MONTREAL, ArtQuest International Alliances Inc. (ME: AQ.B - news) is pleased to announce that the September 29 edition of Printweek, Europe's largest selling graphic arts magazine, contains an excellent review of ArtQuest products entitled "ARTQUEST AIMS FOR "MAGIC CROMALIN" WITH CRESCENDO". The following is an excerpt from the article. "ArtQuest Crescendo: a low-cost, page-independent, rip-once workflow that is virtually bomb proof should be at the top of printers' and repro houses' wish lists. Couple it with a competitive price and the ability to drive any output device and it could prove to be a winner. Crescendo is a useful and innovative addition to the workflow market, with some very well thought out features, which make it stand out from the crowd. The independence from any specific output engine is admirable and the cost comparable with other workflow systems. With the rapid developments in CTP, which have made choosing the right technology a gamble, the ability to interface to any engine, while gaining the advantage of a simplified and robust workflow, is an admirable development. Crescendo is a virtual imagesetter creating the digital equivalent of the pieces of film that were previously used to make a Cromalin, and then planned and plated. It is this approach that sets it apart from other systems which attempt to handle the whole pre-press process from taking an application file through to plate. North European product manager Bruce Dransfield believes this helps customers to integrate the system with their existing kit. Existing OPI and imposition packages can be used so there is no need to retainoperators in the system or to replace trusted and paid for kit. As such, Crescendo is practically invisible once installed, and there is no complex user interface. UK distributor Guideline has appointed a range of resellers to sell ArtQuest. There have already been a number of installations in the UK, including Saxon in Norwich and Hendy Banks in London. Remote proofing on any device, including low-cost colour desktop inkjets, is achieved using the PDF Remote Proof file (PRPF), which is invaluable for allowing the customer to see a proof from the ripped data before plates are made. ArtQuest Crescendo is designed to provide a rip-once workflow based on standard file formats that allows printers to treat files like digital film. It is based around the TIFF-IT standard as endorsed by the American National Standardisation Organisation (ANSI), which was developed to provide a robust file for digital distribution. ArtQuest has also added some developments of its own to the PDF-IT, an Adobe accredited version of PDF which takes the security of TIFF-IT and some clever lossless compression to create small PDF files which are more suitable for distribution for approval and final output. Add to that an open strategy to output device, OPI, imposition software and proofer, and you've got a very interesting proposition. When it comes to proofing, Crescendo will ensure the thickness of linework and text matches the printed result, even on relatively low- resolution proofers such as dye-subs." PROFILE: ArtQuest is a high technology company and a leader in the commercialization of innovative computer solutions in the areas of digital printing and graphic arts. The Company's technologies allow digital transportation and printing, generating substantial printing cost and time savings. Because of its open-ended architecture, ArtQuest's software is compatible with equipment currently used in the industry. ArtQuest solutions improve print quality and provide users with a guaranty of secure content and predictable production schedules. ArtQuest has offices in Canada, the United States, France, England and Australia. It markets its products in Europe, North America and Australia through OEM partners like MC Imaging (Mitsubishi), Kodak and Agfa, and other well-known distributors. Its products are now marketed in over 23 countries worldwide.