Snowbound Software Introduces the Creation of Highly-Compressed PDFs Using JBIG2.

WATERTOWN, Mass. -- Snowbound Software, a leading provider of performance-driven imaging solutions, today announced the availability of JBIG2 saving for its RasterMaster 14.0 Imaging SDK for Windows (ActiveX and DLL) and .NET as well as its SnowBatch conversion application. The new option provides the ability to create JBIG2 compressed images from any black and white file or document format supported by RasterMaster including TIFF, G4, G3, PNG, MO:DCA, and more. It also provides the ability to further compress existing Adobe Acrobat documents by converting black and white images to embedded JBIG2 compressed files.

Snowbound's JBIG2 plug-in delivers compression rates of up to 100:1 compared to an uncompressed B&W image and up to 7:1 over TIFF Group 4. Without sacrificing image quality it is now possible to reduce files to a much smaller size to make it easier and faster to store, download and transmit. Another major advantage is that these smaller files can be viewed by virtually anyone across the enterprise. All files saved as a PDF with embedded JBIG2 can by read by Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or higher.

Unlike many other JBIG2 solutions that have JBIG2 headers but use JBIG compression, Snowbound's implementation takes full advantage of the standard by using symbol recognition and substitution technology. For example, a 1 MB uncompressed B&W image can be compressed to 85 KB in Group 4 and 25 KB in Snowbound's JBIG2 implementation.

"Proprietary file formats come and go as technologies change or become obsolete. However Adobe Acrobat is a widely adopted standard that continues to grow and gain market share across many industries," commented James Palo, Vice President of Development. "Our ability to embed JBIG2 within a PDF greatly compresses the original file to a more manageable size that can be viewed by virtually anyone with Adobe Acrobat, thereby eliminating the concerns associated with proprietary files."

The JBIG2 option is currently available for Snowbound's Windows and .NET products and will be available for Java shortly. RasterMaster is Snowbound's flagship imaging SDK and Library that provides automated document imaging functions to decrease application development time while providing expert functionality and features. SnowBatch is a Windows-based batch conversion application for Windows that can quickly and easily convert over 100 file formats. For more information about Snowbound Software's products please visit www.snowbound.com.