Acrobat 5.0 to Include Trial Edition of LiquidForms Designer; New XML Platform Adds Automated Routing, Approval and Signing to Adobe PDF

San Jose, Calif. (March 12, 2001) (Nasdaq:ADBE)--Adobe Systems Incorporated,a leader in Network Publishing, and Cardiff Software,a leader in XML-based eBusiness automation solutions,today announced an expanded alliance to deliver complete automated electronic form solutions based upon the newly announced Adobe Acrobat 5.0 software.The alliance results in an end-to-end solution for digital online forms based upon the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)standard.

As a part of the alliance,Cardiff will offer LiquidForms™,an XML-based eForm management system that adds form design and Web-based routing,approval and submission capabilities to users of Adobe PDF forms.LiquidForms leverages Acrobat 5.0 and Adobe PDF to provide an industry standard client interface for interactive form filling and signing.LiquidForms also leverages Cardiff 's role as a technical editor for the World Wide Web Consortium's XForms Working Group.

"Adobe PDF allows businesses to transcend the barriers between paper and digital workflows while maintaining a familiar look and feel of the original form," said Joe Eschbach,vice president,ePaper ® Solutions Group for Adobe. "The combined solution of Acrobat 5.0 and LiquidForms speeds the creation of interactive Adobe PDF forms that when integrated into business processes,results in shorter cycle times,reduced processing costs and increased data accuracy."

There has been significant industry support for the standards-based approach that Cardiff and Adobe have taken with their eForm Alliance.Among the companies applauding the open systems approach to eForm management is Sun Microsystems,a leader in open systems."LiquidForms is an excellent example of a Java-technology based application for an open standards environment," said Rick Saletta,group marketing manager,Enterprise Java Technologies,Sun Microsystems."Java Servlets,XML and Adobe PDF are combined to make LiquidForms a potentially killer Web service for the government."

"LiquidForms and Adobe Acrobat deliver a truly open approach to implementing an eForm automation system for eBusiness and eGovernment organizations," said Dennis Clerke,co-founder,president and chief executive officer of Cardiff."Forms designed in the system are instantly portable,and the elimination of a proprietary filler client resolves the downstream support and maintenance costs associated with historical client-server solutions."

The LiquidForms eForm Management System,from Cardiff,will ship in May 2001.Adobe will also bundle the end-user LiquidForms Designer Trial Edition with English,PC versions of Acrobat 5.0.A free download of the end-use LiquidForms Designer and more information about LiquidForms Enterprise can be found at www.cardiff.com/liquidforms.

About Cardiff

Cardiff 's integrated eTransaction solutions are used by more than 20,000 organizations,including Global 2000 companies,to automate a wide range of business transactions and processes.Cardiff 's Information Capture,eForm and Personalized Interaction solutions work together to replace manual processing with automated online systems, putting information to work more quickly and affordably than ever before.

Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems Incorporated (www.adobe.com) builds award-winning software solutions for Network Publishing, including Web, print, video, wireless and broadband applications. Its graphic design, imaging, dynamic media and authoring tools enable customers to create, manage and deliver visually-rich, reliable content. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Adobe is the second largest PC software company in the U.S., with annual revenues exceeding $1.2 billion.

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©2001 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat and ePaper are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. LiquidForms is a trademark of Cardiff Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.