Extensis Streamlines Creative Workflow Process With Suitcase Server
Portland, Ore. – September 8, 1999 – Extensis Corporation today unveiled
its first enterprise-class font management software product designed to
improve workflow and system performance by providing a management center
for managing, organizing, and activating fonts throughout creative
workgroups. Extensis Suitcase Server is scheduled to ship September 15,
1999.
“Today’s creative design firms are demanding new technologies that will
allow them to streamline processes and become more efficient,” said Mark
Niemann-Ross, senior product marketing manager at Extensis. “The Extensis
Suitcase Server fulfills this demand by providing a fully scalable font
management solution for one to thousands of users at an affordable price.”
Easy-to-Use Font Server Improves System Performance Extensis Suitcase
Server is designed for creative professionals working in groups of two or
more who need a consistent set of fonts shared between all design stations.
In the typical design process, jobs flow through a series of steps, from
the initial design to final output. Along the way, a variety of design
decisions are made, including the selection of specific fonts to be used
for that project. In order to maintain consistency, it is critical that
everyone involved use the same fonts. By working hand-in-hand with Suitcase
8, the font server synchronizes authorized font sets on all workstations,
thereby ensuring the fonts used for each job are identical from start to
finish.
How Suitcase Server Works
Suitcase Server manages and stores all the authorized fonts for both an
organization and its clients, thereby controlling consistency across
workgroups. Individual versions of Suitcase 8.1, installed on each user’s
workstation, access a local folder containing the complete set of approved
fonts. Then, Suitcase 8.1 queries Suitcase Server and confirms that the
fonts in the local folder are identical to those in the font server folder.
If there are differences, Suitcase Server sends any missing fonts directly
to the workstation. Similarly, if a font is removed from the server’s font
folder, it is immediately removed from all workstations. However,
individual users can still maintain their own sets of fonts separate from
those managed by Suitcase Server.
Suitcase Server has a short learning curve with a simplified interface
based on Suitcase 8. In addition, since the server works across TCP/IP and
the Internet, workgroups can use Suitcase Server as a system-wide solution
for font synchronization while spread across multiple geographic locations.
Suitcase Server Benefits
Suitcase Server solves typical workgroup font issues by offering an
independent font management center to ensure complete synchronization of
fonts.
Eliminates Server Instability – Opening a font across the network places
users in a potentially vulnerable position. If the server crashes, each
connected workstation will lock up while trying to open the font, thereby
disrupting the entire workgroup. Solving this common problem, Suitcase
Server only opens a network connection long enough to synchronize fonts.
Since each workstation has a copy of the fonts, they remain completely
independent; even if the server crashes, the workstations remain functional.
Reduces Network Traffic – When an application uses a font, it needs to
access information regarding character shape, size and position. Rather
than storing this information on the network, Suitcase Server brings these
fonts down to the local workstation, thus lowering network traffic and
increasing application performance.
Increases Remote Access Bandwidth – Workgroups separated across
geographical boundaries require special network consideration. By
completely synchronizing fonts and only consuming bandwidth when necessary,
Suitcase server effectively eliminates speed and bandwidth problems as well
as physical travel between design locations to ensure fonts are working
properly.
System Requirements
Extensis Suitcase Server is easy to install and runs on a standard
Macintosh or Windows NT operating system with a connection to a TCP/IP
network or the Internet. Minimum requirements for a Macintosh server are
System 8.6 running on a PowerPC or G3 computer with 12 MB RAM, Open
Transport 1.3 or later. Requirements for a Windows NT server are Windows NT
4.0 with an NTFS partition, an Intel Pentium 233 MHz processor or higher,
and 32 meg RAM (64 recommended). Currently, Suitcase 8.1 client software is
only available for the Macintosh. A Windows version of Suitcase is under
development.
Pricing
Pricing for Extensis Suitcase Server begins at $999.95 for one to nine
users and scales up as the number of seats increase. Customers already
using individual versions of Suitcase 8 can download the upgrade to the
Extensis Suitcase 8.1 client version at no additional charge. Individual
copies of Suitcase 8.1 are available for an estimated street price of
$99.95. Macintosh users of previous versions of Suitcase can upgrade to
Suitcase 8 for $49.95. For a free online demonstration of Suitcase Server,
please visit www.extensis.com/suitcase/serverdemo.html.
About Extensis Products Division
The Extensis Products Division of creativepro.com Inc. develops, publishes,
markets and supports productivity software for creative professionals. From
design through output, Extensis products and services make the process of
creating, editing, assembling and managing digital content for print and
electronic publishing more productive and efficient. Extensis’
award-winning productivity software for Microsoft Windows, Macintosh OS and
the Internet is distributed worldwide. To further service the creative
professional community, the company has introduced creativepro.com, the
ultimate resource where creative professionals go to gain the knowledge and
tools they need to be successful. Founded in 1993, creativepro.com Inc. and
the Extensis Products Division is based in Portland, Ore., and is a
portfolio company of Adobe Ventures LP, the investment arm of Adobe Systems
Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE). For additional information please visit
http://www.creativepro.com and http://www.extensis.com.