XANTE Announces New ScreenWriter 3 for Printing Quality Film Positives; Desktop Solution Makes ScreenPrinting Easy.

MOBILE, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 1998--

SUMMARY

-- Xante's ScreenWriter 3 is designed specifically for screen

printers in need of high-quality, fast turn-around film

positives.

-- The ScreenWriter 3 comes standard with 600 x 600 dpi, upgradeable

to 1200 x 1200 dpi, for superior line art, halftone images, and

text.

-- The ScreenWriter 3 prints on film and paper up to 13" x 35.5".

This is beneficial for printing large designs on textiles and

also helps prevent the need for tiling.

-- Xante's patent pending Accurate Calibration Technology (X-ACT)

gives users precise control over horizontal and vertical page

dimensions.

-- Dot Gain Calibration allows users to easily adjust the gamma

curve from the ScreenWriter 3 front panel or from Xante's Command

Center application to receive the highest accuracy possible from

halftone images.

-- Custom Dot Gain Calibration lets screen printers use a

densitometer and laser output to linearize the ScreenWriter 3 so

that halftones remain consistent, regardless of varying ink,

media, or environmental conditions.

-- Standard configuration includes a 10 page-per-minute engine

speed, a NEC VR 4300 133 MHz RISC processor, and 16 MB RAM. It

also has simultaneously active serial, parallel, and LocalTalk

interfaces. An Ethernet option is available which has

concurrently active EtherTalk, TCP/IP, and Novell NetWare

protocols. An optional internal IDE drive is also available.

XANTE(R) CORPORATION today announces the revolutionary new ScreenWriter 3, designed exclusively for screen printers in need of high-quality film positives. Featuring true Adobe(R) PostScript(R) 3(TM), resolutions of 600 x 600 dpi, upgradeable to 1200 x 1200 dpi, and oversized printing capabilities up to 13" x 35.5", the ScreenWriter 3 is also capable of producing camera-ready art, proofing materials, vellum, and plain paper output.

"The ScreenWriter 3 brings a new dimension to the screenprinting industry by simplifying the screenprinting process while maintaining quality and accuracy," said Robert C. Ross, Jr., Xante's founder and CEO. "It prints directly to Xante's polyester based Myriad film. This film costs a fraction of traditional film when considering the price of camera equipment, processing equipment, and chemicals. The ScreenWriter 3 eliminates these procedures, saving time, money, and labor. Screen printers that normally outsource camera work and film positives no longer have to pay $10-$20 for material that can be produced in-house with the ScreenWriter 3. The ScreenWriter 3's oversized printing up to 13" x 35.5" makes it the perfect solution for any screenprinting application, including T-shirts and other textiles."

The ScreenWriter 3 offers a variety of technologies to help produce film positives for specialty items such as T-shirts, caps, cups, and much more. Some of these include precision calibration with X-ACT (Xante's Accurate Calibration Technology), gamma correction with Dot Gain Calibration, linearization with Custom Dot Gain Calibration, density control, and horizontal and vertical image control.

X-ACT, a patent pending feature, allows users to have precise control over horizontal and vertical page dimensions. Without this feature, dimensional accuracy of output on a 17" image can range as much as 1/3". X-ACT provides an easy, convenient way to calibrate the ScreenWriter 3 to unequaled accuracy.

A critical technology for professional screen printers is generation of consistent grayscales and control of dot gain. Xante's Dot Gain Calibration allows screen printers to easily adjust the gamma curve from the ScreenWriter 3 front panel or from Xante's Command Center application to receive the highest accuracy possible from halftone images. Xante also supports the use of densitometers with Custom Dot Gain Calibration. This means screen printers can use laser output to linearize the ScreenWriter 3, guaranteeing that halftones remain consistent from start to finish regardless of varying ink, media, or environmental conditions.

Density Control allows the user to control the intensity of toner used for positive film output. Horizontal and Vertical image control allows the user to adjust image placement on media horizontally and vertically despite limitations set by an application.

In addition to these excellent features, the ScreenWriter 3 also offers advanced paper handling capabilities, a high speed Font Accelerator when an internal IDE drive is attached, and optional Ethernet.

PRINTER FEATURES

Adobe PostScript 3 Software - The ScreenWriter 3 offers the reliability, assurance of compatibility, and high performance provided by PostScript 3. PostScript 3 benefits include improved performance, enhanced file and memory management schemes, data compression, composite font support, and much more.

High Resolution - The Xante ScreenWriter 3 provides 600 x 600 dpi resolution, upgradeable to 1200 x 1200 dpi, for typeset quality output. The ScreenWriter 3's quality is well suited for printing computer-to-film, camera-ready materials, and monochrome laser output for final product uses and high-quality proofing.

Myriad Film - Polyester based Myriad Film is available from Xante for quality computer-to-film printing. Film printed on the ScreenWriter 3 can be processed using Xante's FilmStar 2.

X-ACT - Xante's patent pending Accurate Calibration Technology gives users precise control over horizontal and vertical dimensions on page images ensuring unmatched output accuracy. The X-ACT feature provides an easy, convenient way to calibrate the ScreenWriter 3 to unequaled accuracy.

Dot Gain Calibration - The ScreenWriter 3 allows the user to adjust the gamma curve of halftones easily from the printer's front panel or via software printer setup. This feature provides gamma control to adjust screened image values to help compensate for dot gain.

Custom Dot Gain Calibration - Users can calibrate gray scales using a densitometer and Xante's Command Center application to produce the highest accuracy possible from halftone images.

Horizontal and Vertical Image Control - Users can adjust image placement on media horizontally and vertically despite limitations set by an application. This feature helps ensure that the image is aligned correctly on the film.

Density Control - Users can control the intensity of toner used for positive film output.

Mirror Print - Users can print a job from any application with the image reversed from left to right to provide right-reading, emulsion side up output.

Font Accelerator - This feature uses a unique customer profile so that professionals who regularly use printer disk based fonts experience a boost in font performance levels up to 80%. Font Accelerator requires an internal IDE drive.

I/O Spooler - The built-in spooler support permits you to download multiple jobs into the spooler's queue when an IDE disk is attached.

Enhanced Screening Capabilities - Xante's Enhanced Screening allows the user to further fine tune output quality by providing 40% more levels of gray when enabled. With Enhanced Screening, the user can select from the normal (default) or the enhanced screens defined by 145, 197, or 256 levels of gray using the printer's front panel or via software printer setup.

Media Handling - The ScreenWriter 3 supports two input sources in its base configuration. A multi-purpose tray offers a 150-sheet input capacity and can support page sizes up to 13" x 35.5". The second source is a paper feed unit which supports the standard 500-sheet trays holding up to 13" x 18.5" sizes. Two optional input sources are available and can be configured to hold up to 500 sheets each for a total input capacity of 1,650 sheets.

High Performance - In addition to a maximum 10 page-per-minute engine speed, Xante's high performance controller design features the NEC VR 4300 133 MHz RISC processor and 16 MB RAM, upgradeable to 256 MB with user-installable SIMM modules.

Simultaneous Interfacing - RS-232 serial, parallel, and LocalTalk interfaces are standard, all of which can be active simultaneously for seamless, cross platform support. Ethernet running concurrently active EtherTalk, Novell NetWare, and TCP/IP protocols is available as an option. An optional internal IDE drive permits additional font and form storage.

Font Handling - In addition to providing 136 standard PostScript resident typefaces, Xante's ScreenWriter 3 includes support for Adobe's Type 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 downloadable fonts.

Target Markets & Applications

Xante's ScreenWriter 3 is targeted toward the growing screenprinting industry. Companies with a need for high-quality positives will benefit from the printer's computer-to-film capabilities. This includes small, medium, and large shops producing T-shirts, caps, cups, and other specialty screen printed items.

The ScreenWriter 3 allows users to bypass many steps associated with traditional film printing by outputting directly to Myriad film. The ScreenWriter 3 eliminates camera and darkroom procedures, resulting in faster, easier production. Its innovative technologies reduce the cost and process time required for conventional methods where the user is tied up by camera work and developing time. The oversized paper handling helps prevent the need for tiling and provides the flexibility to print output up to 13" wide. The ScreenWriter 3 also can be used to produce camera-ready output on plain paper or vellum for a variety of applications. -0-

Pricing, Availability, & Distribution
Optional configuration US pricing:
ScreenWriter 3,   600 x 600 dpi, 16 MB RAM...................$2,245
ScreenWriter 3,   1200 x 1200 dpi, 32 MB RAM.................$2,790

Xante offers a one year warranty and an unconditional 30 day money back guarantee. The ScreenWriter 3, Myriad Film, and other Xante products are available direct from Xante or from authorized resellers worldwide.

XANTE, founded in 1989, is a privately held corporation that develops and markets high performance printing solutions. XANTE's product line consists of high resolution laser printers, computer-to-plate and computer-to-film systems. XANTE products are available direct or from resellers in the U.S. and abroad.

XANTE, Accel-a-Writer, X-ACT, FilmStar, and ScreenWriter are trademarks or registered trademarks of XANTE Corporation. Adobe and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems, Incorporated. Other brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.