WALNUT CREEK, CA -- American Reprographics Company, the nation's leading provider of reprographics services and technology, today announced a new release of MetaPrint Abacus, its print tracking and cost recovery software. The new release enhances user experience through user interface improvements, upgrades to administrative tools, and close integration with imaging equipment from industry leading manufacturers Oce, KIP and others. MetaPrint Abacus has been in use since 2007, and has an installed base of more than 20,000 users in hundreds of locations around the United States, Canada and China.

"The upgrade is seamless from a user perspective," said Jon Styrlund, ARC's Product Manager for Abacus. "Most of the enhancements in Abacus improve specific functions without disturbing existing usage patterns or the workflow of the product. Instead of having to navigate screens or learn new procedures, our customers will notice how much easier it is to set preferences, configure devices, or edit usage data."

By way of an example, Mr. Styrlund noted that several of ARC's larger customers manage thousands of projects around the world at any given time and print hundreds of thousands of documents during a month. Users editing multiple print records can now utilize improved grouping, project searching and updating tools within the Abacus Manager, saving time and reducing costly data entry errors. "These are the kinds of enhancements that add value not only to the product, but also improve our customer's project management processes," said Mr. Styrlund.

MetaPrint Abacus has also been integrated into several of the industry's most advanced reprographic imaging equipment from Oce and KIP. Using an on-board touch screen, users can track walk-up printing and copying done on Oce Plotwave 300's, TDS450 & TDS700's, and the full line of KIP IPS devices including the KIP3100 multi-function system, KIP5000, KIP7000 and KIP9000 wide-format digital systems. Billing data from the on-board interface is automatically integrated with tracking information from other devices on the user's network. Consolidated accounting reports can be generated quickly and easily.

Additional enhancements include:

    * Compatibility with a wide variety of operating systems including the new Windows 7, as well Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2008 Server and Apple's Macintosh OS X.
    * Improved project search, data editing and reporting capabilities
    * Convenience and accessibility improvements to allow MetaPrint Abacus to work in concert with most network security protocols
    * Improved compatibility with Bentley ProjectWise InterPlot, Xerox Fiery, HP DesignJet printers, Canon MEAP systems, and Ricoh ESA