Adobe is set to kill off InProduction, its pre-flighting and PDF editing application.


Adobes solutions development director for professional publishing, Gary Cosimini, made the announcement at last weeks Heidelberg Digital Imaging Association conference, held in America.


Sources at Adobe confirmed to PrintWeek that development had stopped and there were no plans to bring out a version of InProduction compatible with Acrobat 5 and PDF 1.4.


They added that as there were no RIPs that could handle PDF 1.4 native files and that Acrobat 5.0 creates PDF 1.3 for print applications anyway, InProduction was still seen as a valid product.


Adobe didnt answer PrintWeeks questions about the future of the product, but referred to a previously issued statement for users of InProduction, which advised on the incompatibility with PDF 1.4 files and directed them to third-party PDF tools for editing files generated in Acrobat 5.


The firm said that third-party developers such as Enfocus and Lantana were producing utilities that did "as good a job or better than us at supporting PDF" and the success of high-end workflows such as Apogee, Brisque and Prinergy had diminished the need for an Adobe product.


When InProduction was launched last year it was billed as a heavyweight print production tool that completed Adobes professional publishing platform. The firm also said it would form the basis of OEMs workflow products (PrintWeek, 11 February 2000).


* Adobe has announced a new version of PageMaker. PageMaker 7.0 adds expanded support for PDF, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Publisher files.


It will be available in the third quarter. It will cost 399, or 59 for upgrades.


Story by Barney Cox