Lynnwood, Washington, June 19, 2002 - ScenicSoft (www.scenicsoft.com), provider of print and prepress software for the publishing, printing, and graphic arts industries, announced today that it has started shipping Pandora 1.5, the next major update of its PDF-based packaging imposition solution. With this release, ScenicSoft also introduces two editions of the product, Pandora Plus and Pandora Pro, each addressing specific needs at a different price/value proposition. Enhancements to the standard edition, Pandora Plus 1.5, include Creo Prinergy Powerpack integration. Pandora Pro 1.5 includes all the features found in Pandora Plus, and also includes automatic, optimized filling of press sheets with support for both die-cut and straight-cut scenarios. The die-cut auto-fill feature offers advanced auto-nesting capabilities for irregular-shaped objects. The straight-cut auto-fill feature ensures realistic, executable straight-cutting sequences that can also be described and exported in CIP3 PPF format. CIP3 data from Pandora can be used with all 1985-1995 models of the POLAR EMC Monitors, all POLAR ED models since 1995, and all Wohlenberg cutters of the cut-tec series 115-185 PS and PPS. A major challenge in today's print production environment is to optimally use every production asset. Managing to squeeze in a few extra labels or an extra box on the press sheet can make the difference between winning and losing an order, and making or not making a profit on the job. In that sense, Pandora Pro does a lot more than fulfill an organization's packaging or label imposition needs. It effectively fills the wide-open gap between print management/estimation systems and prepress production, and ensures that clear opportunities to improve operating margins are easily detected and captured. Information such as press sheet utilization percentages, number of labels to be produced (required and extra), and the number of press sheets, is constantly displayed, giving the user unprecedented control over the layouts. "People are stunned once they find out how quick and easy it is to achieve these levels of sheet optimization," says Esad Suskic, Pandora product marketing manager. "Nesting can go several levels deep, as objects can be placed within other objects where it makes sense. Simple drag-and-drop operations from Pandora's ShopMap allow different-sized press sheets to be taken into account for the optimizations. The user can inspect and select the preferred production scenario from multiple auto-fill results that represent different fill percentages on several sheets. This easy-to-use breakthrough technology offers the ability to improve profit margins instantly on every print run."