SAN FRANCISCO, May 14 -- Workshare, the leading provider of document content productivity applications, announced today that the document metadata management "Protect module" of its new integrated Workshare 3 product line, will contain the ability to convert documents to the PDF publishing format. This new PDF conversion functionality coupled with the Protect module's document metadata management features, will provide a cost savings for law firms who would otherwise need to purchase this vital functionality in separate software applications. Workshare considers the ability to convert documents to PDF format to be an important part of the publishing process, particularly when documents are nearing completion or the sender does not want the recipient to make changes to the source document. The feature will not require the purchase of additional PDF writing software to be installed on the sender's computer. Additionally, this PDF file conversion functionality fits within Workshare 3's overall process-oriented approach to streamline workflow processes to save time and increase efficiency. "We are seeing the use of PDF as a publishing format more and more frequently with our legal clients," stated Mark Hadfield, COO of Workshare. "By including this feature in the Workshare 3 product, we are eliminating the need for clients to purchase PDF writing software separately as well as providing a pre-integrated solution with fewer steps for the user to manage," Hadfield continued. Another important new feature found in the Protect module will allows users to cleanse metadata from their Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel documents. Other enhanced features include the ability to prohibit printing and text modification, disallow the cutting or pasting of text and graphics as well as the ability to add comments to the PDF file. As with all Workshare 3 modules, this functionality is accessed from within Microsoft Word, reducing the need for user training while streamlining workflows. Document metadata management has become an important issue, particularly for the legal industry, as firms and companies seek to protect themselves from accidental exposure of information hidden within their documents. The Workshare metadata solution has been adopted by leading firms around the world to remove sensitive document metadata before sending documents by email. The solution allows firms to set a system policy on document metadata removal while still providing for discretionary metadata removal by the document sender. The Protect module is one of three that will be released within the Workshare 3 product in June 2003. The other two modules, Compare and Collaborate, provide features from Workshare's industry standard document comparison application, Workshare DeltaView, as well as advanced collaboration features allowing parallel editing within Microsoft Word. The Workshare 3 product is an integrated suite of productivity applications that use Microsoft Word as the primary user interface in order to streamline workflows into a process-based approach thereby reducing the need for user training and simplifying the user experience.