San Francisco, Calif. (September 11, 1996) -- Imation Corp. (NYSE:IMN), the new imaging and information company recently spun-off from 3M, today announced that it has established a cooperative relationship with ULTRE Corporation to help make dry film imaging technology available to the graphic arts industry in the first half of 1997.
"We are pleased to be working with ULTRE as we move forward in the development of this exciting and long-awaited technology," said Chuck Oesterlein, vice president, Imation Printing and Publishing Systems. "ULTRE has extensive expertise in the development of top-quality imagesetting equipment and represents an excellent technology partner for Imation."

Oesterlein added that in addition to creating a new product with broad market potential, the development of dry film demonstrates Imation's commitment to the ongoing evolution of conventional products and technologies.

The relationship with Imation culminates a five-year commitment by ULTRE, a division of Linotype-Hell, to develop high-quality, innovative laser imaging technologies for use with dry film. The cooperative effort will enable ULTRE to offer its existing customers the opportunity to take advantage of Imation's new dry film product when it's introduced next year.

"ULTRE's long-term product development and marketing strategies place us in a very strong position to bring Imation's dry film technology to our global distribution organization," said James Martin, ULTRE's Worldwide Director of Sales and Marketing. "The superior quality of this environmentally-conscious product will be instrumental in creating new markets, while eliminating a variety of problems and costs associated with processing of conventional imagesetting films." Imation already has a successful history in dry film for the medical imaging industry. The company's DryView™ Laser Imaging Systems revolutionized medical imaging technology with its 1995 introduction. To date, more than 1,000 DryView systems have been shipped and installed in various locations worldwide.

Imation announced its intention to develop a dry film product at the DRUPA show in Germany in May 1995. The company demonstrated its expertise in chemistry-free pre-press technology at the 1995 Graph Expo show in Chicago, where Imation dry film was used to image negative-acting "no-process" plates.

Since that time, Imation has been active in developing cooperative relationships with imagesetter manufacturers in order to bring cost-effective dry film systems to their customers. Commercial printers, quick printers, digital trade shops and originators can realize substantial benefits from the use of an environmentally friendly dry film system, including increased productivity, the elimination of "wet chemistry" processing and decreased costs.

Imation Corp. supplies a variety of products and services worldwide for the information processing industry, specializing in information storage and imaging applications. The company manufactures and markets digital and conventional proofing systems, including the industry standard Matchprint color proofing system and the digital Rainbow^TM color proofing system, another market leader.

Imation also provides imagesetting materials, printing plates, graphic arts films, carbonless paper products and chemistries to customers worldwide. The company employs approximately 9,700 people worldwide and is based in Oakdale, Minn.

Additional information about Imation is available on the company's website at http://www.imation.com.

DryView and Matchprint are registered trademarks and Rainbow is a trademark of Imation Corp.

Copyright 1996 Imation. All rights reserved.