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art_director · Jan 13, 2003, 03:08 PM

I copied this from the Quark user forum:

Stick a Quark in it

Publishing professionals who attended a Quark- convened �executive summary� in New York last week are still abuzz over the performance of Quark CEO Fred Ebrahimi, a gentleman whose outbursts make Steve Jobs seem like Captain Kangaroo.

The ostensible topic du jour: the pending integration of Quark Publishing System and Digital Media System within a framework of Microsoft�s .Net and SQL Server technologies. Notably absent from the roadmap: any support for Mac OS X Server.

Indeed, these witnesses attest, audience questions about Mac OS X provoked an Ebrahimi tirade of Old Testament proportions: Quark�s Dear Leader told his squirming guests that �the Macintosh platform is shrinking,� and that �publishing is dying.� He suggested that anyone dissatisfied with Quark�s Mac commitment should �switch to something else,� although he insisted that making the move to Adobe�s long-Carbonized InDesign package is �committing suicide.�

�Everyone was stunned, and most folks left by noon,� one attendee reported. �It was awful.� Although many of Quark�s hapless visitors were lured to the gathering by a promised demo of XPress for Mac OS X, Quark provided precious few details and no time line. Ua fa�atagito�ia, Mr. Ebrahimi!

dadder · Jan 13, 2003, 07:10 PM

No offense, but this has been posted at least a dozen times on MacNN within the last couple months.

art_director · Jan 13, 2003, 07:39 PM

Originally posted by dadder:
No offense, but this has been posted at least a dozen times on MacNN within the last couple months.

No offense taken. It was the first time I'd seen it and wanted to share with my fellow MacNN folk.

Sorry for the redundancy.

I'mDaMac · Jan 13, 2003, 08:44 PM

I've never seen it, so thanks for posting it. I hope this is a hoax 'cause if that truly is Quark's attitude towards OS X then I WILL switch to Adobe's InDesign. I refuse to upgrade my copy of XPress from version 4 until there is a native version for OS X available.

kulverse · Jan 13, 2003, 09:10 PM

This is not a hoax. This was a few months ago that this was said. I suggest just sticking with Quark Xpress 3/4 or moving to Indesign. I use both methods but refuse to invest in any more Quark products since this statement was made (back in Oct. or Nov.). Quark 5 is garbage as is, so I'd imagine a half-ass OS X version won't be any good anyway.

I can only hope that Adobe fixes the remaining issues with InDesign.

art_director · Jan 14, 2003, 08:15 AM

Originally posted by kulverse:
This is not a hoax. This was a few months ago that this was said. I suggest just sticking with Quark Xpress 3/4 or moving to Indesign. I use both methods but refuse to invest in any more Quark products since this statement was made (back in Oct. or Nov.). Quark 5 is garbage as is, so I'd imagine a half-ass OS X version won't be any good anyway.

I can only hope that Adobe fixes the remaining issues with InDesign.

I have not used ID2 as of yet but have read good things. On the other hand, I was foolish enough to buy Q v.5 and can honestly say it was the *worst* software purchase of my life. Don't waste your cash on a copy.

As for Q going OS X native, well, I'm not holding my breath. I'm sitting on the sidelines and waiting to buy ID. Most of the pubs and clients I work with are all accepting ID files. Once they all switch I will too.

* A big middle finger to Quark. *

MikeM33 · Jan 14, 2003, 10:26 AM

Don't hold your breath too long, people have died that way. Quark is still the industry standard in the service bureau side, I don't see it being wisked away anytime soon.

And because we prepare your files for print it's a risky decision to jump all over something like ID when nobody on the finishing end is using it. This is an industry deeply entrenched in it's software and standards.

Quark just works, always has, always will. And before everyone starts panicking about OSX, there will definitely be an OSX version of Quark sometime. It's currently more important that we use what works than that we jump all over whatever works under OSX. OSX is not that important.

MikeM

andi*pandi · Jan 14, 2003, 11:56 AM

mike, mike, mike... what is a service bureau? is it something that ignores its customers? no. A service bureau caters to the customers. If the customers have ID2, and you don't, you don't get the jobs. Lose enough jobs, and then see the benefits of being compatible with many apps. I've worked with SB that even had CorelDraw in case people used it. (eek.)

kulverse · Jan 14, 2003, 04:57 PM

Originally posted by MikeM33:
Don't hold your breath too long, people have died that way. Quark is still the industry standard in the service bureau side, I don't see it being wisked away anytime soon.

And because we prepare your files for print it's a risky decision to jump all over something like ID when nobody on the finishing end is using it. This is an industry deeply entrenched in it's software and standards.

Quark just works, always has, always will. And before everyone starts panicking about OSX, there will definitely be an OSX version of Quark sometime. It's currently more important that we use what works than that we jump all over whatever works under OSX. OSX is not that important.

MikeM

This is exactly why i suggest keeping a copy of Quark 3 or 4 around. Quark 5 has been out over year, and no one even uses it yet. I wasted my money on it. A complete waste. I doubt it will ever become standard. Therefor the OS X version will not be on my drive either.

Stick with the big guns...Keep Quark 3 or 4 around, and use it in classic if need be. Most printers I've dealt with in Rochester don't mind an InDesign file however, for most work. InDesign 3 is supposed to be a monster!!...At the very least...Just about EVERYONE will accept a PDF file. You can create those is both Quark and InDesign.

dadder · Jan 14, 2003, 06:41 PM

Originally posted by andi*pandi:
mike, mike, mike... what is a service bureau? is it something that ignores its customers? no. A service bureau caters to the customers. If the customers have ID2, and you don't, you don't get the jobs. Lose enough jobs, and then see the benefits of being compatible with many apps. I've worked with SB that even had CorelDraw in case people used it. (eek.)

I've had an in depth conversation with our service bureau about this and even though they don't have InDesign, they completely support their customers that do. The customer simply create that fantastic little thing called a .pdf. Our service bureau actually prefers a .pdf over a Quark file with images and fonts as it rips faster and is worry-free. They've had nothing but good luck with InDesign .pdfs and said if we decided to get InDesign, they would help us out completely with creating a workflow that output nothing but .pdfs from our InDesign files. I think most service bureaus would do the same.

chris v · Jan 16, 2003, 08:43 AM

MY service bureau accepts InDesign files!

Nya, nya, nya nyaaaa, nya.

http://prographix-tx.com/

CV

art_director · Jan 17, 2003, 04:58 PM

Originally posted by chris v:
MY service bureau accepts InDesign files!

Nya, nya, nya nyaaaa, nya.

http://prographix-tx.com/

CV

Wow, service bureaus ... I haven't used one in years. Guess I've been spoiled by the ad agency life.

chris v · Jan 18, 2003, 09:38 PM

Originally posted by art_director:
Wow, service bureaus ... I haven't used one in years. Guess I've been spoiled by the ad agency life.

Oh, you're one of those guys that sends me the quark file with placed RGB Photoshop files and Illustrator files with 56 spot colors, with gradients of each, and wants me to figure out how to print it. I know your type.

CV

kulverse · Jan 19, 2003, 07:59 AM

Originally posted by chris v:
Oh, you're one of those guys that sends me the quark file with placed RGB Photoshop files and Illustrator files with 56 spot colors, with gradients of each, and wants me to figure out how to print it. I know your type.

CV

LOL. I wouldn't assume that about him. He seems to know his stuff. I couldn't tell ya the last time I've had to go to a service bureau to get something done. The last time, actually, would be when i took a 6 color job,(2 spot and process) that I designed specifically for black t-shirts, to get seps made. They looked great.

On the other hand, the place i currently work at (waiting on word from a new job) deals a lot with the "I have a computer, therfor I'm a graphic artist" type. I have to continually switch colors around, convert spot to process and visa versa. Or they have a file with 10 differnt blacks they used. Or more often, they say they have computer art, and we shouldnt have to change anything. They end up coming in with a JPEG taken from the internet at 100 pixels square.

godzookie2k · Jan 19, 2003, 03:01 PM

Originally posted by kulverse:
[B}Or more often, they say they have computer art, and we shouldnt have to change anything. They end up coming in with a JPEG taken from the internet at 100 pixels square.

[/B]

Welcome to my life, and I haven't used a service bureau in quite some time either, We prepress in house and ship PDF's straight to press.

art_director · Jan 19, 2003, 07:52 PM

Originally posted by chris v:
Oh, you're one of those guys that sends me the quark file with placed RGB Photoshop files and Illustrator files with 56 spot colors, with gradients of each, and wants me to figure out how to print it. I know your type.

CV

Thank you, Chris V, that made me fall out of my chair laughing. No, I am not *that* type but I know the pain you speak of.

chris v · Jan 19, 2003, 10:30 PM

Originally posted by art_director:
Thank you, Chris V, that made me fall out of my chair laughing. No, I am not *that* type but I know the pain you speak of.

You know what you're doing. I wish more agency people did.

There's 10,000 "designers" working for agencies out there who know enough about DTP to make it look good on screen, and once the customer has approved it on a monitor, they wash their hands of it. You'd be amazed at what us printers go through out there.

"Fonts? you need the fonts? Don't you have all the fonts in the world like I do?"

"What do you need the original Photoshop file for? I embedded it in RGB in the Illustrator file that I placed in the Quark file. Why won't that work?"

Ad infinitum.

CV

godzookie2k · Jan 20, 2003, 01:13 AM

Originally posted by chris v:
There's 10,000 "designers" working for agencies out there who know enough about DTP to make it look good on screen, and once the customer has approved it on a monitor, they wash their hands of it. You'd be amazed at what us printers go through out there.

Thanks alot you bastards, here it was sunday, and I was trying NOT to think about the nightmares that await me tomorrow.

Now I'm all stressed out. Poop.

godzookie2k · Jan 20, 2003, 07:08 AM

well, SOME news is good news I guess...

(insert large grain of salt here)
http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/...19204519.shtml

art_director · Jan 20, 2003, 07:57 AM

Originally posted by godzookie2k:
well, SOME news is good news I guess...

(insert large grain of salt here)
http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/...19204519.shtml

I'll believe it when Quark v.6 crashes on my machine for the first time.

kulverse · Jan 20, 2003, 08:21 AM

Originally posted by art_director:
I'll believe it when Quark v.6 crashes on my machine for the first time.

ditto