Support for 13 languages, powerful feature set, and ability to directly output files to Adobe PDF fuel demand worldwide

San Jose, Calif., (March 13, 2000) (Nasdaq:ADBE)--Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced that Adobe® InDesign®, a state-of-the-art page layout program, is rapidly gaining acceptance as the design and layout software of choice in companies across the globe. A variety of international and multi-national businesses, ranging from publishers to advertisers to production facilities, are adopting Adobe InDesign software because of its built-in support for 13 languages, ability to output files directly to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), and powerful features that enhance designer productivity and creativity.

Opening New Markets
Australian magazine publisher Niche Media, producer of such titles as Australian Macworld and Desktop Magazine, is among the first international publishers to fully integrate Adobe InDesign into all phases of design, layout, and production. Desktop Magazine is Niche Media’s first publication to be completely converted to InDesign. The result is better-coordinated production, pages that benefit from the excellent precision and typography controls in InDesign, and a magazine that can be printed or distributed electronically in Adobe PDF via the Web.

"Adobe InDesign eliminates the stop-and-start—endlessly reworking text on a page, saving files to multiple formats—that slows production," explains David McDonough, publisher at Desktop Magazine. "Instead, we stay focused on the creative process, and move between InDesign and the applications that we need to produce great-looking publications. The software’s support for Adobe PDF also opens up new opportunities because we can generate magazines for print or online distribution from a single file."

Working Worldwide
For Martin/Williams Advertising, a Minneapolis-based agency that generates more than $320 million in revenues with a worldwide client base, Adobe InDesign provides a single tool for developing ads that will appear simultaneously in many countries. "Companies want ad campaigns that effectively reach consumers around the globe, so the ability to work in multiple languages is critical," says Bob Achhamer, manager of electronic production at Martin/Williams. "With Adobe InDesign, we overcome the design obstacles, such as support for too few languages and incompatible tools, that previously made coordinating international ad campaigns difficult."

With extensive language support, including Spanish, French, German and Swedish, and more than 20 built-in dictionaries, Adobe InDesign sets a new standard for global publishing. In addition, the software’s user interface is consistent with the world’s leading graphics tools—Adobe Photoshop® and Adobe Illustrator®—and integrates smoothly with standard Adobe software, ensuring that design teams anywhere can easily collaborate on materials.

Pressures to Move to InDesign
As publishers and advertising agencies adopt InDesign, prepress and print production facilities follow suit. For Electronic Solutions, an Omnicom Group company based in Great Britain, the move to InDesign speeds production of high-quality materials.

Much of Electronic Solutions’ work involves the prepress and production of advertising and marketing materials, magazines, or consumer packaging for U.K.-based companies. By integrating InDesign into its processes, the firm can readily handle prepress work and accept any materials that clients send, including native Photoshop and Illustrator files, PostScript files, or Adobe PDF files.

"To respond quickly to the needs of our clients, we are always looking for better, more creative ways of working," says Richard Mason, technical production director at Electronic Solutions. "InDesign supports us in this goal by bringing much needed integration and flexibility to our production workflow."

About Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign software is a new, state-of-the art page layout program created for high-end graphic designers, production artists, and prepress professionals that delivers unprecedented creative freedom, productivity, and precision, while integrating seamlessly with Adobe’s other leading design programs. InDesign is based on a new, open, object-oriented architecture that is highly extensible, enabling Adobe and its industry partners to deliver powerful publishing solutions. Adobe InDesign for Mac OS 8.5, 8.6 or 9.x; Windows® 98, and Windows NT® 4.0 has an estimated street price of US $699 for both platforms with volume pricing available.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems (www.adobe.com) builds award-winning software solutions for Web and print publishing. Its graphic design, imaging, dynamic media, and authoring tools enable customers to create, publish and deliver visually rich content for various types of media. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Adobe is the fourth largest U.S.-based personal software company, with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion.