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You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Art & Graphic Design > IDCS and Quark 6.5

IDCS and Quark 6.5
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rcantrell
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May 10, 2005, 07:52 PM
 
Hi all - I posted almost a year ago about my company switching to InDesign. Well it took us a while to get ourselves going, but we're on the right track.

Unfortunately, we're running into the possibility of needing to run Quark 6.5 at the same time as our InDesign workflow. (We're currently running Q4 in OS9 on our older projects)

We're still very committed to moving all our files to InDesign, it's just a very large transition when your talking thousands of files and not enough time to rebuild them all before they are needed.

We are currently building all new projects in InDesign and rebuilding the ones we think will continue to reoccur. Straight conversion gives us not-so-good results -- so I'm stuck with the possibility that we'll run both programs for the next year or so.

My question is... What kinds of problems have people encountered using Quark 6.5? Is there anything I need to be aware of as far as problematic features or bugs or anything other issues?

Is there a good Quark List that someone would recommend?

Any information is greatly appreciated.

THANKS!
Rosie
     
art_director
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May 11, 2005, 08:34 AM
 
Hey Rosie:

I would go over to the Quark Forums on quark.com. You'll see the good, the bad and the ugly on those threads.

Some of the negatives I've experienced with Quark 6.5 are:

~ Terrible artifacts onscreen. This has been an issue since v.5. While it's not a problematic issue it is irritating and can mess with workflow. The solution is simple enough : turn the guides on and off or zoom in and out and the artifacts will go away.

~ Rulers sometimes disappear or do not resize with zoom. Again, zoom in and out and your good to go.

~ Native PSD files imported into Quark 6.5 can conflict with fonts. This is highly unpredictable and inconsistent. Basically you can have a document with PSD imports. All your fonts look good onscreen but will not print – in my they default to Courrier. As discussed in the past, it's unlikely you'll ever send files with native PSDs to press BUT for art directors and designers this one could be a problem.

~ High res preview of art is a *slight* improvement. You'll also get a number of warnings that there's not enough system memory. In my case that's usually BS given that I often work with low res FPO art and have 2.5 GB RAM in my box.

~ When saving files Quark 6.5 tends to pull old random file names and assume that's what you'll be using again. For the life of me I cannot figure out why it does this but it drives me nuts.

~ Quark's PDF export functionality is poor -- the files tend to be much larger than what you get with Acrobat.


Quark is among the most heated of debates 'round these parts. I'm certain you'll get more feedback from both sides of the Quark love fest.
     
rcantrell  (op)
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May 11, 2005, 09:44 AM
 
Thank you very much for your reply, this is exactly what I was looking for! I'll definitely go check out the forums at Quark. (why didn't I think of that?!)

Rosie
     
Corys
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May 12, 2005, 12:35 PM
 
One thing to keep in mind is that ID CS can only open quark 4 files...

so if you start upgrading quark files to 6.5, you will either have to downsave a few versions, or rebuild the docs 100%

I know the conversion process isn't the best, but we use it a lot to at least get the layout etc etc...

just something to keep in mind.
www.prepressforums.com
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rcantrell  (op)
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May 13, 2005, 09:57 AM
 
Originally Posted by Corys
I know the conversion process isn't the best, but we use it a lot to at least get the layout etc etc...

just something to keep in mind.
Your right it's not bad to get by - but we typically knock-off versions from these older files and if there is something not-so-good it will migrate into many our future files -- sooo we're trying to make these converted files as "clean" as possible to hopefully prevent headaches, maybe we're going too clean - in the process we're taking too long and won't have all files ready before next round of files need to be made.

It's a vicious circle. I think they will take me to the funny farm after this is done.

I'm a little concerned with some of the stuff I'm reading on Quark's forum
~corrupt files when saved to 6.5
~possible problems saving on networks
~JAWS folder not playing nice with fonts
(more but I can't think of them right now)

Anyone here work off a server and use Q6 or 6.5 that can tell me if they've experienced this?

TIA
Rosie
( Last edited by rcantrell; May 13, 2005 at 10:10 AM. )
     
art_director
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May 13, 2005, 02:22 PM
 
Occasionally I work onsite and have seen these server issues first hand. I'm not in a position to speak about particulars or with authority but can vouch that problems do exist.
     
nica
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May 13, 2005, 02:25 PM
 
We are having problems with Quark 6.5 corrupting the files or not retaining changes on some files. We don’t see this problem often but it has caused us to deliver files for print late.

We connect to an smb share on the network I don’t know if the file corruption is related to the network component or Quark 6.5.
     
rcantrell  (op)
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May 13, 2005, 02:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by nica
We are having problems with Quark 6.5 corrupting the files or not retaining changes on some files. We don’t see this problem often but it has caused us to deliver files for print late.

We connect to an smb share on the network I don’t know if the file corruption is related to the network component or Quark 6.5.
Hmmm... I'll have to check with our tech guy on what we're using. How did you correct the corrupting? Go back to a backed up version and make changes?

Another item I read said something about a file being open too long on the network and when more than one person attempts to access a file across the network.

***holds head***

Some suggestions out there lead into the direction of not working off the server and I think even more problems will come from that in our current workflow.

I'm think'n possibly of limping along with Q4 until Q7 becomes available and see how all that shakes out. I'm really happy today is Friday, maybe it will all look better on Monday.

Thanks Nica and ArtDirector for responding.

Rosie
     
nica
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May 13, 2005, 04:47 PM
 
How did you correct the corrupting? Go back to a backed up version and make changes?

We went back to the backups but this was an isolated case that was related to only one file, for one user. At some point the file became corrupt.

I think as long as you do maintanence and clear the font caches Quark 6.5 will run fine, with suitcase, over the network. We also have users place files in their folders, if another user needs that file (s)he needs to place it on their folder or the shared folder that way we all know who has possesion of the file at any point in time.
     
   
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