SAN JOSE, Calif.--April 7, 2003-- Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in network publishing, today introduced Adobe® Acrobat® 6.0 Professional software, an extension of the new Acrobat 6.0 product line that enables creative professionals to confidently drive electronic processes using the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). The product provides designers, production artists, service providers, and printers a host of enhanced tools that increase efficiencies across the creative process, from document creation and client reviews to preflight and final output. "Creative professionals look to Adobe for cutting-edge products that help them deliver stellar work under extremely tight schedules," said James Heeger, senior vice president, Creative Professional Products, Adobe Systems. "Products like Adobe InDesign have pioneered a PDF print workflow and with Acrobat 6.0 Professional we're building even more efficiency and reliability into the creative process. From the creation and secure distribution of creative files in Adobe PDF, to advanced capabilities for preflighting and previewing documents, creative professionals now have the power to reliably work electronically with their colleagues, clients and vendors." Adobe PDF has made significant inroads across creative professions, with designers looking towards PDF as the format that can incorporate sophisticated work from applications such as Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. New and enhanced tools in Acrobat 6.0 Professional enable users to quickly and reliably create high-quality Adobe PDF files, including PDF/X-compliant documents. PDF/X is an ISO standard that ensures reliable printing of press-ready, high-end color materials in the publishing industry. After Adobe PDF creation, Acrobat 6.0 Professional allows creative professionals to quickly validate file quality and ensure proper document output. Along with advanced viewing tools that significantly improve page navigation, the product offers powerful and extensive preflight, output preview and color separation features to ensure Adobe PDF files will be viewed and printed exactly as intended. Preflight reports can now be embedded in Adobe PDF files to provide information to printers about potential trouble spots in print jobs. "With Acrobat 6.0 Professional, Adobe has delivered a product that builds on its already strong tradition with creative and printing professionals," said Johnny Sutton, director of technology, North America, Quebecor World Inc., the largest commercial printer in the world. "In particular, the product's PDF/X support will help speed adoption of that important standard. It provides customers peace of mind to know there is a reliable solution available for delivering accurate files for error-free printing." Acrobat 6.0 Professional is part of the new Acrobat 6.0 product line announced today (see separate announcement). The family also includes Acrobat 6.0 Standard, which enables workgroups to simplify document reviews using intuitive tools and a new, task-based interface. Acrobat Elements is a volume-license-only product that allows enterprises to place inexpensive Adobe PDF creation capability on every desktop, enabling reliable document distribution. The company also announced Adobe Reader® 6.0 software, an upgrade and re-naming of the widely distributed, free Acrobat Reader. Adobe Reader, which supports numerous desktop and mobile device platforms, is the definitive application for viewing, interacting with and printing Adobe PDF content ranging from business documents and forms to Photoshop® Album slide shows, eBooks, and embedded multimedia. Adobe Reader will be available free of charge as a download from Adobe.com by the end of May 2003. The company has distributed over half-a-billion copies of the product since its 1993 introduction. Pricing and Availability Acrobat 6.0 Professional for Mac OS X v10.2.2, and Windows NT® Workstation 4.0 (with service pack 6), Windows® 2000 Professional (with service pack 2), and Windows XP Home, Professional and Tablet PC Editions, is expected to ship in English by the end of May 2003 for an estimated street price of US$449. Registered users of Acrobat 4.0 and Acrobat 5.0 can upgrade to Acrobat 6.0 Professional for an estimated street price of US$149. The product is also available through Adobe's licensing programs. Information about the availability of other language versions of Acrobat 6.0 Professional, as well as further details on pricing, upgrade and support policies, is available online at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro. For more information, customers in North America can call 1-800-272-3623.