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herbsman · Nov 28, 2003, 12:54 AM

my friend who is a graphic designer is planning to purchase a new g5 this coming weekend, and he is considering buying adobe indesign over the latest offering of quark. i'm trying to help him figure out how he will be able to use his existing quark projects (from os9) within indesign natively if possible.

so the question is, does indesign open up quark files? he's convinced that it does, but i have a feeling that a file conversion is necessary before indesign will recongize the quark document (maybe *.eps conversion file?)

any help would be good. thanks

buddhabelly · Nov 28, 2003, 06:12 PM

Originally posted by herbsman:
my friend who is a graphic designer is planning to purchase a new g5 this coming weekend, and he is considering buying adobe indesign over the latest offering of quark. i'm trying to help him figure out how he will be able to use his existing quark projects (from os9) within indesign natively if possible.

so the question is, does indesign open up quark files? he's convinced that it does, but i have a feeling that a file conversion is necessary before indesign will recongize the quark document (maybe *.eps conversion file?)

any help would be good. thanks

It converts them from the native quark format, however, it's not perfect especially on complex layouts. But it's usable and is a lot faster than completely redesigning for some simple changes.

I think the most trouble I had was with complex Styles Sheets for formatting text. Anyhow, I switched from Quark 4 to Indesign 2 and haven't looked back. Never eve looked at 5 or 6 simply because Indesign works for me.

godzookie2k · Nov 29, 2003, 01:33 PM

tell your friend to roll a 20 sided dice. if it lands on a 3 then he might be able to convert his quark documents successfully. if he has alot of them he should keep a copy of quark on standby, also in case he runs into a project and the press won't take an ID file. and god have mercy on his indesign lovin asses soul. :D

iT4c0 · Nov 29, 2003, 08:35 PM

godzookie2k man, enough is enough. There is a reason people love their inDesign. I always see your negative thoughts on inDesign and hope people will stay on your quark side. Please give the guy some valuable suggestion or leave the indesign threats along. Thanks!

Napier · Nov 30, 2003, 12:12 AM

Remember it won�t open Quark 5 files, only 3.3 and 4.

godzookie2k · Nov 30, 2003, 07:33 AM

I did. a) keep a copy of quark around cause you'll need it. and b) opening quark files on indesign is spotty.

jesus christ.

mydog8mymac · Nov 30, 2003, 04:51 PM

I haven't had a problem with simple to midly complex files from Q-4.1 to ID2. Also, my printer loves the PDFs that InDesign produces.

buddhabelly · Nov 30, 2003, 06:00 PM

Originally posted by mydog8mymac:
I haven't had a problem with simple to midly complex files from Q-4.1 to ID2. Also, my printer loves the PDFs that InDesign produces.

I said it wasn't perfect. There were only a few simple docs that I converted at my former print shop. Just a couple of 8-16 pg layouts. Not terribly complex.

Actually, I think Indesign is slightly worse at importing RageMaker files.

I'm going to agree with godzookie2k though. We never did get rid of quark completely. Just kept version 4 hangin around.

beb · Dec 1, 2003, 01:56 AM

Anytime, I had a printer not take an inDesign file, I simply exported it into Photoshop. That method worked great for 40 something brochures. Then again my Quark 4 files don't always open perfectly in Quark 6 either. And the printers usually only have Quark 4 anyway. I wonder what inDesign CS is like.

almaink · Dec 1, 2003, 09:40 AM

Originally posted by beb:
Anytime, I had a printer not take an inDesign file, I simply exported it into Photoshop. That method worked great for 40 something brochures. Then again my Quark 4 files don't always open perfectly in Quark 6 either. And the printers usually only have Quark 4 anyway. I wonder what inDesign CS is like.

And rasterize the whole page? PDF or eps is the way to go, or find a new printer.
almaink

himself · Dec 3, 2003, 10:15 PM

I recommend switching to InDesign, but I also recommend keeping and old copy of Quirk nearby... the problems I've had with Quark file conversion were all type related (and that can be a pain), but that is only because InDesign's type engine does a much better job than Quark. Add to that OpenType font support (opentype is incredible, if you haven't tried it) and the new features in InDesign CS, and you'll realize quark has few advantages over indesign. However, you'll likely deal with folks who will insist on Quark for years to come, so keep it handy.

naderby · Dec 4, 2003, 06:41 AM

Originally posted by beb:
Anytime, I had a printer not take an inDesign file, I simply exported it into Photoshop. That method worked great for 40 something brochures. Then again my Quark 4 files don't always open perfectly in Quark 6 either. And the printers usually only have Quark 4 anyway. I wonder what inDesign CS is like.

Nver do this unless you cannot avoid it. It will result in unclear and furry text and some grumpy printers.

Any printer worth their salt will be able to take in InDesign generated PDF files.

As for the Quark->InDesign, in a perfect world ID would be able to open Quark fine and render it not necassary. However, for best situation keep a copy of Quark for Classic and do all new jobs in InDesign. You'll find the times you need to fire up Quark become less and less until one day you can lob it. Conversions are for quickly getting the basic layout into ID.

siliconwarrior · Dec 8, 2003, 06:55 PM

Quark has gone from version to version adding a bell here and a whistle there (usually stolen from third party Xtensions), yet never significantly improving since version 3.

My advice: your friend is making the right decision by choosing InDesign, it's feature packed, user-friendly and rock solid, but as others have said, keep a copy of QXP around just in case.

And for god's sake people, if your printer refuses to accept an InDesign file, give them a PDF - any printer/bureau worth their salt can use that and if they still refuse? FIND A NEW PRINTER!!!!