Mortsel, Belgium -- 9 July 2003 -- Agfa announced its plans to participate in four Viscom International Trade Fairs for Visual Advertising Techniques and Signmaking: 4 September in Dusseldorf, 17 September in Paris, 16 October in Madrid and 14 November in Milan. The company will demonstrate its commitment to the large-format printing market as well as screen printing with a display of a new indoor and outdoor media, and a more powerful RIP for its :Grand Sherpa inkjet printing systems. Agfa will also show its film products and digital proofing system for screen printing. :AgfaJet Media To its wide assortment of inkjet media Agfa is adding a universal wet-strength paper. Developed for outdoor billboards, the new 130 gm material will resist water for up to six weeks with no loss of image quality. Agfa will also show three self-adhesive materials. A universal instant-dry photograde paper (UIPP), a 90 gm premium inkjet paper and a premium vinyl material. The UIPP material delivers high quality on a microporous photo-base RC paper for brilliant, high contrast, photo-like images. The 90 gm premium coated inkjet paper was designed for high-quality presentations, colour graphics and poster prints with low to medium ink coverage. Flexible, high-quality vinyl material was developed for the high image quality for indoor and outdoor use. A Universal Front Print Film for display graphics with vibrant colours will be shown in 4 and 7 mil thickness. This film is compatible with all inkjet inks and printers. Poster-Printing RIP Agfa's new RIP for the :Grand Sherpa large-format printing system adds support for 16-bit TIFF and JPEG 2000 image files. The new Onyx PosterShop 6.0 Agfa Edition software provides a Web portal for browser-based, remote print management. The system also offers new tools for customised colour management and preflighting. Proofing tools automate print contract- and concept-proof output and colour matching from one printer to another. And PosterColor colour-rendering technology improves CMYK output when ICC profiles are applied. :Grand Sherpa 64 Large-Format Inkjet System Agfa will show its popular :Grand Sherpa printing system. The system has proved to be a cost-effective, high-productivity solution to high-resolution (1440 x1440 dpi) output. In combination with new :AgfaJet media, and a new system RIP, Agfa provides the ability to gain revenue from a wide variety of printing applicationsfrom outdoor billboards and vinyl signs to indoor displays and fast-mounting signage. Screen Printing Technologies The :Sherpa 24m digital proofing system gives screen printers a wide seven-colour ink gamut for accurately matching special spot colours as well as process colours. In combination with Agfa's colour management system and quality-control software, the :Sherpa system offers a reliable, cost-effective solution to screen proofing. :SelectJet provides screen printers with a new level of independence with significant cost savings. :Selectjet material allows screen printers to make film separations in house using only an inkjet printer. :SelectJet instant-dry material provides high density and exceptional dimensional stability, up to 168 cm wide. :CopyJet was also developed for screen printing companies wishing to make film separations in-house. It offers the same benefits as :SelectJet, producing high-quality film separations up to A2 format.