Integrated Adobe InDesign and Digital Technology International solution to be rolled out at Cox Newspapers

NEXPO, San Francisco, (June 19, 2000) (Nasdaq: ADBE)--Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced that Digital Technology International (DTI) has delivered on the promise of using Adobe™ InDesign® software in database-driven publishing environments. By integrating Adobe InDesign into its award-winning publishing suite, DTI offers publishers the first design-intensive application that links directly with a database containing graphics, photos, text and other materials. The new applications are scheduled to be deployed at DTI customer Cox Newspapers, which owns a number of newspapers, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dayton Daily News, and The Palm Beach Post.

Adobe InDesign is now available as part of DTI’s AdSpeed software. The integration greatly improves all phases of ad production, from managing materials to design and layout, by giving users a powerful design tool that seamlessly links to a central SQL database. Full integration of Adobe InDesign into DTI’s NewsSpeed, which connects staff to all of the stories, graphics, text, photos, and grids required for publication design and layout, is on schedule for a summer release. Cox Newspapers will deploy DTI’s newest version of AdSpeed, and is committed to adopting NewsSpeed early next year.

"Adobe InDesign raises the standard for page design and layout," says Alyson Oldham, product manager at DTI. "It combines a modular, open architecture with a powerful feature set that makes it ideal for high-end production environments. As a result, we can deliver the industry’s first complete design environment linked to a database, making it possible for our customers to significantly shorten production cycles and improve the appearance of their publications."

A Standard at Cox Newspapers

Cox has long been a leader in using technology to improve operations. The company links editorial and advertising databases for its 16 newspapers via a wide area network (WAN). Using DTI software, the newspapers can share stories, graphics, pages, and ads across the WAN, under the direction of CoxNet. The CoxNet external Web site (www.coxnews.com) also connects its readers to all Cox newspapers nationwide. For Cox, DTI’s adoption of solutions based on InDesign is a natural progression in the company’s efforts to leverage the best available technologies.

Adobe InDesign offers a number of features for increasing production and improving the quality of finished pages. First, its tight integration with Adobe Photoshop® and Adobe Illustrator® allow designers to move quickly between applications without worrying about file compatibility problems or that pages will print differently than they appeared on screen. Second, the ability to output files directly to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) will help make it easier for Cox newspapers to manage review and approval of ad drafts, as well as distribute materials such as rate cards. And third, typography controls enhance the appearance of final layouts by automatically handling text spacing, justification, and hyphenation.

"The transition to Adobe InDesign will be an exciting and rewarding move for our newspapers," says John Reetz, director of CoxNet. "Our staffers can apply their previous experience with Adobe software to Adobe InDesign — and ultimately the combination of a great database architecture and strong design features will let us turn out higher quality pages faster."

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems Incorporated (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 third largest PC software company in the U.S., with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion.

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