BOSTON -- November 4, 2003 -- Creo is pleased to announce the winner of its "Quality by Design Award". Graphic design students were invited to provide submissions to be judged on the merits of design as well as the ability to demonstrate the benefits of Staccato screening. Staccato is a proprietary Creo technology that produces high impact, photo-like print quality. Staccato avoids artifacts such as halftone rosettes or patterning, and eliminates problems commonly associated with the printing of fine detail and complex patterns. Staccato screening also improves color and halftone stability on press, making it an important technology for designers, and a useful advantage for printers. The Winning Entry... The winning entry, "The Species of Kimono Dyes," was designed by Hiromi Sugie, a student at Parsons School of Design in New York City, NY. Her design represents information design at its best, showing species of plants, animals, minerals, and the classification of kimono dyes. The winning design was produced using Staccato screening from Creo and printed as a poster by Sandy Alexander, Inc., a web and sheetfed printer with state-of-the-art prepress, based in Clifton, New Jersey. Ms. Sugie won a US$1,000 grant for the school, a division of New School University that is one of the largest degree-granting colleges of art and design in the U.S. Award Presentation... The award and the poster were presented at a technical seminar for 300 print buyers, graphic designers, and advertising agency representatives October 22, hosted by Sandy Alexander, Inc. at the legendary Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Sandy Alexander customers range from Fortune 500 companies to the smallest design studios. Participants... Participants in the competition, which included students from Parsons School of Design and New York City College of Technology, received training on designing to optimize the abilities of Staccato screening. Students also received free copies of SynapseÆ Prepare software, the Creo product that allows designers to make a production-ready PDF file that matches the printer's specifications. This product automates PDF creation and preflighting so that files fly through prepress without errors or delays. Synapse Prepare software plays a big role in helping to streamline the printing process.