- New software for Mac OS X users works with PDF files generated by Mac OS X and by popular applications such as Adobe Acrobat Distiller Chicago; October 6, 2002 — Apago, Inc., a leading developer of workflow efficiency software, announces the immediate availability of PDFshrink and PDFshrink Lite, new software tools that allow Mac OS X users to optimize existing PDF files and make them substantially smaller. The smaller-size PDF files optimized by PDFshrink can be stored, transmitted and downloaded more quickly, making them more efficient for use on the web, archiving, e-mail, and reading on-screen. "PDF files are used in many different ways, but once a PDF file is created there is no way to optimize or repurpose it without using an Acrobat plug-in such as Apago imageAlter or converting the PDF to PostScript and redistilling it with a different job options setting," explains Dwight Kelly, president, Apago, Inc. PDFshrink allows Mac OS X users to optimize the size and quality of their PDF files for each type of use. The software works with PDF files generated by Mac OS X and by popular applications such as Adobe Acrobat Distiller, InDesign and Illustrator. Using image compression and other techniques, PDFshrink can reduce the size of PDF files containing one or more uncompressed images by often 20% to as much as 80% or more compared to the originals. Takes Mac OS X innovation one step further "Apple continues to be the market innovator with Mac OS X’s ‘Save as PDF’ functionality," says Apago’s Dwight Kelly. "However, when Mac OS X creates a PDF file, it simply reproduces what would normally go to a printer. Mac OS X doesn’t exploit all the compression techniques, such as JPEG, supported by PDF. Additionally, each time an image is used -- such as the background on PowerPoint slides, a bullet symbol, or a company logo -- it is duplicated in the PDF file, increasing the file size." Full-featured PDFshrink PDFshrink is full-featured software that supports JPEG, Flate, CCITT G3 & G4 and Packbits compression methods and optimizes the resolution of each image in the PDF file. Elements that can be lost by other repurposing techniques, such as annotations, form fields, Javascripts and digital signatures, are preserved unchanged. The interface allows the user to set different compression and resolution choices for color, grayscale and 1-bit images. Users can streamline their workflow with automated hot folders or manually process one or more files. Economical PDFshrink Lite PDFshrink Lite is a drag-and-drop version that automatically optimizes a PDF for use on the web and onscreen. Color and grayscale images are reduced to 72 dpi with JPEG compression and monochrome images to 300 dpi using Flate compression. "Most Mac OS X users will find PDFshrink Lite perfectly acceptable for reducing the size of their PDF files," says Kelly. "The full-featured PDFshrink version is intended for MacOS X PDF power users who need the flexibility of being able to customize settings and the added workflow efficiency afforded by hot-folder automation." Platforms, Availability and Pricing PDFshrink and PDFshrink Lite are compatible with PDF 1.4 and support PDF created by virtually any application. Both are designed for Apple Macintosh G3 or G4 computers running Mac OS 10.1 or 10.2 (Jaguar) with at least 128MB of RAM. PDFshrink Lite is priced at $35, while the full-featured PDFshrink retails for $125. The software is available immediately for purchase from the Apago on-line store, A fully functional 15-day trial version can be downloaded from www.apago.com. Founded in 1991, Apago is a privately held corporation that develops and markets software primarily for the graphic arts, prepress and printing industries. The company has licensed its PostScript, PDF and raster imaging technologies to industry leading companies including DuPont (NYSE: DD), Creo (NASDAQ: CREO; TSE: CRE), and Dainippon Screen, among many others, and counts AOL Time Warner, R.R. Donnelly, Vertis, Brown Printing, R.E. May, CMP Media, Ogilvy & Mather, and Saatchi & Saatchi Rowland, among its many retail customers. Apago supports ANSI and ISO standards including TIFF/IT and PDF/X. The company is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, USA, just north of Atlanta. More information about Apago is available at www.apago.com.