What do most people use to prepare graphic presentations? Felt-tip pens and transparencies, according to a survey conducted by the software publishing company, SPC. Users of word processors and spreadsheets come a poor second and represent the market segment to which SPC's concept of intelligent formatting technology is targeted. 'The concept of intelligent formatting is that it does the layout for you and lets you concentrate on the content,' Lisa Forsyth, SPC's general manager for the Asia Pacific, said. ASAP WordPower, one of the first intelligent formatting products launched by SPC, is now available in Hong Kong at a recommended price of $1,000. Released late last year, this software contains more than 5,500 templates of layouts, designs and colour schemes that can be applied to almost any word processor, spreadsheet document, or text typed directly into the application. According to Mrs Forsyth, ASAP WordPower is able to cater for 90 per cent of business graphic presentations. 'Another selling point is that since intelligent formatting creates all of the layouts designs, and colour schemes automatically, there is practically nothing to learn,' she said. The point is that WordPower is simple but effective. Features such as automatic font re-sizing, or automatic background editing, contribute to turn dull graphic presentations, and agendas or organisational charts, into professional, interesting looking documents. The other advantage of ASAP WordPower is that it is a very small application held in a 1.44 megabyte disk and requires only a 3.5Mb hard disk. According to Mrs Forsyth, ASAP WordPower would suit the needs of 13,000 million users outside North America. 'Although it is still a niche market, intelligent formatting could apply to a larger scope of applications,' she said. SPC first brought the technology to graphic presentations but then discovered it could be applied to office suites - including word processors and spreadsheets - and to the Internet and e-mail formatting. As an example of the product's versatility, the company last year released ChartXL, a product that brings visual effects to standard charts. Mrs Forsyth said SPC was also planning to supply the technology more widely to use across the Internet. Last February, the company released ASAP WebShow, a presentation viewer that runs either as a Netscape Navigator 2.0 plug-in or as a helper application for other web browsers. POWER PLAY Survey finds word processors and spreadsheets not often used for graphics presentations SPC's intelligent formatting software offers thousands of layouts so the user can concentrate on content