ABBYY Ships Award-Winning FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 2002

Automation API Tools Enable System Integrators, VARs, Service

Bureaus, and Corporate IT Developers to Customize FineReader 6.0

Corporate Edition for Mid- to High-Volume Production Applications

ABBYY(R), a leading developer of document recognition and linguistic technologies, today announced the immediate availability of FineReader(R) 6.0 Scripting Edition. Designed for mid- to high-volume document conversion projects, the new product provides automation Application Programming Interface (API) tools that enable system integrators, VARs, service bureaus, or corporate IT developers to customize FineReader 6.0 software and integrate the solution into Windows applications by writing a few lines of code -- without having to develop applications from scratch.

ABBYY also announced today FineReader 6.0 Engine, a new software development toolkit for integrating FineReader recognition technologies into Windows applications. A complete description is provided in a separate release available at: www.abbyy.com/news.

FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition was introduced in March at AIIM 2002, an expo for users and suppliers of enterprise content management solutions. After extensive review of products at the show, Transform Magazine, a leading industry publication, selected ABBYY FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition to receive the "Best of AIIM" award.

"We evaluated products in search of technologies that are breaking new ground and bringing more value to our readers," said Doug Henschen, editor-in-chief of Transform Magazine. "We selected FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition because we were impressed by the product's low cost, flexibility, and accessibility to the corporate developer."

FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition includes all of the word recognition, format retention, pre- and post-OCR processing, ease-of-use and other improvements provided in FineReader 6.0 software, which was announced in a separate press release on June 4th, and can be viewed at: www.abbyy.com/news. In addition, FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition provides enhancements for increased control of the FineReader application and FineReader OCR functionality, including the ability to add customized buttons to the user interface and better management of application windows.

FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition offers automation APIs that fully comply with the COM standard and may be used with Visual Basic, C++ or other development tools that support the COM standard. With the APIs, system integrators, VARs, and in-house developers can write just a few lines of code in order to:

-- Customize FineReader to fit specific needs -- IT professionals working with FineReader Scripting Edition can automate tasks by creating special commands and buttons for a variety of functions. For example, an organization may want to process TIFF image files, save them as PDFs, and move the resulting files to an archive folder on the network -- all of which can be performed manually with FineReader. However, with FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition, a button could be added to the FineReader interface, allowing end users to perform this series of processes with a single click of a button. This is one example of how FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition can be used to increase ease of use and streamline repetitive processes.

-- Integrate specific FineReader functions into other products or systems -- FineReader Scripting Edition allows IT professionals to control a variety of application functions, including page analysis, word recognition, batch and export settings, applications windows, etc. and incorporate them into other systems via externals calls to the FineReader application. For example, a system integrator may want to incorporate only the text recognition abilities of FineReader into a document management system. With FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition, users can architect their systems to make calls (transparent or visible to the end user) to the FineReader OCR application once document scanning has occurred. FineReader would process scanned images and then pass OCR results to the assigned destination, which could include databases or indexing engines. Other organizations may want to employ different FineReader functionality or control specific aspects of FineReader, such as interface windows and application settings. FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition provides users with the flexibility they need to access FineReader OCR functionality without coding from scratch.

Pricing and Availability

ABBYY FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition is immediately available and can be purchased through ABBYY USA's toll-free number: 877/328-2229.

FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition ships with a special version of FineReader 6.0 Corporate Edition along with open APIs, a developer's manual, plus developer and distribution USB keys.

Pricing starts at $2,000 and includes one developer license. Server or workstation runtime licenses are available. A trial version of FineReader 6.0 Scripting Edition is also available. Contact ABBYY USA for detailed pricing and volume discounts for site licenses.

About ABBYY USA

ABBYY USA is a member of the ABBYY Software House Group, a world leader in document recognition and linguistic technologies. ABBYY specializes in the development of software for optical character recognition (OCR), intelligent character recognition (ICR), linguistics, semantics, and electronic lexicography. Leading products from ABBYY include the FineReader line of OCR, ICR and barcode recognition software, and FineReader development tools. Companies that license ABBYY OCR/ICR technologies include Acer, AISoft, BancTec, C-Technologies, Cardiff, Cobra Technologies, Freedom Scientific, Hewlett-Packard, Kurzweil, Legato Systems, Lexmark, Microtek, Mustek, NewSoft, Notable Solutions, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Siemens Nixdorf, Sumitomo Electric Systems, Toshiba, and UMAX. For more information about ABBYY, visit: www.abbbyyusa.com or contact ABBYY USA, 46560 Fremont Blvd, Suite 105, Fremont, CA 94538. Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail].

Note to Editors: ABBYY and FineReader names and logos are registered trademarks of ABBYY Software House. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby recognized.