furuta@MIMSY.UMD.EDU (Richard Furuta) (08/11/86)
Here's an interesting press release from Imagen:
--Rick
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HEWLETT-PACKARD CHOOSES HIGH-PERFORMANCE
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION LANGUAGE FOR
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
For Release August 11, 1986
Boise, Idaho--Hewlett-Packard Co. Today announced an
agreement to adopt IMAGEN Corp.'s document description language,
DDL, to further expand the capabilities of HP's desktop
publishing solutions.
DDL incorporates all of the graphic features of current page
description languages, plus additional capabilities that give PC
users greater flexibility in designing and printing sophisticated
documents such as those which merge text and complex graphics.
Under the terms of the agreement, IMAGEN has licensed its
document description language to HP and is providing technical
support to implement DDL for existing and future HP printer and
personal computer products.
"As the leading supplier of laser printers, HP recognizes
the expanding role of corporate desktop publishing and has spent
several years evaluating page description languages to determine
which one can best meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of
the marketplace," said Douglas K. Carnahan, general manager of
HP's Boise (Idaho) Division, marketing headquarters for the
LaserJet printer family.
"HP selected IMAGEN's DDL because it offers the most
flexible, efficient and high-performance solution for present and
future markets," Carnahan explained.
Description languages mediate between the software
application and the printer to describe how a set of images will
be rendered on the printer. DDL describes a document in two
sections: a collection of images and a set of rules for placing
these images on paper. The sections are merged only when
printed. This separation of image from rules increases the
performance for sophisticated applications.
"DDL takes the capabilities of the basic page description
languages several steps further by allowing the user to define
entire documents rather than pages," said Patrick Welch,
president and chief executive officer of IMAGEN. "We're
confident that the introduction of DDL into the LaserJet family
will quickly create a new standard for corporate electronic
publishing and other sophisticated applications."
Software Support
A primary reason for the success of the HP LaserJet printer
family, Carnahan noted, is the emphasis HP has placed on support
by independent software vendors. Currently, more than 500
software packages from HP and third-party developers support the
LaserJet family.
Carnahan said strong third-party support is planned for DDL,
and added that seven leading software vendors already have
pledged support: Aldus (Seattle), Graham Software (Canada),
Lexisoft (Davis, Calif.), Microsoft Corp. (Bellevue, Wash.),
Studio Software (Irvine, Calif.), Software Publishing Corp.
(Mountain View, Calif.) and T-Maker (Mountain View, Calif.).
DDL is scheduled to be available for all of HP's LaserJet
printers in the fall of 1986 from authorized dealers and HP's
direct sales force.
Hewlett-Packard Company is an international manufacturer of
measurement and computation products and systems used in
industry, business, engineering, science, medicine and education.
The company employs 84,000 people worldwide and had revenue in
its 1985 fiscal year of $6.5 billion.
Imagen will make available a language manual, tutorial, and
cookbook. Details on ordering to follow.
DDL is a trademark of IMAGEN Corp.
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