ScanSoft PDF Solution Outshines Alternatives with Price, Performance and Features Needed to Put PDF on Every Business Desktop

PEABODY, Mass., November 9, 2004 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the global leader of speech and imaging solutions, today announced that Québec Cartier Mining Company, one of the leading producers of iron ore products in North America, has selected ScanSoft® PDF Create! as the standard PDF creation solution for the organization. ScanSoft PDF Create! is a fast and affordable solution that allows users to create PDF from all of their PC applications, and is quickly gaining recognition as the "Better PDF for Business."

Traditional PDF products offer features tailored to design and print professionals, but that are extraneous to business users, including CMYK color separation, dot gain setting, color matching and pre-flight tools. ScanSoft PDF Create! distills the business features out of PDF, removing complexity and adding ease-of-use. Québec Cartier Mining Company compared a range of PDF products, then selected ScanSoft PDF Create! as its standard for sharing critical documents within the organization, as well as with suppliers, partners and customers. ScanSoft PDF Create! supports PDF 1.5, 1.4 and 1.3 standards, resulting in PDF files that can be used with any PDF viewing or editing application, including ScanSoft® PaperPort®, as well as Adobe® Reader and Acrobat®.

"PDF has become a de-facto standard for sharing documents that can be easily viewed, printed and made secure," said Serge Tancrède, service director, Québec Cartier Mining Company. "Through our evaluation of alternative solutions, we found that ScanSoft PDF Create! delivered precisely what we needed - in features, performance and price."

ScanSoft PDF Product Family

• PDF Converter Professional 2.0 - ScanSoft has delivered the first and only product that combines PDF creation with PDF conversion. A bundle of PDF Create! and PDF Converter 2.0, PDF Converter Professional significantly improves productivity by providing business professionals with the ability to more seamlessly move between the two dominant electronic document formats - Microsoft Word and PDF. With PDF Converter Professional organizations now have access to an industry-leading PDF solution that has the price, performance and features that can put the power of PDF on every business desktop.



• PDF Create! 2.0 - ScanSoft's new PDF Create! enables PDF creation from any Microsoft Windows application through the "print" option, and provides toolbar and mouse shortcuts within Microsoft Office and Windows Explorer. Also included is PDF Create! Assistant, an easy-to-use desktop application that enables the batch conversion of multiple files into the PDF format, as well as merging multiple file formats into a single PDF document. This is especially valuable for sharing specialized documents, such as drawing (Microsoft Visio), photo editing (JASC PaintShop Pro), layout (Microsoft Publisher), CAD (Autodesk AutoCAD), accounting (Intuit QuickBooks), and contact management (ACT!) applications.



• PDF Converter 2.0 - With PDF Converter 2.0, ScanSoft has added or improved upon the features that matter most to make converting PDF-to-Word easier and more effective than ever before. PDF Converter Assistant enables the batch conversion of multiple files from PDF-to-Word-without needing to open Microsoft Word. In addition, ScanSoft has added logical form recognition (LFR) to PDF Converter, enabling users to turn PDF forms into Microsoft Word forms that can be edited or filled. Improved format retention ensures that even complex PDF documents with a blend of text, graphics and bullets are formatted accurately, while added support for image-only PDF documents and security encryption ensures that all types of PDF documents are quickly and easily converted.

"We are pleased that Quebec Cartier Mining Company has selected PDF Create! as its PDF standard," said Robert Weideman, senior vice president, ScanSoft Productivity Applications Division. "Based on our growing track record of winning technical evaluations, it is clear that our products are industrial strength PDF."

About Québec Cartier Mining Company

Québec Cartier Mining Company is one of the leading producers of iron ore products in North America. The company operates an open pit mine and a crusher/concentrator facility capable of producing 18 million metric tonnes of iron ore concentrates annually at Mont-Wright in Northern Québec. The company also operates a pellet plant with an annual production capacity of some nine million metric tonnes of iron ore pellets at Port-Cartier, Québec on the North shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. www.qcmines.com.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is the global leader of speech and imaging solutions that are used to automate a wide range of manual processes - saving time, increasing worker productivity and improving customer service. For more information regarding ScanSoft products and technologies, please visit www.ScanSoft.com.

Trademark reference: ScanSoft, the ScanSoft logo, and PaperPort are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other company or product names mentioned may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with market trends, competitive factors, and other risks identified in ScanSoft's SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof.

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