Sydney, Australia, January 10, 2005 - Having used Metrix 1.5 for just a few weeks Edward Kouwenhoven, co-founder of Generation Printing, Vancouver, Canada, declared "Metrix is amazing. It is saving us 2-3 hours of work for every gang layout we print, which is opening up new markets to us. We can pass these savings on to our customers to win even further business." LithoTechnics Pty Limited (www.lithotechnics.com) debuted Metrix 1.5, the first upgrade of their latest product, Metrix, at GraphExpo in October. According to Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology School of Print Media, "Metrix works like magic. It optimizes press sheet layouts for ganging multiple products, eliminates the complexities of gang printing and minimizes stock waste, placing as much product on a press sheet as possible, while considering printer/press capabilities and product specs such as grain direction." Metrix is the first truly automatic layout calculator designed specifically for estimators, customer service representatives, production planners, and prepress operators. The new 1.5 version can plan up to one hundred products, all of different sizes and quantities, mixtures of flat and folded work, and each with different bleeds and grain direction requirements. Metrix calculates the layout at the click of a button. "Gang printing is very profitable, and more and more commercial printers are using Metrix to capitalize on this opportunity," says Rohan Holt, LithoTechnics founder. "Metrix eliminates the complexities of gang layouts, enabling even the least skilled planner to confidently create instant layouts." Metrix can also export Preps templates, streamlining prepress production, and exports JDF and CIP3 data to cutters and folding machines in the finishing department. Metrix integrates with compatible MIS systems by importing JDF (Job Definition Format) product specifications.