Vancouver, BC, Canada (June 6, 2003) – Creo Inc. (NASDAQ: CREO; TSX: CRE) has released UpFront® 2.0 software, the newest version of the ground-breaking digital production planning solution. This version of the software further streamlines the flow of data from estimating right through production and finishing. The combination of tighter integration with prepress via Preps® imposition jobs and templates, and the new ability to export folding information, in addition to cutting and binding data, directly to the finishing department dramatically increases productivity and reduces errors on press.

• Tighter integration with Preps and the prepress department
  
• Export of multiple section Preps Pro templates
  
• Export of CIP3 folding data to the finishing department
  
• Partial save of jobs in progress
  
• More robust database, allowing more concurrent users
  
• Faster lookup of jobs in the job database
  
• Faster diagram and Preps marks editing
  
• One-sided job diagram printouts improved
  
• Re-export Preps templates and jobs and CIP3 data
  
• Ability to search for matching press layouts
  

“We first integrated UpFront to streamline and standardize the job planning process,” says Peter Doyle, operations manager, Action Printing, a division of the Gannett Company, in Fond du Lac, WI. “Now at the start of every job, UpFront automatically presents all existing production options in the order of most frequent usage, saving time and preventing errors on press. Once the job is planned, we then send completed Preps templates to our prepress department. The Preps templates are both accurate and laid out to maximize productivity from prepress through the bindery department.

“In addition, we realized that we had several pieces of bindery equipment that were capable of reading a PPF file created by UpFront,” continues Peter. “We are now able to makeready finishing equipment with instructions downloaded from a file server and without any manual reentry of information--saving over an hour of production time on each job.”

UpFront, an integral part of the Creo Networked Graphic Production™ initiative, is the groundbreaking print production planning tool that captures decades of hard-to-find planning experience in the form of reusable plans and layouts. UpFront checks these layouts against a comprehensive database of press and finishing equipment capabilities, and prints accurate and consistent job layout documents quickly and easily. UpFront is the first and only real solution in the industry-wide effort to automate printing facilities from estimating and planning all the way through production and finishing. No other print production software provides the comprehensive tool set required in this mission-critical role.

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 CIP4 Job Definition Format (JDF). The benefits of integrating MIS systems with planning, prepress, and finishing systems include more accurate estimates; better scheduling; higher consistency and repeatability; error and waste reduction; and increased overall throughput.

Jobs planned in UpFront can be passed on digitally to Preps, the world’s leading digital imposition solution. Preps is also a core component in the Creo Brisque®, Creo Prinergy®, and Agfa® Apogee™ prepress workflows. Other workflows that officially support Preps imposition output include Rampage™ RIP’ing System, Heidelberg® Delta™, Heidelberg MetaDimension®, Screen TrueFlow, Fuji® CelebraNT, and Valiano™, among others. More than 20,000 copies of Preps are used daily in the field. With UpFront, all of 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.

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 cutting, folding and binding equipment in the production planning stage.

Networked Graphic Production brings together leading companies that share the goal of developing and delivering high-value, integrated solutions to printers, trade shops and their print buyers. JDF-based integrated solutions create a print production environment with unprecedented control, efficiency, and visibility into the entire print production process—from idea to delivery.

Creo is a world leader in solutions for the graphic arts industry. Core product lines include image capture systems; inkjet proofers; thermal imaging devices for films, plates and proofs; professional color and copydot scanning systems; and workflow management software. Creo is also an Original Equipment Manufacture supplier of on-press imaging technology, components for digital presses, and color servers for high-speed, print-on-demand digital printers. Creo trades under the symbols CREO on NASDAQ and CRE on the Toronto Stock Exchange. www.creo.com

© 2003 Creo Inc. The Creo product names mentioned in this document are trademarks or service marks of Creo Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Other company and brand, product and service names are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Data is subject to change without notice.