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Stone Studio - More Features, Free Upgrades!
Create® 12.3.3 with LinkBack & PStill™ 4.1 Ship
April 4, 2005 - Stone Design, the original Mac OS X software house with over 19 years of experience, today announced immediate availability of new versions of Stone Studio which let you professionally publish to the web and to print, and much more. With easy to use toolbars, Stone Studio includes a powerful new version for Create® (the three in one illustration, page layout and web authoring application). Also updated is PStill™ - the complete distillery which converts PS to PDF, combines files, shrinks PDF and much more. These are available for download individually or as part of the Stone Studio™, the flagship suite of applications designed from the ground up in Cocoa to take advantage of Mac OS X. There is no upgrade charge for current users of any Stone Studio application or StampInStone following the Stone philosophy of “Free Upgrades For Life!” Try the applications out for 30 days free.
According to CEO Andrew Stone, “This is the fifth year of providing free upgrades to our registered users - and the apps just keep getting better. Just see how fast you can build a website by dragging and dropping from Safari into Create®! It’s our 17th year working with the original Mac OS X technology -aka NeXTStep”
This release features Create® 12.3.3, Stone Design’s drawing, page layout, and web page authoring application. With a totally customizable toolbar, Create® is the most powerful and easy to use OS X design and publishing powerhouse.
Create® 12.3.3 features LInkBack support: LinkBack is a powerful new technology that allows users to create graphics in Create®, paste them into another LinkBack application, and later call upon Create to re-edit those graphics with just a click. Because Create is both a LinkBack Server and a LinkBack client, you can also paste data from LinkBack enabled applications for page layout in Create, and then later re-edit those graphics in the original application. To learn more about LinkBack and LinkBack enabled applications, visit The LinkBack Project page.
PStill™ 4.1, which converts PostScript files to Portable Document Format (PDF) files as well as repurpose PDF, can now create CMYK and Spot Color separation plates. Also included in this release is an additional expert module for creating a bona fide composite PDF out of individual separated plates. PDFs are smaller than ever and includes these recent features:
• Expert PhotoShop DCS to PDF expert module embedded into application
• Expert Separations to Composite module embedded into application
• Color management module - make spot colors and map CMYK’s.
• Module to suppress any stroke, fill, text or image combination.
• Handles Adobe inDesign CS files
• Handles PS Level 3 by optionally preprocessing with pstopdf
• Better font subsetting for smallest possible PDF file sizes.
• New PDF Separator - create CMYK and spot separations quickly!
• Redesign of application architecture to run much faster in smaller memory footprint
• PDF output should now be smaller and uniform for all platforms.
• Adds support for Acrobat 6.01 generated EPS using two-byte fonts
• PDF transcoding now takes over bookmarks (outlines)
• Concatting PDFs preserves bookmarks (outlines)
• Instant access to Job Option sets from main interface
• Create “Secure” PDFs (See Conversion -> Security...)
- user and authoring passwords
- 40 or 128 bit encryption (128 requires Reader 5.0 or greater.)
- protect printing, copying, modifying and annotating independently
• Transcode encrypted PDF if you have the password
• Type 4 fonts now supported
• Ability to normalize for prepress any file to PS or EPS
• You can set the version to PDF spec 1.5 (Acrobat 6) as well as earlier versions
• Image transparency respected in transcoded PDF
• You can turn watched folders into other purposes, such as Normalization or Tile Postering
• New keys and hidden defaults to suppress elements
• Job Option sets and Preference Sets are indicated in the UI with a checkmark when selected
• Many other fixes and enhancements
PStill also has automatic PDF workflow direct from any application’s print panel! There is full support for creating large tiled posters, manage preference sets, and merge multiple PostScript and PDF files into one PDF document. PStill can also redistill Mac OS X PDF files, shrinking the size of the files by up to 70%. High end prepress features such as turning text into outlines, overprinting and spot color processing have been added, as well the ability to output pages 2, 4, and 8 pages up, add page numbers, and more! The online and printable manual have been revised for the new feature set.
Stone Design CEO, Andrew Stone, notes “If you only want to spend $149 for a complete publishing to print and web solution, Create® is for you! Imagine being able to do all of your desktop publishing, design and page layout in one easy to use, Native Cocoa application! And you can make entire websites with the click of one button. Because we’re a small and responsive software house, all of our users are important and we listen to them. And because we don’t charge for upgrades, current users can always download and install the latest versions and take advantage of their ideas and our work.”
Stone Design has released a free plugin for iPhoto 2.0 that makes it easy to export iPhoto images to PhotoToWeb, giving users greater control over the appearance of web sites created from those images. Stone Design has also released StampInStone™, a PDF watermarking and stamping application. StampInStone licenses are included at no charge with Stone Studio™ purchases from Stone Design’s online store.
Stone Studio™, which received a “Freakin’ Awesome” rating from MacAddict Magazine, includes applications to do graphic design with page layout and web publishing features, manage digital photos, track time and bill clients, and produce PDF from PostScript files. Stone Studio™ includes the following applications:
Create® 12.3.3 for Mac OS X is a vector illustration, page layout and web authoring application built on the idea that everything is an object. Patterns, blends, effects, art, and pages can be dragged and dropped to create multipage documents. Features include web page authoring, instant graphic conversion, autotracing, animation, multiple document master pages, patterns, neon, and special graphics and text effects.
PhotoToWeb® 2.4.2 manages digital photographs and produces websites from albums of images. It can produce thumbnails, do slide shows, and annotate, crop, rotate and scale images to produce configurable web sites. Turn CDs of photos into a giant linked website. Users can set the background and navigation bars and can save album styles for future use.
PStill™ 4.1 converts EPS/PS and other conforming PostScript to the Portable Document Format (PDF). Its EPS filter allows viewing EPS directly on Mac OS X in any application as antialiased PDF. New features include combining multiple files into one PDF file and converting any graphic image format to PDF. Stone Design provides two free applications, TrueBlue and DOCtor, which enhance PStill.
SliceAndDice™ 2.8.2 lets the user easily create navigation bars, Javascript rollovers, image maps, and complicated mosaic tilings from any image. It features full control over image production and produces easy to read and modify HTML. By dragging SliceAndDice files into Create®, the user can create complex web pages with image maps and rollovers.
PackUpAndGo™ 2.4 creates compressed archive files (.tar.gz) from dragged in files and folders and automatically uncompresses dragged in archive files. With many user preferences, this application puts a graphical user interface on Unix archiving and compression commands, making it easy for the user to create compressed backups or prepare folders for mailing.
TimeEqualsMoney™ 2.5.32 tracks time and billable expenses for clients, and produces invoices and reports automatically.
GIFfun™ 3.8 creates web animations quickly and easily, using drag and drop technology. The source code to GIFfun is also available online.
CEO Stone adds, “The true power of OS X shows when you use the apps together. Use Create to make a navigation bar image. Drag it into SliceAndDice to slice it into pieces, and drag the pieces back into the custom navigation bar controls in Create and PhotoToWeb. Install PStill and then drag EPS files directly in Create. Generate your website in Create or PhotoToWeb and drag the resulting folder into PackUpAndGo to make an archive that can be easily transferred to a web server. It’s all seamless.”
Stone Studio™ is available online at the Stone Store. Stone Design has extended its low introductory pricing: $299 through May, 2005 - and we’ll throw in StampInStone™ for free if you buy now. Each application can also be purchased separately at the Stone Design Store.
Stone Design Corporation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was incorporated in 1984 and was the first developer to ship a product on NeXT hardware in 1989 with the release of TextArt. Since then, Stone Design has been a leader in innovative shrinkwrap software in the NEXTSTEP/OpenStep/Mac OS X Server marketplace. Create® - the high end drawing and web page making package - is Mac OS X’s first Cocoa native design application. Create®, PhotoToWeb®, GIFfun™, SliceAndDice™, TimeEqualsMoney™ and PackUpAndGo™ are Stone Design trademarks. Other names are trademarked by their respective companies.
For your enlightenment, here’s the text of the original press release, proving that we were first!
For Immediate Release
For more information, please contact:
Katie Graunke
TEL: 505-345-4800
FAX: 505-345-3424
Stone Design Ships
Stone Studio™ for Mac OS X
San Francisco, March 21, 2001 - Stone Design today announced availability of Stone Studio - seven applications built to support Mac OS X, Apple’s next generation operating system. The suite features Create® and PhotoToWeb®.
According to Stone Design's CEO, Andrew Stone, these applications come with free licenses valid through May 15th, 2001. "These last few months have allowed us to really polish our applications with the Aqua look and feel. We've lowered our prices and our applications are freely accessible to Mac OS X early adopters. Download them today and give them a trial, and you'll experience the 100% pure OS X and Stoneware advantage! If you like the apps, you can buy them online at the Stone Store at our attractively low introductory prices".
"With state-of-the-art technology throughout, including a new Quartz 2D graphics engine and open GL for spectacular 3D graphics, Mac OS X is an ideal platform for the creative community," said Clent Richardson, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "Stone Studio is a complete set of tools that creative professionals will appreciate, and we are thrilled to see Stone Design's continued commitment to Mac OS X. "
Stone Studio™ includes applications to do graphic design with page layout and web publishing features, manage digital photos, track time and bill clients, and produce PDF from PostScript files. You can read about new features here. The following applications are included:
Create 10.1 for Mac OS X is a draw and layout application built on the idea that everything is an object. Patterns, blends, effects, art, and pages can be dragged and dropped to create multipage documents. Features include web page authoring, instant graphic conversion, autotracing, animation, multiple document master pages, patterns, neon, and special graphics and text effects.
PhotoToWeb 1.2.4 manages digital photographs and produces websites from albums of images. It can produce thumbnails, do slide shows, and annotate, crop, rotate and scale images to produce configurable web sites. Users can set the background and navigation bars and can save album styles for future use.
SliceAndDice 2.3.5 lets the user easily create navigation bars, Javascript rollovers, image maps, and complicated mosaic tilings from any image. It features full control over image production and produces easy to read and modify HTML. By dragging SliceAndDice files into Create, the user can create complex web pages with image maps and rollovers.
PStill 1.7 converts EPS/PS and other conforming PostScript to the Portable Document Format (PDF). Its EPS filter allows viewing EPS directly on Mac OS X in any application as antialiased PDF. You have complete control over many conversion options, such as embedding partial fonts.
PackUpAndGo 2.0 creates compressed archive files (.tar.gz) from dragged in files and folders. With many user preferences, this application puts a graphical user interface on some Unix commands, making it easy for the user to create compressed backups or prepare folders for mailing. Version 2.0 introduces automatic unpacking of compressed files and folders.
TimeEqualsMoney 1.3.3 tracks time spent for clients, and produces invoices and reports automatically. It lets you document your work by associating files with each work session. TimeEqualsMoney was formerly known as "TimeCard".
GIFfun 3.0 creates web animations quickly and easily, using drag and drop technology. The source code to GIFfun is also available online. V. 3.0 uses the latest version of whirlgif and adds more conversion options.
All applications come with fully searchable online help documents.
CEO Stone notes, "The true power of OS X shows when you use the apps together. Use Create to make images, drag them into SliceAndDice, create a Javascript rollover, drag it back into Create, and generate a web page complete with rollover graphics. Use GIFfun to create animated graphics that can be placed in Create documents. Even TimeEqualsMoney can use dragged in images from Create to add a logo to your invoices." Stone adds, "With OS X, our apps can work with other applications. Drag images from your web browser into Create. Drag images from Create into Mail. It's all seamless."
The entire suite is available via CD or easily installed downloadable image files now. Stone Studio, which contains over $1200 worth of software, is available now for $299 at the Stone Store.
Stone Design Corporation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was incorporated in 1984 and was the first developer to ship a product on NeXT Hardware in 1989 with the release of TextArt. Since then, Stone Design has been a leader in innovative shrinkwrap software in the NEXTSTEP/OpenStep/Mac OS X Server marketplace. Create® - the high end drawing and web page making package - is Mac OS X's first Cocoa native design application. Create®, PhotoToWeb®, GIFfun™, SliceAndDice™, TimeEqualsMoney™ and PackUpAndGo™are Stone Design trademarks. Other names are trademarked by their respective companies.
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