New Formtastic & Formatter Release Revolutionizes iSeries Forms Design

True WYSIWYG Print Preview & Support for Multiple Page Styles Amongst Numerous Upgrades

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TAUNTON, MA (May 27, 2004) -- Quadrant Software, the leading developer of Electronic Document Distribution (EDD) solutions for creating, managing, and delivering inbound / outbound business documents from the iSeries enterprise, announced the release of Formtastic 5.2.2 on June 16, 2004 along with significant enhancements to its spool file pre-processor, Formatter.

Formtastic Fusion5 provides the ability to design and populate electronic documents with ease, allowing customers to eliminate costly pre-printed forms by printing to inexpensive laser printers or delivering documents automatically by email or fax. This new release re-formats and enhances iSeries 400 spool files by adding conditional data, logos, graphics, bar codes and other document elements with pixel-by-pixel WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) accuracy. When combined with Formatter, users can cut document page counts by 50 - 75% while increasing readability and further reducing expenses related to postage and printing.

"This latest release of Formatter and Formtastic focuses on cutting numerous time-consuming steps out of document design while further minimizing guesswork," says Gary Langton, Quadrant Software Founder & President. "In addition, we've raised the bar by offering usability features that have never been available before now. Version 5.2.2 makes forms design easier than ever and fully customizable."

Enhancements in Formtastic Fusion5 V5.2.2 and Formatter include:

True WYSIWYG Forms Design including Conditional Text & Objects
The foundation of any electronic forms solution is mapping data to a previously created forms template. With that common foundation comes an equally common shortfall: the inability to preview data on the blank form without printing test copies. So, getting text, bar codes, graphics, lines, and boxes to align properly relies on trial-and-error i.e. repeatedly processing and printing your spool data with the blank form.

With Release V5.2.2 of Formtastic, the desktop preview shows live data and conditional logic exactly as it will appear on the printed page. Users see spool file text alongside bar codes, graphics, lines, and boxes with perfect WYSIWYG accuracy and without trial-and-error testing. This means that forms processing functions that had to be performed on the iSeries and then printed can now be fully previewed from the PC desktop. This eliminates the guesswork that consumes largest percentage of time in any forms design project. Click here to see an example.

Support for Multiple Page Styles
Formatter now supports multiple page styles as either input or output to the forms design process, ensuring that any type of spool data can be converted into a shorter, more professional-looking document. By eliminating the limitations imposed by line printers that use a single page form style, Formatter now allows users to accept variable input and then reformats it for improved readability. For example: summary data can be configured to appear at the end of logical detail lines instead of being fixed at the bottom of a page. This makes the form easier to read and less likely to be fraudulently altered. Click here to see how forms become more readable with this new feature.

Formtastic Signature / Image Capture Module
This new module integrates Formtastic with a broad range of image capture devices so that signatures can be recorded and automatically applied to Formtastic document templates. This eliminates the need to scan, crop, and clean up signatures with graphic design software. Also, the ability to capture and place signatures on completed forms in real time eliminates the need to keep physical copies of key business documents. This new feature is particularly beneficial to point-of-sale and shipping dock locations where real-time signature capture can be automatically applied to the specific documents being generated on the spot.

Print Drawer Control Enhancement
Formtastic now handles even more printer types and can direct each page of the completed form to specified printer drawers. This new functionality fully accommodates printing to different sizes and types of paper without manually exchanging printer drawers or shuffling paper types.

Enhancements to FormsPacks
Quadrant Software's pre-designed and pre-mapped document packages, FormsPacks, have been improved to enable plug-and-play implementation of electronic forms templates. FormsPacks are offers for all major iSeries 400 as applications including PeopleSoft, Infor, BPCS, PRMS, Friedman, daly.commerce, and many more.

Conversion Tool Enhancements
Conversion utilities have been added to Formtastic to upgrade older generation iSeries 400 electronic forms packages to include the new Formtastic V5.2.2 features with zero headaches.

Combined into a single, integrated solution, Formtastic Fusion5 and Formatter offers iSeries 400 customers the power to create and deliver professional documents to inexpensive in-house printers or to fax and email recipients using Quadrant Software’s award-winning FastFax servers. As a result, customers avoid the costly hassle of reprogramming applications, maintaining impact printers, and ordering inflexible pre-printed forms.

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