FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from SoftPress Systems
http://www.softpress.com
***** SoftPress Systems Announces Freeway 2.0 *****
Array of new features includes intuitive tools for rapid production
of fourth-generation Web sites with Cascading Style Sheets,
HTML 4.0 layout and customizable Actions
plus Frames, Tables and much more
Oxford, England — July 17th 1998 — SoftPress(R) Systems today announced
Freeway(TM) 2.0 for the Macintosh, a major upgrade to their award-winning
Web design software. A preview version is now freely available for download
from the company’s Web site at http://www.softpress.com.
Freeway has been designed to meet the needs of graphic designers who want a
user-friendly tool to give them the ability to design Web sites without the
need to master HTML. The new version extends Freeway’s popular DTP-style
user interface to give easy access to fourth-generation Web technologies,
and provides over 100 new features and enhancements. Highlights include
HTML 4.0 layout, Cascading Style Sheets, customizable Actions, frames,
tables and the ability to import Web sites produced in other applications.
The finished product will have a recommended retail price of $299, and is
due to ship in September 1998. There will be an introductory price of $199
until November 30th 1998.
For over two months, early beta versions of Freeway 2.0 have been evaluated
by users of Freeway 1.0, and SoftPress reports a tremendously positive
response to the new software:
“I’ve been testing Freeway 2.0 and am very excited about the
new features. Implementing CSS and HTML 4.0 is certainly a step
forward. I’m currently developing three or four sites where
I’m putting the 2.0 beta through it’s paces. It’s extremely easy
to implement CSS to an existing site, whether it was previously
made in Freeway 1.0 or with another editor and imported into
Freeway via the Get HTML function. There isn’t a tool on the market
that can boast all of Freeway’s features.”
– Tim Clements, Araneum
Araneum is a leading Web design company in Copenhagen that recently won a
prestigious Reboot ’98 award with one of their Freeway sites.
EASY CREATION OF FOURTH-GENERATION WEB SITES In the new version, SoftPress
has extended Freeway’s acclaimed user interface to make fourth-generation
Web technologies easily accessible to graphic designers. The new Actions
technology enables scripting and HTML code to be packaged in a form which
can be easily used by Web designers without any technical knowledge. With
one of the most accessible implementations of Cascading Style Sheets
available, Freeway 2.0 gives designers sophisticated typographic control of
HTML text, and also offers exciting new possibilities in Web page layout
through CSS2 layers.
NEW ACTIONS TECHNOLOGY
With new, customizable Actions, it’s now easy to integrate complex
scripting and back-end functionality into Freeway, and simplify the
creation and management of dynamic, interactive Web sites. There will be a
growing library of Actions from which graphic designers can simply select
and use objects which contain pre-programmed scripts and coding.
Applications include database connectivity, integration with e-commerce
solutions, dynamic HTML behaviors and more.
With Actions, Freeway 2.0 makes the process of designing highly functional
web sites more modular and well managed – with graphic designers able to
focus on the design process and the programmers concentrating on the
technically more complex aspects of scripting and custom HTML coding. A
sample library of Actions is supplied with the Preview version of Freeway
2.0 including Rollovers, QuickTime controls, Database connectivity and
Shockwave Director and Flash controls. A much larger library will be
available when Freeway 2.0 ships in September.
PRECISE, FLEXIBLE PAGE LAYOUT
Freeway has a rich range of layout tools comparable with the best of DTP
page layout programs. In its first release, Freeway automatically created
HTML tables to accurately reproduce page designs on the Web. In version
2.0, designers now have the additional option of using CSS2 layers, which
are supported in the version 4 browsers from Microsoft and Netscape. This
new feature gives graphic designers greater freedom of layout design and
the ability to add more interactivity to Web pages.
CASCADING STYLE SHEETS
Freeway has been highly praised for its advanced typographical capabilities
and its ability to export elegantly formatted type as anti-aliased GIF
graphics. Now, version 2.0 complements this with much improved control of
HTML text through its extensive support for Cascading Style Sheets. This
new development helps to sustain Freeway’s position as the leading Web
design tool for providing graphic designers with free-form layout and type
control.
NOW SUPPORTS FRAMES, TABLES AND HTML IMPORT Many other new features have
been incorporated in Freeway 2.0 including Frames, Tables, Anchors, direct
FTP upload and the ability to import HTML files produced in other
applications. SoftPress has ensured that each of the new features has been
implemented to maintain ease-of-use and consistency across Freeway’s
intuitive interface. A more detailed list of new features is available in
the document “Freeway 2.0 Overview and New Features”.
SOFTPRESS ACCLAIMED FOR FIRST-CLASS SUPPORT The most important accessory
that comes with Freeway is superb customer backup, and all registered
Freeway customers qualify for unlimited free product support. Since the
launch of Freeway 1.0 SoftPress has achieved an enviable reputation for
providing excellent support to their customers, and this has proved crucial
to designers who are just breaking into Web publishing.
Here’s just one of many testimonials the company has received:
“Thank you so much for all your help! I can’t tell you how
good it makes me feel knowing the support you give. It’s a
rare thing in this day and age to find a company that goes
the extra mile just to help one customer. I am sending this
email to let you know how much I personally appreciate it.
I would recommend your company to anyone!”
– Kimberley Carmell, FireGrafix, Inc.
PRICING AND UPGRADES
Freeway 2.0 will have a recommended retail price of $299. During the beta
program, SoftPress is offering Freeway 1.0 at a special price of $199 which
includes a free upgrade to version 2.0. This price will be extended as an
introductory offer price for Freeway 2.0 until the 30th November 1998.
All registered Freeway 1.0 customers will qualify for a free-of-charge
online upgrade and will be able to download Freeway 2.0 from the SoftPress
Web site as soon as the shipping version is available.
ABOUT SOFTPRESS SYSTEMS
SoftPress Systems is a privately owned software company with its
headquarters in Oxford, England. The company was founded in 1993 to address
the emerging needs of professional publishers and designers for new media
authoring tools. Prior to releasing Freeway 1.0 in October 1997, SoftPress
developed UniQorn, the award-winning program for professional page layout
and the authoring of Java-powered Web sites.
Web site: http://www.softpress.com
Telephone Sales: 1-800-853-6454
Sales information: sales@softpress.com
For technical support send email to support @softpress.com
For further information and screen shots please contact Jon Hornstein at
SoftPress Systems, Inc.
Phone: 415-331-4820
Fax: 415-331-4824
Email: jon_hornstein@softpress.com
SoftPress Systems Ltd
Jarn
Old Boars Hill
Oxford OX1 5JQ
United Kingdom