DUSSELDORF, Germany, May 6 -- HELIOS, a leading developer of file, print and prepress server software, will preview at drupa 2004 a native PDF-based OPI image replacement solution that replaces, within in a PDF file, the low-res bitmap images with the high-res originals. This preserves transparency and metadata and allows server based PDF workflows utilizing OPI low-res images. Modern pre-press applications like Adobe InDesign are moving to a direct PDF output workflow allowing advanced features like PDF transparency, drop shadows, and embedded XMP metadata. These features are incompatible with today's PostScript output, but will be fully supported by this HELIOS solution. The main advantages of the HELIOS server based OPI solutions are: -- Remote page composition with low-res images -- Server based color management to color transform images for different printing processes. Apply or embed ICC profiles into PDF print jobs. -- Output optimization -- downsampling, compression, and file format conversion -- Faster image placement with superior preview quality -- Submit PDF print jobs before all images are ready -- server will generate final hi-res PDFs when all images are completed -- Much faster InDesign PDF Export, using "Omit images for OPI" Working with OPI low-res images offers significant performance advantages. The online table at http://www.helios.de/news/news04/N_10_04.html shows the time requirements for a 3-page InDesign print job with a total of 37 MB of image data, compared to an ImageServer OPI workflow. With performance improvements of 8-30 times faster, the table clearly shows that native PDF-based OPI image replacement offers enormous time savings and makes remote page composition productive and practical. Remote users using HELIOS WebShare can download low-res images and return PDF print jobs containing low-res images, which are then replaced on the server for final output. Customers can remotely verify their InDesign documents and PDF print jobs via any web browser. Native PDF-based OPI image replacement translates into workflow flexibility, and faster turnaround times, for a vital competitive advantage. The HELIOS 4th generation product family comprises network and prepress server solutions. EtherShare, PCShare, and WebShare provide integrated cross-platform networking for Macintosh and Windows clients, with advanced file and print server services, and easy remote server administration. HELIOS ImageServer, PDF HandShake and PrintPreview bring high efficiency and advanced capabilities to design, prepress and printing operations.