, senior program director, Electronic Business Strategies, META Group, Inc. "Products that help achieve this end -- particularly those from established brands that are based on widely accepted standards -- will find a willing audience.'' With Acrobat Approval 5.0, customers can easily deploy eForms created using Acrobat 5.0 to small workgroups or tens of thousands of employees located around the world. Using a solution based on Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Approval 5.0, and leveraging Adobe PDF, customers can better ensure the accuracy of forms data by automating data calculations and rule validations, retain the familiar look and feel of paper-based forms, increase the security and confidentiality of employee information, and reduce administrative and materials costs. "With Acrobat 5.0 and Adobe PDF, we're building an open, end-to-end solution for trade processing that adheres to international rules and approved banking practices,'' said Jacob Katsman, CEO of CCEWeb, a Canadian-based company that provides services to financial institutions involved in international merchandise trade. "Now with Acrobat Approval 5.0, our clients will have the ability to fill-in and save forms, apply their digital signatures, and conveniently submit them from within a Web browser, no matter where they're located around the world.'' Using Acrobat Approval 5.0, employees can fill-in Adobe PDF forms inside or outside a Web browser using a familiar software user interface, spell-check the information typed into form fields to avoid spelling errors, apply a digital signature to ensure authenticity, save forms locally for offline work, and ultimately submit forms data to a back-end database for routing and processing in a number of formats, including the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). Pricing and Availability Acrobat Approval 5.0 is available immediately in English, French, German, and Japanese versions for Windows 95 OSR 2.0, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 with service pack 5 or 6, Windows ME, and Windows 2000, and Macintosh OS 8.6, 9.0.4 and 9.1. The product can be purchased through the Adobe Open Options licensing programs and as an electronic software download from the Adobe.com Web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrapproval/ main.html. Pricing begins at US$39.00 for a single unit, and can range as low as US$14.00 for some license purchases. Information about licensing program pricing and support policies is available online at http://www.adobe.com/ products/acrapproval/main.html or by calling 1-800-272-3623.