ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- July 25, 2003--The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) has honored Xerox Corporation with the prestigious 2003 InterTech Technology Award for the Xerox SquareFold Booklet Maker. The annual award recognizes products that prove a technological evolution in graphic communications and that provide new services and revenue streams to small- and medium-size printing companies. The Xerox SquareFold Booklet Maker was launched in North America in January and was the first system in the industry that transforms standard printed pages into fully finished, square-edged booklets with color cover capabilities. The machine is based on technology designed by Plockmatic International AB and when connected to a Xerox DocuTech Production Publisher, it makes it possible to print the title of the booklet on the spine for convenient bookshelf storage and retrieval. In addition, squaring the back of the piece makes it possible for booklets to lay flat for easy packing. These benefits ultimately help printing companies improve production efficiencies while offering their customers a perfect bound-like booklet at a less expensive price. "The judges did not take long to pronounce the SquareFold a winner," said John Lind, director of research, GATF. "They were impressed with the product's profitability, print on the spine capability, and Xerox's overall attention to the finishing side of digital print." GATF has sponsored the InterTech Technology Awards since 1978. The awards focus attention on trends and technologies that an independent panel of judges deems will have a major impact on the quality and speed of printing products and on the profitability, services, capabilities, and markets these technologies can bring to printers. In addition, the judges recognize manufacturers who are the first to bring a technology to market or who make it accessible to smaller printers by reconfiguring it and significantly reducing the cost. Xerox and other InterTech Technology Award recipients will be honored at a GATF dinner Nov. 13. A booklet showcasing the nominated technologies will be available from GATF at Graph Expo, Sept. 28 - Oct. 1. Xerox was also a recipient of the InterTech Award in 1978 for the Xerox 9700 -- the first xerographic laser printer -- and in 1993 for the DocuTech Production Publisher, which created the print-on-demand industry.