Mindscape Announces Breakthrough Print Creativity Software Line; New Strategic Alliances With Major Brands Including National Geographic Lead to Redesigned PrintMaster Gold, the No. 1 Software Title in its Category

Business Wire, Sept 4, 1997

NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 1997--Mindscape, a leading publisher of consumer software and the fastest-growing publisher in the print creativity software category, today announced the release of five new products, including a completely redesigned version of its flagship product, PrintMaster Gold Deluxe -- the top-selling title in its category according to PC Data's June 1997 report.

Mindscape also announced agreements with top consumer and technology companies to develop additional titles and enhance the PrintMaster Gold series.

Mindscape's new product line includes four new versions of its successful PrintMaster Gold series: PrintMaster Gold Deluxe, PrintMaster Gold Publishing Suite, PrintMaster Gold Bonus Pack, and PrintMaster Classic. The fifth product, National Geographic Photo Gallery, is designed to work with any print creativity title.

Mindscape today also announced several major new alliances associated with the print creativity line, including:

-- National Geographic -- As part of a long-term, multi-product agreement announced last September, Mindscape is developing and co-publishing titles with National Geographic Interactive. The first print creativity title is the upcoming National Geographic Photo Gallery, a compilation of 3,000 award-winning photos from the portfolios of 11 of National Geographic's top photojournalists. Additionally, Mindscape is including 100 select National Geographic photos in PrintMaster Gold Deluxe 4.0.

-- American Greetings -- Mindscape is including a free copy of American Greetings CreataCard Special Edition from Micrografx in the PrintMaster Gold Deluxe 4.0 box. The software includes hundreds of greeting card designs and verses from the artists and writers at American Greetings, the world's largest publicly owned greeting card company.

-- nFX -- Mindscape is incorporating nFX's proprietary Cartoon-O-Matic technology to enable PrintMaster Gold Deluxe 4.0 and PrintMaster Gold Publishing Suite 4.0 users to customize clip art by manipulating images to get the exact look, facial expression, size, or other physical attributes they desire.

-- PictureWorks -- Mindscape has incorporated PictureWork's PhotoEnhancer technology into PrintMaster Gold Deluxe 4.0 and PrintMaster Gold Publishing Suite 4.0, which enables users to edit, enhance, touch-up, and color-correct photos.

"In designing the new PrintMaster product line, we worked with our partners to develop the best and most accessible print creativity line available in the marketplace," said Cindy Hudson, Mindscape's executive vice president. "We offer the widest array of top-quality features, plus multiple versions with different price points and formats."

PrintMaster Gold Deluxe 4.0

Building on Mindscape's recent announcement that it sold more than one million copies of PrintMaster Gold in the past 12 months, the company is increasing the value to consumers with a redesigned interface and a gallery of additional features. PrintMaster Gold Deluxe 4.0 includes more than 35,000 graphics, 5,000 color photos, and 4,000 layouts -- more features and options than any other product of its type available.

An advanced search engine scans 35,000 images and templates, by keyword, theme, tone, media, style, or occasion. Additional features include a sentiment browser, new cropping and drawing tools, and a streamlined interface that allows users to work on several projects at once for consistent and simultaneous editing. Mindscape is also making this new version more affordable by offering a $15 rebate program.

Mindscape commissioned more than 1,500 pieces of original art from professional artists and illustrators from around the world to include in PrintMaster Gold Deluxe 4.0. Artists used a variety of different media including watercolor, scratch board, oil and acrylic, combined with styles ranging from abstract to cartoon, to create images including landscapes, people, sports, flowers, events and cityscapes.

Users can work with the artwork to create projects such as greeting cards, banners, posters, envelopes, certificates and calendars to newsletters, labels, letterhead, fax sheets and business cards that serve small business needs.

"We've created a gallery of international artwork," said Beckie O'Brien, managing director for Mindscape's Print Creativity Products. "PrintMaster Gold Deluxe 4.0 is a standard-setting transformation of clip art into clip fine art -- no other full-featured print creativity product can equal the range, graphic quality or sheer number of art and photo pieces available."

A PrintMaster Version for Every Type of User

Mindscape has customized the rest of the PrintMaster Gold product line according to different user preferences, product features and price options. All of the products include original artwork, multiple project types, audio help and the powerful search engine.

One of the primary differences in the products is the number of graphics: PrintMaster Gold Publishing Suite offers 10,000 graphics; PrintMaster Gold Bonus Pack offers 6,600 graphics, and PrintMaster Classic offers 4,600 graphics.