Melbourne, Australia - September 23, 2004 - Serendipity Software is pleased to announce the roll out of the latest version of their Blackmagic software. Version 3.0 previewed at Drupa and is now ready for customer shipment. This latest version has been completely redesigned, sporting a new user interface with multiple working surfaces, and many new innovations that will benefit new and existing customers, alike. Stop by Booth 5245 at Graph Expo for a demonstration. NEW CLUSTER TECHNOLOGY Blackmagic's New Cluster Technology in Version 3.0 has the ability to group computers into a cluster so jobs can be processed on different machines, simultaneously. "Seeing 5 jobs imaging, 3 jobs rendering and a couple more jobs printing-all at the same time-is very impressive," according to Business Development Manager Pete Carnell. NEW DE-IMPOSITION / DUPLEXING MODULE Blackmagic V3.0 new De-imposition / Duplexing Module, provides a fast and accurate method of creating a complete, working print dummy, prior to the generation of contract proofs, or imaging to film or plate. A typical 88-page job-with 80% color coverage-takes well under 25 minutes to produce. This time also includes printing, using the latest Dual 2.5GHz Macintosh G5. Complete brochures, magazines, annual reports and books are de-imposed and printed in page sequence at the click of a button. Even when there are mixed signatures of 2-UP, 4-UP, 8-UP and16-UP Work and Turn, Coming and Going or Sheet Work, the whole process takes place automatically. Blackmagic V3.0 also provides tighter registration between front to back sections compared to other methods. This new capability eliminates the time and labor associated with cutting and folding LR imposed print signatures from double sided plotters. Output can be to any double-sided Postscript or PCL5 compatible printer, yielding both color and monochrome output. Blackmagic V3.0 allows the import of signatures from different applications, and supports DynaStrip, Krause, Preps and JDF. HOW IT WORKS Imposed sections are submitted for de-imposition, using a particular signature. The individual or paired pages are then extracted from the job and rotated so they all face up. Color management and screening is applied next and the pages are then placed into the output queue. Once a section is complete, pages are automatically collated and duplexed, ready for printing to the first available printer. MULTIPLE OUTPUTS FROM A SINGLE FILE A new Intermediate File Format has been added which splits job processing into spooling, imaging, rendering and printing. This means that a saved job file can be printed again with different output specifications. Examples include different color management, sizing, orientation, signatures and various other effects, without having to re-spool and re-image the original HR ripped files. NEW SCREEN PRINT MODE Black Separations can now be automatically generated from Composite and Separated PS files and PDF files or from Post RIP data. Each separation prints using black-or any user configurable ink-with its own or an original screen ruling, dot shape and angle sets. High densities of 3.2 or higher can be achieved at normal print speeds. NEW PLATE PAINT MODES Plate Paint modes allow for more realistic simulation of special / spot colors under different printing conditions. Any plate can be assigned any one of these paint modes: - Overprint, traditional mixing of channels, - Knockout, all channels of the top plate dominate those of the plates bellow it, - Primer, white ink simulation, - Opaque, variable opacity to simulate metallic or other special inks. NEW HIGH RESOLUTION SOFT PROOFING High-resolution on-screen viewing is a new feature in Version 3.0, allowing users to view at the nominated output resolution without any restrictions. Plates can be turned on or off and jobs can have the same plate sequence required by the actual press. This enhanced functionality is ideal for the flexo market, allowing on-screen proofing of the White Plate and visually checking for underlay or overlay trapping problems.