San Jose, Calif. (March 12, 2001) (Nasdaq:ADBE)--Adobe Systems Incorporated,a leader in Network Publishing, and Cardiff Software,a leader in XML-based eBusiness automation solutions,today announced an expanded alliance to deliver complete automated electronic form solutions based upon the newly announced Adobe Acrobat 5.0 software.The alliance results in an end-to-end solution for digital online forms based upon the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)standard. As a part of the alliance,Cardiff will offer LiquidForms™,an XML-based eForm management system that adds form design and Web-based routing,approval and submission capabilities to users of Adobe PDF forms.LiquidForms leverages Acrobat 5.0 and Adobe PDF to provide an industry standard client interface for interactive form filling and signing.LiquidForms also leverages Cardiff 's role as a technical editor for the World Wide Web Consortium's XForms Working Group. "Adobe PDF allows businesses to transcend the barriers between paper and digital workflows while maintaining a familiar look and feel of the original form," said Joe Eschbach,vice president,ePaper ® Solutions Group for Adobe. "The combined solution of Acrobat 5.0 and LiquidForms speeds the creation of interactive Adobe PDF forms that when integrated into business processes,results in shorter cycle times,reduced processing costs and increased data accuracy." There has been significant industry support for the standards-based approach that Cardiff and Adobe have taken with their eForm Alliance.Among the companies applauding the open systems approach to eForm management is Sun Microsystems,a leader in open systems."LiquidForms is an excellent example of a Java-technology based application for an open standards environment," said Rick Saletta,group marketing manager,Enterprise Java Technologies,Sun Microsystems."Java Servlets,XML and Adobe PDF are combined to make LiquidForms a potentially killer Web service for the government."