Press Releases

	Canon Software Publishing Announces Two Exciting New Creativity And Graphics Titles Geared For Families And Children

	ColorStore Print Projects and PictureFun!^TM Software Feature Creativity/Graphics and Photo Imaging to Help Consumers Get Creative COSTA MESA, Calif., (November 4, 1998) - Canon Software Publishing (CSP), a division of Canon, the world's leader in imaging technology, today announced a powerful fall line-up of two new software titles in the creativity/design and photo imaging/graphics categories. Both give consumers the software tools to be creative and professional whether at home or school These two new titles include: ColorStore Print Projects, a personal productivity application that provides novice PC users and families with a powerful, fun tool for one-stop, high quality graphics; and PictureFun!^TM, an image-enhancement application allows novice PC users to manipulate digital photographs into imaginative and high-quality digital and printed materials. Realizing that consumers frequently utilize their PCs as design and creativity centers in the home, Canon Software Publishing's ColorStore Print Projects acts as the ultimate superstore for creative print projects. Using ColorStore Print Projects' easy-to-use "drag and drop" interface, users can browse through hundreds of pre-made customizable designs and templates. ColorStore Print Projects includes template designs that give users dozens of printed and digital output options for everything from cards, stationery and buttons to banners, photo pages, labels, stickers and calendars. Canon Releases ColorStore Print Projects and PictureFun! "Unlike other desktop publishing software programs on the market, ColorStore Print Projects features coordinated designs and high quality clip art," says Kevin Reilly, senior manager of product marketing and public relations at CSP. "Kids and family users are more savvy when it comes to sophisticated software graphics today. Canon Software Publishing's ColorStore Print Projects give users the ability to choose from high-quality pre-designed sets of materials for quick, easy production of themed projects and crafts." Responding to the need for easy-to-use photo-imaging applications by novice PC users, Canon developed PictureFun! Utilizing Picture Fun!'s easy-to-use interface, users can choose from four applets - Photo, Warp, Paper and Frame - each designed to handle a specific creative task. Each applet shares a common look and feel, with large and descriptive tool buttons, pop-up "help" bars and ToolTips to reduce the learning curve. A unique multi-step wizard guides the user through all steps of a project. "Unlike more complex photo-editing software programs on the market, Canon's PictureFun! features easy-to-use photo editing functions," adds Reilly. "Kids and family users will love becoming their own professional photo touch up artists. We created PictureFun! to take the mystery out of photo editing and make creating and playing with photos a fun experience!" ColorStore Print Projects ColorStore Print Projects is one of the first software programs to offer a patented 3-D easel-back picture frame print-out for families to display their cherished pictures. Additionally, users may create colorful stickers, banners, labels, tags and cards that fold and stand up on their own using pre-templated cut and fold designs. Canon Releases ColorStore Print Projects and Picture Fun! In addition to templates, drawing tools and the ability to browse through hundreds of easy-to-use creative template designs, ColorStore Print Projects includes an art library on CD-ROM to give users a wealth of material for any number of print projects. By using the "Image Wizard" tool bar, users can travel and browse through this art library, a CD or even to the Internet. ColorStore Print projects features online access through EarthLink Total Access to allow users to import art from the Web and send or share creative projects through the Internet. ColorStore Print Projects features the ability to create custom envelopes and stickers. Users can create their own envelopes from a standard "8 x 11" sheet of paper to match their own stationery and print their customized art using Avery label and sticker templates. Canon Software Publishing, as a trusted name in creativity and imaging, specializes in easy-to-use image editing tools to help novice PC users with their digital creativity. ColorStore Print Projectsfeatures: Text Cropping features allow words to fill a variety ofshapes shapes. Image Cropping feature which allow images to the shape of a pumpkin or a star. More Than 15 Text Textures for text with fill, shadow and gradient-fill effects. Drawing Tools for free-hand artwork and images. Imaging Editing tools that allow users to import, edit and crop graphics to suit individual needs and treat all imported images like artwork. PictureFun! Canon, as a trusted name in photography and imaging, provides easy-to-use image editing tools in PictureFun! to help novice PC users explore their digital creativity. Canon Releases ColorStore Print Projects and PictureFun! PictureFun! gives users a fun and easy interface for their digital materials. Editing/enhancing and special effects tools create professional yet innovative images. PictureFun! includes a wide selection of output formats including greeting cards, picture frames, newspapers, flyers and magazine covers. Users can create whimsical and humorous layouts with these templates and juxtapose fun and creative images such as placing a baby's picture on the cover of your favorite magazine. Photo editing features: Using PictureFun!'s graphics tools, users can choose from a variety of photo image editing features including dozens of special effects (distort, mirror, rotate, emboss) and basic photo editing features such as the ability to remove red-eye. Additionally, PictureFun! includes Canon Software Publishing's exclusive Color Management System to ensure quality from scanning to printing and automatically correct common problems such as under-and over-exposure, bad lighting and out-of-focus shots. Auto Style adjusts your photo to match the qualities and style of pre-selected professional photography. AutoFinish provides users with "one-click" photo touch-up (brightness and contrast color correction). Users can also produce creative output with the "Print Packs" feature which enables users to print multiple photo print pages. According to consumer research conducted by Canon, part of the fun in taking and editing pictures is the ability to "share" photos. PictureFun! features online access through EarthLink Total Access to allow users send or share photo projects through the Internet. PictureFun! has a special agreement with pix.com^TM where users can surf to the pix.com Web site and choose from hundreds of customized output and photo merchandising products which can be created and purchased. Canon Releases ColorStore Print Projects and PictureFun! Pix.com is an online photo merchandising service where users can create photo-based gifts for friends. Users simply upload their digital image created on PictureFun! to the pix.com Web site, select their gift item and within three-to-five days receive their custom-made personalized picture gift. Gifts can range from customized T-shirts, posters and mousepads - to watches, paper cubes and boxer shorts. Users' digital photo creations can even be customized on cookies. Included with ColorStore Print Projects and PictureFun! Both ColorStore Print Projects and PictureFun! come packaged with EarthLink TotalAccess^TM Internet access. Pricing and Availability ColorStore Print Projects and Picture Fun! will be available on CD-ROM in November 1998 with estimated street prices of $29.95 each. Consumers can purchase both titles via a nationwide network of leading software retailers including office and electronic superstores and computer superstores. System Requirements Minimum system requirements for running ColorStore Print Projects include an IBM compatible PC with a 486 processor or better (Pentium processor or higher recommended); Windows® 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0; CD-ROM drive for installation; minimum 16 MB RAM; 20 MB free hard disk space (50 MB recommended); SVGA/256 color monitor (800 X 1600 16-bit color or higher recommended); and a mouse or other pointing device. ColorStore Print Projects works with most PC-compatible color inkjet, Bubble Jet or laser printers. Canon Releases ColorStore Print Projects and PictureFun! Minimum system requirements for running PictureFun! include an IBM compatible PC with a 486 processor or better (Pentium processor or higher recommended); Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0; CD-ROM drive for installation; minimum 16 MB RAM; 20 MB free hard disk space; SVGA/256 color monitor (800 X 1600/16-bit color or higher recommended); and a mouse or other pointing device. PictureFun! works with most PC-compatible color inkjet, Bubble Jet or laser printers. Customer Service and Customer Technical Support Canon Software Publishing offers a full range of customer technical support options: e-mail and Web Site (FAQ's) via the CSP Web site at www.software.canon.com. For 24 hour, seven day-a-week technical support, a customer can call (757) 413-2855 for fax-back support or to talk with a customer care technician (8 a.m. - 10 p.m. Monday - Friday, EST). Regular customer support is free for the first 30-days. After 30 days, paid support will be available. About Canon Software Publishing Canon Software Publishing (CSP) is a division of Canon Computer Systems Inc., which is a subsidiary of both Canon USA Inc. (Lake Success, NY) and Canon Inc. (Tokyo, Japan). The division, headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., was founded in 1998 to develop, publish and distribute computer software primarily in North and South America. CSP will also publish titles from both independent third-party developers and associated Canon companies. Canon is recognized as the world's leading imaging technology company, a leader in printer technology and a top worldwide patent holder. As a global technology leader, Canon achieved $22 billion in worldwide sales in 1997. Prices are estimates only. Dealer prices may vary and are subject to change at any time. Canon is a registered trademark and Canon Software Publishing; the Canon Software Publishing logo and Bubble Jet are trademarks of Canon Inc. Color Store is a trademark of DogByte Development, Inc. PictureFun! is a trademark of pix.com, Inc. All other products and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Product specifications and features are subject to change without notice.