Press release

September 2001

Create standalone e-Books in a snap!

The EbooksWriter from Visual Vision Software is a new all-in-one Windows tool for creating e-books. Inside everyone there is a book bursting to get out, but until now, it was too bothersome to write, publish, and distribute it.

EbooksWriter banishes all those boring tasks. Sure, you still have to write your masterpiece, but the mechanics are made easy with this program. Each e-book is managed as a single source file, so the creation and editing process is really fast.

You write the book, you press a button, and you have your self-extracting .EXE file, ready to be distributed on your web site. No compilation or coding is needed, and the entire process is visual. Each e-book includes a built-in browser, so no Internet Explorer or Netscape is required. E-books are freely distributable, with keyword and full-text search capability, and even boolean searches.

Because of its similarity to a word processor, the user interface is easy to learn and use, from setting up a document, to managing tables and text styles. Beginners can start to compile an e-book immediately, and move on to the more advanced features later: frames, popup windows, mouse-over sensible images, visual linking, and image maps. There is a very graphical and easy to understand Help file which will get you going.

Writing a book is a long task. You don't want someone to steal the result of your efforts. EbooksWriter can protect you from thieves. You can prohibit printing or copying, you can password protect all or part of the e-book, and you can assign different passwords for different users. You can even set an expiration date. Everything is protected with strong 128 bit encoding, and unlike other e-book creation programs, there is no additional fee for this protection.

Once you have written your book, including images, backgrounds and links, you can convert it to a single .EXE file which can be distributed royalty-free either on CD or as a download. You can also distribute the e-book in the proprietary format, .AEH, that can be read with the free EbooksReader (somewhat analogous to the Acrobat Reader).

The software is small and smart: It runs on Win95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000, and XP. EbooksWriter requires at least a P100 with 16MB RAM, and it uses no DLLs. There are two versions: The free one which is fully functional, but limits the number of pages you can put in your e-book, and the PRO version (US $99) which has no limit on size. For more info, see the site http://www.ebookswriter.com

May 2001

Create CDROM's and Web Sites with a Single, Fast, Easy-to-Use Tool

Born in 1996 after hard research work in the Department of Information Science at Italy's most important and recognized scientific university, the Politecnico di Torino, and released as a commercial product in 1999, today iPer HyperPublish PRO has brought to its new version 3.5 the unique ability to create both Web and CDROM content, a uniqueness recognized by most important international software sites.

From its initial launch, the all-in-one environment of HyperPublish has been its strength and its burden. The burden is mainly the difficulty to communicate to the public (and also to the specialized press!) the unique features included in the program. As there aren't similar programs on the market, and because it lies outside of any existing and well-defined software category, a strong effort was and is needed to let the user understand the interesting work philosophy introduced by HyperPublish - its mission is to meet more multimedia/hypermedia needs with a single tool.

Visual Vision has tried to reach this aim with a new online manual, with little but significant improvements in the most used functions, and with a continued fine-tuning based on users' input and suggestions. Now HyperPublish is a mature and fast product: With a single editor you can create a fancy set of hyperlinked pages (perhaps a catalog, a manual, a technical information collection, a product brochure, a rule book); then you can publish it on a Web site or on a CDROM, with a single click, without any effort or conversion.

A lot of functions (hot spots, rollover, frames, etc.) are available in a completely visual editor similar to MSWord. HyperPublish's editor can manage multiple hyperlinked pages as a single file, so global search/replaces, internal automatic link check, and similar functions can be managed in a single document.

HyperPublish is not a program exclusively for Web authors (as may be, for example, DreamWeaver), or a program exclusively for developing CDROM's (like, for example, Director, just to cite another Macromedia product). HyperPublish doesn't offer all the functions of the above mentioned products, but rather unifies in a single interface a rich mix of both worlds (Web and CD).

This integrated design is intended to speed up the everyday work for small and medium companies whose internal staffs work with the Web and with CDROM's every day. For example, the product is ideal for creating catalogues for art shows, where both the format and the content of the catalogue are important. A site, a catalog, a hypermedia CDROM with photos: The program is suited not just to firms and private users, but is also appropriate for managing school work, and for any environment where ease-of-use is a must.

The product was improved following the customers' requirements, and VisualVision says the users do not want useless special effects (that too often cause browsers to crash rather than creating a new sale), but a fast tool to quickly and simply do the hard work. Most programs that claim to be designed for offices are unnecessarily complicated: For example, a lot of Web tools force you to manage hundreds of files, and to do boring compatibility tests for Netscape and Internet Explorer. Similarly, a lot of CDROM tools force you to learn complex scripting languages.

HyperPublish's authors know that we normal people who work in offices love simple things, and they have done their best to create an editor similar to MSWord, with an automatic FTP for the one-click Internet publishing (compatible with all browsers), an automatic CD wizard for the one-click CD creation, and an internal search engine that is included automatically in the CD. There are a lot of functions, but as with many other powerful tools, the important thing is that the ones you really use are handy. And this is exactly the HyperPublish accomplishment.

The program is for MSWindows 95 and over. There are special prices for firms and for schools, with the single license priced at US $149.90. For more info, see the site: http://www.hyperpublish.com

December 2000

Easy Web Editor: a new philosophy for creating nice Web Sites

Easy Web Editor is a fast Web publishing program designed to simplify life both for Web beginners and Internet experts. Eliminating repetitive tasks, it improves your work speed and let you concentrate on the content, rather than on the tools.

For unknown reasons, most of the Web site editors available on the market make people deal with hundreds HTML, GIF and JPEG files, even if they are sold as "visual" or WYSIWYG. Easy Web Editor is built around another philosophy. AS in MSWord, you have not to worry about internal format/storage of images and graphics, as they are built in within your document. As in a word processor, you can use more pages in the same document, and you can easily format text using styles, without having to even know about "CSS" or similar advanced Web technical specifications.

But Easy Web Editor is really more than a mere word processor. It is optimized to manage linked pages rather than simply "pages". It is very easy to add links (you can choose the destination page visually) and there are dozens of possible actions: You can let your link change a page in a frameset, you can let your link show a page in a separate browser window, and moreover you can set all these options visually, very quickly, with simple dialogs.

Since all your site is contained in a single Easy Web Editor document, you can take advantage of the global search/replace feature, the global FTP publishing with automatic optimizer (it publishes only modified pages, thus saving time), and of the global repository of links and images (you can change, for example, http://mysite.com to http://mynewsite.com with a single click, in the entire Web site).

Moreover, Easy Web Editor is very feature rich: It supports images with hot spots and mouse-over changing images (no coding and no applets required), colored tables, frame set creation and editing with drag and drop, sounds and animation. You can also include forms that make it easy, for example, to receive your user's input in your mailbox. You can use headers and footers for repeating text. Additionally, the output code is perfectly compatible both with Netscape and Internet Explorer, a very rare feature nowadays.

The learning curve is gradual: While a beginner can immediately start and publish a Web site, an advanced user can take advantage of the possibility of adding HTML/Javascript code, to edit "Meta" tags, to create Active Server Pages, and more. As the actual code is generated "on the fly" (the program "prints" HTML code only when needed for the actual publishing) you can't actually edit HTML files. But most users don't want to become programmers, and Easy Web Editor makes it easy for them to create stunning, professional Web pages.

In short, it is a very complete program, ideal for a large range of users. Easy Web Editor is for MS Windows, costs $59.90 (US), and can be purchased securely online at http://easywebeditor.com. Additional information about Easy Web Editor is available at the same web address.

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November 2000

Eliminate Paper and Move to E-docs with Paper Killer

Visual Vision has released Paper Killer, a Windows application designed to eliminate paperwork from your office, with ease.

With Paper Killer, you can easily create HTML hypertext documents or E-books, as well as HTML Help, WinHelp, RTF, AEH, and other popular standard PC formats.

It's so versatile that you can organize as hypertext almost anything. You can create complex manuals and catalogs, or simply use a set of pages to collect notes and take advantage of Paper Killer's internal full-text search engine.

While it's easy to say "Modernize! Convert your documentation into electronic format!", it is less easy to do that quickly, while keeping your documents ordered and usable. With Paper Killer, you need just a few minutes to take huge MSWord or WordPerfect documents and split them into hypertext pages, with lots of hyperlinks, images, hot spots, and frames. Using Paper Killer is like using a word processor; with most functions performed visually, you don't have to be a computer expert to create stunning electronic documents.

But there is little to be gained by simply converting your old pages into a trendy, fancy Internet-like format. The great advantage of the hypertext structure is... just the hypertext structure: If the links on your pages are well organized, and if you use frames correctly and create comfortable navigation menus, then in addition to having nicer documents, you will also have more useful ones. The tools available in Paper Killer facilitate this type of page organization.

One Page Killer innovation is to manage a page set as a single entity, so you can save, load, search/replace, and find objects on multiple pages all at once. It's really handy to have an entire hypertext document stored in a single file, handy like a book.

An added benefit is the innovative Visual Vision WYSIWYL (what you see is what you link) interface: You can browse links while in the editor, even without switching to internal preview mode. Paper Killer's easy visual dialogs speed up the creation of any kind of link, including complicated frame-to-frame ones, and even links to external windows.

Additionally, if you start from scratch, a wide selection of templates and clip art allows you to design professional looking documents immediately.

Paper Killer is designed for Windows 95/98/NT/2K/ME, and a single license costs $79.90(US). Corporate and school licenses are available. For more information, or to download a free trial edition, contact http://www.paperkiller.com

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February 2000

Create Web Pages, E-Books and Manuals with a Single Visual Tool

Visual Vision has released iPer Hyper Publish PRO, a Windows program that lets you easily create Internet pages as well as manuals, CDs, e-books, and catalogs, all from a single source document. Hyper Publish provides a single, easy-to-use tool to create both online and offline hyperlink pages, without having to learn to use two programs, or maintain two source files.

Designed for non-technical people who don't want to worry about HTML, Hyper Publish's easy to use word-processing-style interface lets you design a single document that can be used to create online and offline hyperlink pages. With just one click, Hyper Publish's internal FTP engine can publish a whole page set on the Internet. With another click, the iPer CD wizard can publish the same page set on a CD. Hyper Publish can even create an auto-install on your CD, making it simple for your users to use the CD immediately.

Hyper Publish supports styles, tables, maps, slides, forms, sounds, mouse-over changing images, and frame sets, all visually, without having to learn any programming or script language. A wide selection of templates and clip art allows you to design professional looking pages immediately.

Also expert users can take advantage of the power of the interface, at least in terms of speed. In addition they can set up custom "components", a way to quickly reuse portions of HTML code through visual insertion of parameters.

Hyper Publish's innovative WYSIWYL (what you see is what you link) interface offers powerful link browsing and management capabilities. You can browse links while in Hyper Publish's editor, even without switching to the internal preview or to an external browser. You can create elaborate frame-to-frame links, or display and close pop-up windows. Hyper Publish's link explorer lets you verify that your external hyperlinks are valid; internal ones are automatically verified. Requiring no knowledge other than how to use a basic word processor, Hyper Publish's visual dialogs let you quickly and easily create hyperlinked documents.

Hyper Publish makes fast work of revising multiple pages. The internal album/collection and the search and replace function allow you to easily update e-mail addresses, copyright dates, phone numbers and also images and links, on all of your pages. You can search for where an image or a link is placed, and change it simultaneously on all pages. The program can both archive and store an entire hypertext document in a single file, thereby simplifying the updating and management of your pages.

Hyper Publish lets you think about your content, while it deals with the technology. iPer Hyper Publish PRO requires Windows 95/98/NT/2000, and costs $165.90(US). For more information, or to download a free trial version of Hyper Publish, contact http://www.visualvision.com

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November 1999

iPer Makes It Easy to Create Hypertext Documents

PIETRA LIGURE, ITALY -- Hypertext has become one of the most common ways of presenting information, both on- and off-line. The new release of Visual Vision's iPer software further simplifies the process of creating and managing documents with professional formatting and clickable links.

Hundreds of functions allow for easy and quick development of Web Pages, e-books, CD's and interactive documents of all types, including manuals, catalogs, marketing scripts, and any document that would benefit by having formatting and hyperlinks. Styles, tables, maps, frame sets, slides, forms and popup windows are created in a simple, intuitive WYSIWYG format.

The exclusive WYSIWYL (what you see is what you link) interface allows you to select link destinations on-screen (by browsing through previews), and to follow links in the editor, by a double click.

iPer's new plugin support capability speeds up editing: Text plugins permit you to instantly transform a text block into a fancy graphic title, and image plugins let you immediately apply image optimizations or various effects to your pictures. For the advanced user, plugin specifications are public and available on Visual Vision's web site http://www.visualvision.com/plugin/.

iPer is available for Windows 95, 98 and NT, in four versions. iPer STD is a low-cost web-authoring environment; iPer WH is optimized to create e-books, manuals and CDs; iPer PRO includes advanced hypertext management functions, and customizable components. A OEM version is available for OEM and Internet providers.

With its unique interface and unparalleled flexibility, iPer is a suitable choice for all types of hypertext creation and editing. iPer costs between $(US) and $. For more information, or to download a free trial version, visit the Visual Vision web site at http://www.visualvision.com/iper/.

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September 1999

Hypertext Editor Offers Simplicity, Affordability

PIETRA LIGURE, ITALY - (INB) -- Hypertext, documents with clickable "links" to other sections or separate documents, has become one of the most common ways of presenting information, both on- and off-line. Visual Vision's <http://www.visualvision.com> iPer software simplifies the process of writing hypertext.

Visual Vision's iPer is one of the most flexible hypertext authoring programs available. With over 60 dialogs and literally hundreds of functions, iPer allows for easy hypertext development, including styles, tables, frame sets, slides, forms and windows.

Like many other hypertext tools, iPer permits users to work with entire page-sets (rather than individual pages) and offers a user-friendly WYSIWYG interface. Unlike any other editor, however, iPer offers WYSIWYL -- What You See is What You Link. "This means you can define all links visually on-screen," says Visual Vision's CEO, Aldo Ghigliano, "and these links become active immediately. In other words, when you create a link, you don't have to lose time to remember names or search pages. The destination can be selected by browsing in a preview window." Furthermore, the iPer editor allows for browsing with a double click, without having to switch to "preview" mode.

iPer is designed to work with Windows 95, 98 and NT, and is available in four versions. iPer STD is a low-cost web-authoring environment, iPer WH adds the capability to create manuals and CDs, and iPer Pro includes advanced hypertext management functions. In addition, Visual Vision offers a Lite Version (iPer LITE) for OEM and Internet providers.

With its unique WYSIWYL interface and unparalleled flexibility, iPer is the best choice for all types of hypertext editing. For more information or to download a demo, visit the Visual Vision web site at <http://www.visualvision.com>.

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Visual Vision has been selling software online since 1998, and is a proud member of the Association of Shareware Professionals.