Canon CLC 800 Duplex Printing Support Available on ColorQ Series; ColorAge Leads the Industry with Advanced Feature Support for Canon Color Laser Copier 700/800 Models.

BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 1995--ColorAge Inc., an innovator in digital color printing solutions, today announced the availability of Advanced Feature Support (AFS) software for its ColorQ 2000 and ColorQ 4000 Digital Color Print Servers. The AFS/800 option provides network printing access to three advanced features of Canon's CLC 800 model of color laser copiers; these features are duplex printing, sorting, and enhanced paper cassette support. The AFS/700 option supports the CLC 700Us sorting and enhanced paper cassette features.

"We're excited about the new CLC features because they help extend short-run color printing from traditional page printing applications into the high-growth world of true document printing," said Jeffrey Moore, ColorAge's chairman. "We've committed to our users and distribution partners that our ColorQ Series will lead the industry in document printing capabilities. Our first-in-the-industry support of the advanced CLC features underscores this ongoing commitment."

AFS/800 licenses will carry a suggested US list price of $3,000, and will begin shipping on the ColorQ 2000 in June. It will provide network access to the CLC 800 duplex printing feature. The second release of AFS/800 is scheduled in August for both the ColorQ 2000 and ColorQ 4000. It will support all three CLC 800 advanced features (duplex printing, sorting, and enhanced paper cassette support). ColorQ 2000 users with an AFS/800 license for the first release will be provided a no-charge upgrade to the second release.

The CLC 800 is the only copier in its class that automatically prints two-sided ("duplex") copies of a document without operator assistance. Until now, CLC 800 duplexing has worked only for "off-the-glass" copying. AFS/800 now extends this to network printing of documents from popular applications like Quark XPress and Microsoft Office.

Advanced Feature Support/800 (AFS/800) was demonstrated at DRUPA T95 the week of May 8. On May 17-18, it was shown in conjunction with Modern Office Machines, an Alco Standard company, at the Charlotte Information Technology Expo. "Doing true duplex printing with the ColorQ 2000 and CLC 800 really got people's attention at the show," said Fred Miller, MOM's color systems group manager and a member of the Alco Technology Board. "People went away clearly understanding that we have the best solution today for short-run color printing applications."

AFS/700 support for the CLC 700's sorter option and enhanced paper cassette capabilities will be available in August for the ColorQ 2000 and ColorQ 4000, at a price to be determined. Honoring a commitment made last year, ColorAge will provide its ColorQ 2000 users as of May 31, 1995 with no-charge AFS licenses.

AFS controls bypass tray and/or cassette paper source selection (two 500-sheet cassettes on the CLC 700, three on the CLC 800). It thereby supports applications not available on competitive products -- such as auto transparency feeding/interleaving, stock weight selection and letterhead selection. AFS also supports the sorter option (20 bins, 50 sheets per bin) available on both CLC models.

"We believe that our Advanced Feature Support options provide real benefits to users and dealers," said Jeff Moore. "For users in print-for-profit establishments, it adds new billable services such as direct `first generation' duplex-printing from computer applications, and it sharply reduces labor costs and turnaround times for existing services such as transparency interleaving and document collation. For users in the office, it supports a range of unattended network print services in a higher-throughput, user- friendlier mode than any competitive product. For the dealer, it substantially improves the competitive advantages of the new CLC models, it provides a stronger rationale for users to select the CLC 800 over the CLC 700, and increases revenues by the extra user `clicks' these features will undoubtedly generate."

ColorAge Inc., headquartered in Billerica, MA, is a leading developer of network-based digital color print servers. Since the introduction of the first ColorQ System in 1992, the company has developed one of the broadest product lines available with models designed for production graphics arts applications, as well as for general office use. ColorAge's products are distinguished by their open-systems architecture, and by their capabilities in color control, ease of use, and document printing. ColorAge is a privately held company and operates an international office in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands and sales offices in California and Minnesota.

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ColorQ is a trademark of ColorAge Inc. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective holders. All trademarks may be registered in the United States and certain other jurisdictions.

CONTACT: ColorAge Inc.

John Scanlon

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