Vancouver, BC, Canada (April 25, 2005) – Creo Inc. is pleased to announce the development of JDF integration between the workflow applications of six leading software vendors and the Creo Spire color server. Creo and these six companies share a common goal of delivering integrated end-to-end digital printing solutions to customers. These strategic partnerships provide Creo digital printing customers with the ultimate flexibility in choosing the best workflow to fit their production requirements. The partners offer Spire users open connectivity to their upstream workflow and allow them to achieve full process automation. By leveraging the cooperative power of six third-party vendors, digital printing users will no longer have to consider replacing their upstream workflow tools with proprietary systems in order to provide robust digital printing capability. The close cooperation with Creo will provide the customers of the six vendors with the ability to use Creo Spire color servers to drive Xerox DocuColor digital color printers. The partners are: Dots GmbH of Berlin, Germany, which specializes in software for production printing on digital copy systems. Dots’ Cockpit JTX connects office PCs with copy machines, leading print data from order to the printing and billing. Enterprise Print Management Solutions of Plymouth, MA, USA, which produces enterprise software for MIS and workflow management. NowDocs of San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA, the creator of NowPRINT, which enables organizations to implement a powerful yet easy-to-use, web-based print on-demand and print-production workflow solution. Pageflex of Cambridge, MA, USA, which produces Pageflex Storefront, a software product used to define, auto-generate, and manage attractive web-to-print document customization sites. Press-Sense Ltd. of Caesaria, Israel, which produces iWay Prime, a web-based, off-the-shelf, end-to-end information and workflow management software solution for the printing industry. ROI Distribution Ltd of March, United Kingdom , is a specialist software developer and distributor for XRalle, which is a leading online software engine for automated procurement. Users of Creo and its partners’ systems and tools can now easily incorporate digital printing using the Spire color server into their existing JDF-based workflow configuration. The specifications of this JDF connectivity will be contributed to the Digital Printing workgroup of Networked Graphic Production. NGP is a strategic initiative that has been adopted by industry-leading companies to create seamless integration between their systems and products to reduce duplication between systems, optimize systems, and enhance communication and collaboration between all parties involved in print projects—from idea to delivery. Each of the six companies is a member of NGP or has applied for membership. “We intend to welcome more partners as this program gains momentum and as we continue to enhance JDF support in our products,” said Guy Hilton, Creo marketing manager. “Our ultimate goal is to offer Creo customers all the benefits of automation through JDF. This goal is aligned with Creo's participation and strategy for Networked Graphic Production and with our commitment to the other NGP Partners.” Partnership with the six companies gives Spire users the benefit of integration between digital printing and three main areas of expertise. They include e-procurement, storefront (for online purchasing), soft-proofing, and web-based systems; business management systems that involve management information systems (MIS), production management, production-planning, load-balancing, preflight, inventory control, and billing; and prepress production workflow systems for digital or offset print environments. The six companies are in the final stages of integrating their products with the Spire color server. Each company will showcase its integration solutions live at the Creo booth, # 1832, at the AIIM On-Demand Conference and Exposition from May 17–19, 2005 in Philadelphia, PA.