Chicago, IL--April 1, 2006 -- Apago Inc., a leading developer of software solutions for the graphic arts and document management industries, today announces an upgrade to Apago Cluster Workflow. The upgrade adds important new customer-requested features, including a redesigned web interface, speed improvements, and scripts that allow publishers to automatically create electronic editions of their newspapers or magazines. Cluster Workflow 2.0 is an innovative network server solution for creating reliable and highly scalable workflows for prepress, printers, and publishers of magazines and newspapers. Featuring sophisticated scheduling capabilities and fault-tolerance, this system maximizes the available computing resources of a networked collection, or cluster, of servers. Combined with workflow production application modules that perform common prepress tasks--such as PDF distilling, ripping, file conversion, preflighting and correction, document assembly, ICC color management, cropping, and repurposing--Cluster Workflow helps users eliminate real-world production bottlenecks. "We are excited about the new version of Cluster Workflow. We selected it to restore the searchability of our PDFs and to significantly improve our overall workflow," comments Deborah Bowers, publishing technology/integration specialist for the Star Tribune, a McClatchy company. "Version 2.0 also adds other important capabilities that enhance our operations. In addition to maximizing our dual-processing operating system, Cluster Workflow will also allow us to produce multiple PDFs for electronic editions, internal archiving, and corporate communications--all from a single, original PDF. We are impressed with Apago, both the company and its technology." “The power, simplicity, and automation of the Apago Cluster Workflow enable staffers to accomplish more instead of tending to mundane production work,” comments Dwight Kelly, president of Apago Inc. “The upgrade to version 2.0 includes several customer-requested features, including the ability to create electronic editions for internal use or for submission to e-publishing partners such as NewsStand, Satellite Newspapers, and NewspapersDirect. We are quick to respond to our customers’ needs and to provide solutions that their demanding workflows require.” The upgrades in Cluster Workflow 2.0 include: •A redesigned web interface •Speed improvements •Scripts to automatically create entire electronic editions •Upgrade to PDF Enhancer 3.1 •Support for PDF Constructor 1.0 for creating e-tearsheets •Support for callas software’s pdfInspektor3 for preflighting PDF files With the Apago Cluster Workflow, users can manage multiple computers in a network as a single virtual server instead of having to assign individual servers to specific tasks. The technology avoids the complexity of alternative solutions that use multi-tiered hot-folders or simplistic load-balancing. Ideal for highly processor-intensive tasks, Cluster Workflow constantly monitors the CPU, memory, and disk use of each server and automatically assigns jobs to any available server, enabling each server in the Cluster to run at nearly 100% efficiency. Cluster Workflow can be used in production facilities with multiple locations, including remote disaster recovery sites, and can be easily scaled as workload increases. The workflow production modules included with Apago Cluster Workflow are based on Apago’s award-winning products, including PDF Enhancer, Piktor, PSServices, and the new PDF Constructor. Job status is tracked throughout the production process and can be monitored via the redesigned web interface. Cluster Workflow 2.0 is now available for Apple XServes running Mac OSX 10.4 and Sun Solaris. For pricing or more information, call 770-619-1884 or email [email protected].