Altsys Corporation Announces Virtuoso for NeXTSTEP
Conrad Geiger - Manager, International NeXT User Groups
Meaghan Hogan, Altsys
Phone: (214) 680-2060
FAX: (214) 680-0537
e-mail: mho...@altsys.com
Altsys Corporation Announces Advanced Text Capabilities in Altsys
Virtuoso for NeXTSTEP
Drawing, Organization, Text, and Production Capabilities Now
Available in One Program
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - September 22, 1992 - Altsys Corporation announced
today a new feature set for soon-to-be-released Altsys Virtuoso, the
advanced design and production program for NeXTSTEP. This new feature
set includes a variety of outstanding text-handling and formatting
capabilities not currently found in traditional drawing programs.
These text features include: text wrapping around objects, multiple
columns and rows, copyfitting, automatic hyphenation, linked
text blocks, tabs, and professional typographical control.
Demonstrations of this revolutionary new NeXTSTEP application will
take place in several booths at Seybold San Francisco including the
NeXT Computer, Inc. booth (#2414) and the Altsys booth (#1544).
Altsys, the developers of outstanding graphics programs such as
Fontographer and Aldus FreeHand on the Macintosh and Windows, first
announced the NeXTSTEP version of Virtuoso at Seybold in San Jose in
the fall of 1991. Since that time, Virtuoso has been praised for its
outstanding performance, drawing capabilities, and user interface.
Now, with the inclusion of these new text features, Virtuoso will
prove to be the definitive single-page layout solution for NeXTSTEP
users when it ships in October of this year.
"While creating Virtuoso, we took what we've learned developing our
other graphics products to design a feature set and an interface that
meets the needs of today's designers," said Rusty Williams, Altsys'
product manager of drawing programs. "We have listened to our
customers and have implemented their suggestions to redefine the
traditional drawing program. This is exemplified by the addition of
Virtuoso's extensive text handling and formatting capabilities.
With Virtuoso, artists can now access all of the tools they need for
single-page designs in one easy-to-master program."
In addition to the new text features, Virtuoso has the advanced yet
easy-to-use capabilities that people expect in a comprehensive
drawing program. Virtuoso has all of the basic drawing and
transformation tools today's artists need including the multigon
tool, which simplifies the creation of polygons and stars, and the
freehand tool, which can also be used as a variable-weight or
calligraphic pen. Users can also take advantage of state-of-the-art
features such as unlimited design layers, drag and drop color,
unparalleled PostScript support, and extensive fill and line control.
"Designers and typographers lucky enough to own a NeXT now have a
powerful weapon called Virtuoso," said Tony Ammerman, creative
contact, Temerlin McClain, a division of Bozell advertising agency.
"Virtuoso offers an approach to design and typography that rivals any
program on any platform. Virtuoso could be the new `best of class' in
page layout. Those who don't own a NeXT should hurry out and get one
- Virtuoso single-handedly makes it worth the investment."
Virtuoso also offers numerous editing capabilities. With features
such as edit in Preview (full color) mode, 100 levels of Undo and
Redo, and Zoom (up to 1600%), artists using Virtuoso have the tools
they need for flexibility and precision when creating a design. When
the document is completed, the user can produce everything from color
comps to full-color separations within the program with Virtuoso's
built-in production capabilities.
To simplify the task of working in multi-platform, multi-program
environments, Virtuoso has the ability to import TIFFs (Tagged Image
File Format), as well as import and export EPS (Encapsulated
PostScript) files for use with other programs. In addition, Virtuoso
enables artists to import and export their documents for use with
Aldus FreeHand 3 for the Macintosh and PCs running Windows, as well
as Adobe Illustrator 88 and Adobe Illustrator 3 for the Macintosh,
PCs running Windows, and the NeXT. Graphic artists can
also exchange documents between Virtuoso for NeXTSTEP and Virtuoso
for Solaris.
Virtuoso requires NeXTSTEP version 2.x. A version of Virtuoso which
takes advantage of NeXTSTEP 3.0 will be available later in the
fourth quarter of 1992, and Virtuoso for NeXTSTEP 486 will be
available in the first quarter of 1993.
Virtuoso has a suggested retail price of $XXX and will be available
directly from Altsys Corporation, as well as through NeXT-authorized
resellers.
Founded in 1984, Altsys Corporation, headquartered in Richardson,
Texas, is a world leader in font editing and graphics software.
Altsys offers a sophisticated selection of font editing programs that
allow easy design of custom fonts and logos. Altsys' Macintosh
products include Fontographer, Metamorphosis Professional, and
Fontastic Plus, as well as the Altsys XTRAS line of graphics
enhancements which includes EPS Exchange. Altsys also develops
Fontographer for PCs running Windows 3.1. Virtuoso for Solaris will
be available in the first quarter of 1993. In addition, Altsys
continues to develop Aldus FreeHand.
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Virtuoso, XTRAS, and Fontastic are trademarks; the Altsys logo,
Fontographer, EPS Exchange, and Metamorphosis are registered
trademarks of Altsys Corporation. All rights reserved. NeXT and
NeXTSTEP are trademarks of NeXT Computer, Inc. Aldus FreeHand is a
registered trademark of Aldus Corporation. PostScript is a registered
trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. All other brands or
trademarks are registered trademarks of their respective owners.