Vancouver, BC, Canada (March 31, 2003) – Creo Inc. announces enhancements to Synapse Prepare software that allows content creators and print providers to streamline content preparation, making it a “smart connection” of Networked Graphic Production. This Creo initiative is integrating all the steps in the print production process from idea to delivery, using JDF, the new industry-standard file format. JDF Helps Automate Imposition Synapse Prepare software, the market-leading PDF creation and preflight tool from Creo, has been enhanced with a new, JDF-based application called Creo Page Assigner. This application extends automation options to a creative designer, publisher or printer to assist them with content preparation. Creo Page Assigner creates JDF (Job Definition Format) files that describe the order in which pages are to appear in a finished publication. Intended for content creators and printers, Creo Page Assigner assigns run-list information to PDF pages creating JDF-based page sets to automate imposition. “The Page Assigner application is an exciting enhancement and is another indication of Creo’s commitment to JDF,” explains Pat Lord, Creo product manager. “This announcement shows that Creo supports ongoing development to allow these products to further integrate the production and creative process.” Creo Page Assigner is a free download for licensed users of Synapse Prepare from http://www.creo.com/global/products/software_solutions/ss_workflow/synapse/synapse_prepare/default.htm. For more information, users can contact their local Creo representative. Synapse Prepare software allows designers to create perfect PDFs quickly and with confidence. The easy-to-use, automated process means creatives and print providers avoid the delays and costs of job rework and re-submission. With a few clicks of the mouse, a designer can prepare a PDF file that precisely matches the technical specifications of a particular print environment. The printer provides these production specifications as ‘Directives’, which contain the QuarkXPress, Adobe Acrobat Distiller, and preflight settings used by Synapse Prepare to streamline PDF creation. With the specifications locked in, print vendors extend their control to the file creation process, and ensure that the PDFs they receive are error-free. Synapse Prepare software makes it easy for content creators and print providers to ensure that files are ready for production. On the creative desktop, designers are instantly notified if a file has passed or failed preflight. Messages and reports outline file-error detail, making revisions easy. Successful files contain annotations with the file specs and a logo as a seal of approval. Using the new Verify option, printers and publishers can quickly and easily check which Directive was used to create a Synapse Prepare PDF and if changes have been made to a file since it was created. Other features include: The ability to publish Synapse Prepare PDFs to a hot folder on a remote Mac to offload file processing. The ability to delay file distribution or sending email notification until approval is granted. Automatic distribution of PDF files to multiple email addresses. Multilingual support for English, German, French and Spanish. Synapse Prepare software provides flexible input and output options. It allows PDF creation from any PDF, PostScript or EPS file generated by a Mac application, and features tight integration with QuarkXPress and, soon, Adobe InDesign. It also allows users to produce and submit reliable PDF/X output, including PDF/X-1a:2001 or PDF/X-3.