AutoPilot covers all aspects of workflow in conjunction with compliant products, from creating PDF files, pre-flighting, modifying, trapping, proofing and printing. A list of AutoPilot-compliant products as well as a white paper on automating PDF workflows may be downloaded from the company's web site.

Callas also has announced the availability of PDF/X-3 Inspector Freeware. The Acrobat Plug-in PDF/X-3 Inspector is a free tool for creating and verifying PDF/X-3 files according to the ISO 15930-3 standard. This tool helps to implement the PDF/X-3 standard in day-to-day pre-press production.

NICA is an end-to-end digital asset management pre-press solution that provides newspaper and magazine publishers the ability to manage, archive, retrieve and reuse publishing data such as text, images, graphics and Portable Document Format (PDF) files, while offering integration with their production workflows, editorial creation front-end systems and industry-specific business practices.

In addition to directly marketing NICA to the newspaper industry, IBM has licensed CCI Europe of Aarhus, Denmark, and Kennesaw, Ga., to resell the NICA product.

Convera also announced it is creating an extension to the IBM WebSphere Portal that will enable IBM customers to seamlessly integrate RetrievalWare as the search technology of choice into their portal deployments, giving IBM portal customers the ability to retrieve all data types (text, video, images, audio) through the IBM portal interface.

The product, which features an Aqua interface and continuing support for all popular Macintosh font types, provides superior font management for applications running under Mac OS X as well as applications running in the Classic environment. Font Reserve 3.0 complements DiamondSoft's full suite of font management applications, including Font Reserve Server for workgroups and Font Reserve Single User for Windows.

Font Reserve 3.0 for Mac OS X is $89.95 for an electronic download version and $99.95 for the CD package version. For the first time, DiamondSoft is offering a competitive upgrade from Suitcase or ATM Deluxe for $49.95. Registered users who have purchased Font Reserve Single User 2.6 for the Mac are eligible for a free upgrade.

The web site now offers new support pages where visitors have access to the Enfocus Knowledge Base. This includes information on a variety of topics relevant to Certified PDF workflow, as well as techniques for pre-flighting, auto-correcting and editing PDF documents; free access to easy downloads of PDF Profiles and Action Lists for Enfocus Instant PDF, PitStop Professional and PitStop Server customers; the Enfocus User Group Forum, a new e-Community providing a forum for exchange of tips, tricks, questions and ideas on using Enfocus solutions, and other useful links including popular PDF-related sites.

Enfocus also has announced a certified training partner program, designed to insure that training partners -- individuals and training companies -- are qualified to provide proper training to Enfocus software customers. Anyone meeting Enfocus training guidelines will receive official certification and support, including training materials available for license as well as discounts on Enfocus products for training purposes.

Through the use of its Digital Workbench, a web-based content management system, Nando Media will automate Metroland's publishing process for affiliated on-line information sites, streamlining operations to lower overall production costs while adding new features and depth of content. Templates will allow Metroland's web site administrators to manipulate formatted information from their legacy publishing system in an automated production process to create turnkey web sites including versions that can be delivered to PDAs, cellular phones and e-mail inboxes.

In addition to the Digital Workbench, Metroland also has purchased Nando's Workbench Classifieds and Waveshift's community publishing tools to produce low-cost, localized, community-centered classifieds and content for its sites. Nando also will supply its ad management services, incorporating Real Media's Open AdStream technology with Nando's traffic department to provide ad inventory management, ad targeting and delivery, campaign reporting and forecasting.

The intranet-based NPS 2000 document management system will enable all Zondervan editorial, marketing, design and production teams -- as well as outside resources -- to distribute content to desktop publishing applications. With NPS 2000, Zondervan will create a unified editorial environment, accessible from any web browser, which ties together applications such as Word, XPress, Adobe Photoshop and the like.

Client enhancements include PDF output now available via the PrintProof feature; support for Native PC & Mac client; new view capabilities supporting single/combination of Separations View; ability to select either color or grayscale in single separation view; easier open/close navigation window from the toolbar; BluePrint feature now includes resolution, fit to page, and Print Marks Parameters tools.

Server enhancements include enhanced administrator functions including notifications and additional e-mail administration parameters; thumbnails view now available for directory listing, and many new server administration tools

The company has also announced the availability of RealTimeProof Partner, which gives third parties the ability to plug RealTimeImage's image-streaming engine into any digital production solution, including asset management programs, custom databases and digital workflows.

The company also said it is now offering its fee-based RealTimeProof Professional Services Management in North America, to provide personal consulting for maximum productivity and benefit in on-line proofing implementation.

Under the agreement, WAM!NET will now offer Extensis pre-flighting technology in its secure, fully managed file transport and content storage services. Pre-flighting services will be provided through Extensis Preflight Online, the company's patent-pending web-based pre-flighting service.