Extensible Metadata Platform

Adobe Streamlines Workflows for Publishers with New Metadata Technology

Adobe Commits to Open W3C Standards. IBM, Kodak and KPMG Consulting Among Industry Giants that Support XMP

San Jose, California, USA. September 24, 2001.

Adobe Systems Incorporated, a leader in network publishing, today unveiled new technology behind the Adobe family of products that streamlines workflows saving time and money for publishers. Called XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform), this framework enhances workflows so that content can be applied seamlessly between print, Web, eBooks and other media. XMP provides Adobe applications and partners with a common metadata framework that standardizes the creation, processing and interchange of document metadata across publishing workflows. XMP will be incorporated into all Adobe products eventually and is available for developers via a software development kit (SDK). Users will benefit from XMP's ability to contain metadata within application files.

Adobe has won support for XMP from leading companies including Artesia Technologies, Documentum, Getty Images, IBM, Interwoven, Kodak, KPMG Consulting, Inc., one of the world's largest consulting companies, MediaBin, Inc., North Plains Systems, WebWare and Xerox Corporation. XMP incorporates many World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards. W3C produces the technologies that serve as the foundations for Web architecture, including XML itself and Resource Description Framework (RDF), the foundation for Metadata on the Web, and Semantic Web developments. W3C's Semantic Web Activity Lead, Eric Miller, cites XMP as a "significant contribution to supporting the effective discovery and management of resources based on open metadata standards. It's an important piece that brings the Semantic Web closer to realization."

"XMP will be welcomed by systems integrators, because the industry lacks a standard method of attaching and extracting metadata from desktop applications," said Mark Walter, senior analyst at Seybold Publications. "By following W3C-developed conventions and publishing the specification, Adobe establishes XMP not only as the basis for attaching metadata within its own products but also as a potential standard that other vendors could adopt."

Metadata is becoming integral in the production, management and publication of digital content. Based on W3C's standards, XMP facilitates metadata exchange and packages metadata inside application files creating opportunities for digital rights management, job processing, workflow automation and many other areas of production where metadata is critical. Adobe has taken the "heavy lifting" out of metadata integration, freeing integrators and publishers to spend more time defining a workflow, and less time integrating it. The SDK is available as a guide for integration to non-Adobe applications and contains sample source code for extracting and parsing the XMP packets.

"Adobe is addressing the need to create a metadata standard that encompasses a suite of products and standards in the publishing systems arena, and which could create increased interoperability," said Glenn Cruickshank, a senior manager in KPMG Consulting's Digital Content Management practice and the company's representative on the International Press Telecommunications Committee (IPTC) standards group. "XMP relies on standard XML protocols and appears to complement existing XML standards. Content metadata in one Adobe application can now move seamlessly across many other creation products."

"The ability to publish anything, anywhere, at any time, is predicated on the ability to understand the intent of any document," said Shantanu Narayen, executive vice president of worldwide product marketing and development. "With XMP metadata technology, applications and systems gain a standardized method for describing document intent, and an efficient means of containing those descriptions."

Availability

XMP was first introduced with the release of Acrobat. 5.0 in April 2001. Adobe also announced today that InDesign. 2.0 and Illustrator. 10 (see separate press releases) have incorporated XMP. XMP is scheduled to be integrated into the next generation of all Adobe applications. XMP components include a framework, schema, XML packet technology and the SDK. The SDK is available through Adobe's Solutions Network http://partners.adobe.com/asn/main.html.

About Adobe Systems Incorporatedy

Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems Incorporated (www.adobe.com) builds award-winning software solutions for Network Publishing, including Web, ePaper, print, video, wireless and broadband applications. Its graphic design, imaging, dynamic media and authoring tools enable customers to create, manage and deliver visually-rich, reliable content. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Adobe is the second-largest PC software company in the U.S., with annual revenues exceeding $1.2 billion.

2001 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator and XMP are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See: "Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP)."

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Called XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform), this framework enhances workflows so that content can be applied seamlessly between print, Web, eBooks and other media. XMP provides Adobe applications and partners with a common metadata framework that standardizes the creation, processing and interchange of document metadata across publishing workflows. XMP will be incorporated into all Adobe products eventually and is available for developers via a software development kit (SDK). Users will benefit from XMP's ability to contain metadata within application files. Adobe has won support for XMP from leading companies including Artesia Technologies, Documentum, Getty Images, IBM, Interwoven, Kodak, KPMG Consulting, Inc., one of the world's largest consulting companies, MediaBin, Inc., North Plains Systems, WebWare and Xerox Corporation. XMP incorporates many World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards. W3C produces the technologies that serve as the foundations for Web architecture, including XML itself and Resource Description Framework (RDF), the foundation for Metadata on the Web, and Semantic Web developments. W3C's Semantic Web Activity Lead, Eric Miller, cites XMP as a "significant contribution to supporting the effective discovery and management of resources based on open metadata standards. It's an important piece that brings the Semantic Web closer to realization." "XMP will be welcomed by systems integrators, because the industry lacks a standard method of attaching and extracting metadata from desktop applications," said Mark Walter, senior analyst at Seybold Publications. "By following W3C-developed conventions and publishing the specification, Adobe establishes XMP not only as the basis for attaching metadata within its own products but also as a potential standard that other vendors could adopt." Metadata is becoming integral in the production, management and publication of digital content. Based on W3C's standards, XMP facilitates metadata exchange and packages metadata inside application files creating opportunities for digital rights management, job processing, workflow automation and many other areas of production where metadata is critical. Adobe has taken the "heavy lifting" out of metadata integration, freeing integrators and publishers to spend more time defining a workflow, and less time integrating it. The SDK is available as a guide for integration to non-Adobe applications and contains sample source code for extracting and parsing the XMP packets. "Adobe is addressing the need to create a metadata standard that encompasses a suite of products and standards in the publishing systems arena, and which could create increased interoperability," said Glenn Cruickshank, a senior manager in KPMG Consulting's Digital Content Management practice and the company's representative on the International Press Telecommunications Committee (IPTC) standards group. "XMP relies on standard XML protocols and appears to complement existing XML standards. Content metadata in one Adobe application can now move seamlessly across many other creation products." "The ability to publish anything, anywhere, at any time, is predicated on the ability to understand the intent of any document," said Shantanu Narayen, executive vice president of worldwide product marketing and development. "With XMP metadata technology, applications and systems gain a standardized method for describing document intent, and an efficient means of containing those descriptions." Availability XMP was first introduced with the release of Acrobat. 5.0 in April 2001. Adobe also announced today that InDesign. 2.0 and Illustrator. 10 (see separate press releases) have incorporated XMP. XMP is scheduled to be integrated into the next generation of all Adobe applications. XMP components include a framework, schema, XML packet technology and the SDK. The SDK is available through Adobe's Solutions Network http://partners.adobe.com/asn/main.html. About Adobe Systems Incorporatedy Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems Incorporated (www.adobe.com) builds award-winning software solutions for Network Publishing, including Web, ePaper, print, video, wireless and broadband applications. Its graphic design, imaging, dynamic media and authoring tools enable customers to create, manage and deliver visually-rich, reliable content. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Adobe is the second-largest PC software company in the U.S., with annual revenues exceeding $1.2 billion. 2001 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator and XMP are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See: "Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP)."