Lynnwood, Washington, April 03, 2002 - ScenicSoft, Inc. (www.scenicsoft.com), the leading provider of print and prepress software for the publishing, printing, and graphic arts industries, announced today that it has made great strides in implementing its vision toward automating print manufacturing. Since its founding in 1985, ScenicSoft has focused on building strategic business relationships that promote the creation of software solutions that streamline the operations and increase the profit margins of printers worldwide. Now, with key partnerships in place and further enhancements to UpFront, its innovative print production planning tool, ScenicSoft has become a key enabler in the full automation of print shops. Open standards such as the Print Production Format (PPF) and the Job Definition Format (JDF), both controlled by the CIP4 organization of which ScenicSoft is a member, have played a key role in establishing connectivity with existing solutions outside of the prepress arena. UpFront leverages these standards to establish the missing link between the departments of any printing organization. The product has proven to be situated at a critical crossroads in the production flow, and is enabling upstream as well as downstream digital connectivity. MIS Integration UpFront provides the much-needed bridge between the business and execution sides of a printing organization by integrating with the estimation packages offered by leading MIS vendors such as Prism (Prism WIN and Prism Enterprise) and Optichrome (Optimus 2020). Integration between UpFront and MIS solutions is based on the Job Definition Format (JDF). The benefits of integrating MIS systems with planning, prepress, and finishing systems are obvious: more accurate estimates, better scheduling, higher consistency and repeatability, error and waste reduction, and increased overall throughput. Prepress Integration Jobs planned in UpFront can be passed on digitally to ScenicSoft Preps, the world’s leading digital imposition solution, and ScenicSoft’s entire suite of prepress production tools. Preps is also a core component in the most popular high-end prepress workflows: Creo Brisque, Creo Prinergy, and Agfa Apogee. Other popular workflows that officially support Preps imposition output include: Rampage RIPing System, Heidelberg Delta, Heidelberg MetaDimension, Screen TrueFlow, Fuji CelebraNT, and Valiano, among others. More than 19,000 copies of Preps are used daily in the field. With UpFront, all these printers now have an inexpensive digital planning option that can help them to further streamline their operations by digitally connecting the customer service, planning, prepress, press, and finishing departments. Finishing Integration The setup of finishing equipment can also be automated when a printing organization is connected to an optional digital CIP3 link that can accept and interpret PPF files. UpFront generates the detailed finishing data for these devices in the production planning stage. ScenicSoft recently announced formal cooperation efforts with POLAR-MOHR, Wohlenberg, and Müller Martini, three major vendors that cover a large percentage of the cutting and binding equipment sold worldwide. * The POLAR-MOHR CIP3 Compucut system can be connected to all 1985–1995 models of the POLAR EMC Monitors and to all POLAR ED models since 1995. * The standard disk drive in new Wohlenberg cutters allows import of offline CIP3 data for guillotines. A simple software update can make all cut-tec series 115-185 PS and PPS cutters, sold since drupa 1995, 100% CIP3-offline compatible. A CIP3 online package that enhances the guillotine’s personal computer with a corresponding network card is also available. * Motorized Müller Martini stitching lines that are equipped with AMRYS (Automatic MakeReadY System) can be set up through CIP3/PPF files. The AMRYS system is currently available for Prima and Optima saddle stitchers. Users are already starting to take advantage of the significant steps ScenicSoft has taken toward providing an automated solution. With added JDF and PPF support and existing connectivity between UpFront, Preps, and other ScenicSoft applications, users are installing and building solutions today that connect the entire range of activities from the CSR all the way into the bindery. ScenicSoft and its partners are providing their users better options to achieve goals that were deemed unrealistic just a few years ago.