BEDFORD, MA, September 4, 2001 – Polaroid Graphics Imaging LLC (PGI), an industry leader in advanced automatic digital halftone proofing systems, has announced a pricing breakthrough for digital halftone proofing with a suggested list price of $49,500 for its highly successful PolaProof 1420 Imager Gold Digital Halftone Proofing System. The new pricing includes all the newest PolaProof 1420 features such as SpotOn for highly accurate spot color proofing. During Print '01, the PolaProof 1420 system will be demonstrated at the Pitman Company booth (#5110) and the MAN Roland booth (#900). Dr. David McCarthy, Vice President and General Manager of PGI, stated, "As a result of aggressive cost reduction in the PolaProof 1420 Imager Gold platform, we've brought the entry price for the industry's highest quality digital halftone proofing system to a level affordable by companies across the industry size spectrum, not just larger operations." Dr. McCarthy continued, "Positioning the PolaProof 1420 under the $50,000 price threshold significantly widens our market potential among small and medium size printers and trade shops that have a need for high-quality digital halftone proofing. Our lower capital acquisition cost for the system now means that they won't be forced to compromise with continuous-tone proofing any longer. The PolaProof 1420 will enable them to raise the quality bar for their clients and expand business opportunities." The PolaProof 1420 Imager Gold delivers a high-resolution, realistic proof that matches the actual press sheet with unparalleled accuracy. The system uses patented Laser Ablation Transfer (LAT) technology to transfer pigmented printing inks by directly imaging or transferring to actual printing stocks. With its ease of use and wide selection of industry standard color sets including metallics, spot colors and opaque white, the PolaProof 1420 is a proofing standard in the digital halftone proofing market. PolaProof Impact The experience of RotaDyne Decorative Technologies Group of Holyoke, MA, a company that creates some of the most visible designs in the workplace or home, illustrates the impact that the PolaProof 1420 can have on a quality-driven operation. Paul Labbe, RotaDyne's Graphics Manager, explained, "With the PolaProof 1420, we are able to sell to customers such as Sullivan Paper Company, one of the largest giftwrap makers in the Northeast. They’re a high-end producer of these printed materials, and will not accept an inkjet or continuous-tone proof." He notes that other RotaDyne customers, such as Interprint, the premier laminate printer in the world, also want to see the true screening resolution and the actual halftone dots that will be produced on press – proofing that can be done only with the PolaProof 1420. "In order for us to sell the designs taken from items produced in nature," Mr. Labbe said, "we need to have an accurate proof to set customers expectations properly. With the PolaProof 1420, customers see exactly what they intend to output from their cylinders on their gravure presses. It's very expensive to manufacture these cylinders," he added, "and we guarantee every one going out the door. If we don’t know what the true design looks like before we start processing the cylinders, we are taking a huge risk." Mr. Labbe goes on to say that with the Extended Range Media (ERM) for the PolaProof 1420, they can transfer the image from the proofer onto to the actual substrates that are used on the presses. Polaroid Graphics Imaging (PGI) An independent company, Polaroid Graphics Imaging LLC (PGI) develops, manufactures and markets advanced products designed to enable high-quality, efficient and ecologically advanced prepress production for the printing industry worldwide. PGI is on the World Wide Web at www.polaroidgraphics.com.