Carlsbad, California, January 2, 2003 - A Lowly Apprentice Production, Inc. (ALAP), announced today the release of an update for it's Adobe Photoshop import XTension for QuarkXPress, ImagePort 1.2.1. This update resolves some known issues in previous versions and supports Adobe Photoshop 7 files. At present, Photoshop images containing layers must be "flattened," or stripped of all layering information before they can be imported into a QuarkXPress layout. ImagePort saves designers tremendous time by eliminating the need to "flatten" an image to be used in QuarkXPress. ImagePort retains full control of layers, channels and paths once the image is imported into the QuarkXPress document. ImagePort even allows the user to manipulate layers, channels and paths. Layers can be turned ON and OFF and the user has full control over layer opacity and blending mode. Channels can be turned ON and OFF, or designated to print as any QuarkXPress color. Paths can be designated for use as a clipping path or for text runaround. Multiple versions of the same image can be conveniently placed in one picture box and ImagePort now includes support for Adjustment Layers. The easy-to-use ImagePort palette provides familiar controls to give the user full access to layers, channels and paths in a Photoshop image. "Clients are notorious for last minute changes - which is why ImagePort is such an amazing time-saver," commented Len Williams, owner of Design Strategies, Inc. "We frequently build 100ú300MB multi-layered Photoshop images and then print a variety of client proofs. ImagePort saves gigabytes of disk space since we only need one file that can be modified within QuarkXPress itself! Producing a series of prints is now just a few minutes work because we've already built the variations into the Photoshop image. ImagePort is a product that should have come along years ago!" "The ability to turn layers, channels, and paths on and off offers us unlimited creativity in the production stage. No more switching back and forth between Photoshop and QuarkXPress," commented Raymond Sanford, owner of Sanford Associates. "Now we can output unlimited variations of comps from a single Photoshop file." ImagePort 1.2.1 is currently available for Apple Macintosh PowerPC System 8.6 or later and QuarkXPress 4.1 or later and Microsoft Windows 98 or later and QuarkXPress 4.1 or later. ImagePort 1.2.1 is priced at $99.99 (USD). To purchase, contact ALAP, Inc. by phone at (888) 818-5790 or on the web at http://store.alap.com Existing ImagePort users can update free of charge by downloading ImagePort 1.2.1 and entering their existing serial number during installation. For more information regarding ImagePort 1.2.1 or other ALAP products, please visit the company website, www.alap.com. Review copies of ALAP software are available to the press by calling Rachel Keenan at (760) 438-5790 ext. 100 or email to [email protected].