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art_director · Jan 13, 2004, 07:50 PM

my biggest client is updating to quark 6.0 next week so i had to purchase the upgrade. bummer.

anyhow, i bought it from an online retailer so i wouldn't have to pay state sales tax in minnesota. hey $13 is $13, right?

the disk comes. i go to install it on my machine and i get this bullsheet about needing a validation code. so i go to the website provided in the upgrade package. i enter the old serial number and other pertinent information and the site gives me a message stating that the parameters are incorrect or some sheet. i then call quark but get no answer after calling thirteen times. yep, i said thirteen times. even got disconnected by the teleprompt three times. guess moving the calling center to bangalore, india wasn't such a good idea afterall, huh?

anyway, after all the hassle i called macmall and got them to send me the code. as it turns out they were supposed to have quark send it immediately after the purchase is made.

now that it's all installed and everything is hunky-dory i start it up. first time i get a message telling me it needs to be activated within five days. uh, isn't that what the friggin' validation i code they gave me was all about???

next i open a document i created in quark v.5.0. it takes like four times longer to open than it does in quark v.5.0. now this was only on the first opening of the file in v.6.0 but still.

why can't we all just agree and ditch quark? sorry zookie, i just need to ask because i hate quark.

MacDog · Jan 14, 2004, 03:45 AM

I agreed to ditch quark about 4 years ago... in fact, if I recall, it was the exact day my copy of InDesign arrived - which was the day after is started shipping!

art_director · Jan 14, 2004, 02:06 PM

Originally posted by MacDog:
I agreed to ditch quark about 4 years ago... in fact, if I recall, it was the exact day my copy of InDesign arrived - which was the day after is started shipping!

i envy you. my client insisted that all vendors upgrade to quark 6.0. they're too big a client for me to turn them down, you know?

so, i build or edit a file in quark 6. i then save it down to quark 5. come hell or high water i cannot open it in 5. period. also, pdfs are **** when created in quark 6.

i hate quark even more now.

art_director · Jan 14, 2004, 03:28 PM

i should admit that i may have something effed up with the pdf creation but the saving down to v.5 should be a no-brainer.

dadder · Jan 14, 2004, 10:25 PM

My validation code came with Quark. Only when I reinstalled it did I need to send in for a validation code. I think you'll like Quark 6. However, I would recommend upgrading to Panther because you'll find a few 'incompatibilities' between 10.2.X and Quark 6. I never know whose fault these are because Quark claims their Apple's and Apple claims their Quark's. Right now, everything is cool except for my Shift-Align function. It won't visually show the alignment until I let up on the keys... weird and distracting. Before installing Panther I had problems with the space bar highlighting down to the Undo button on the bottom of the Quark document window. Quark denies these 'quirks'. Other than that, a great upgrade.

art_director · Jan 14, 2004, 10:51 PM

Originally posted by dadder:
My validation code came with Quark. Only when I reinstalled it did I need to send in for a validation code. I think you'll like Quark 6. However, I would recommend upgrading to Panther because you'll find a few 'incompatibilities' between 10.2.X and Quark 6. I never know whose fault these are because Quark claims their Apple's and Apple claims their Quark's. Right now, everything is cool except for my Shift-Align function. It won't visually show the alignment until I let up on the keys... weird and distracting. Before installing Panther I had problems with the space bar highlighting down to the Undo button on the bottom of the Quark document window. Quark denies these 'quirks'. Other than that, a great upgrade.

i'm already running panther and find quark 6.0 to be a little sluggish. must admit it could just be me.

art_director · Jan 15, 2004, 09:20 AM

turns out you must quit out of q.v.6 to open a saved down document in q.v.5. that's not going to help workflow when folks switch over now is it?

you know, i called the quark cust supp line yesterday. they moved it to india last year � bangalore, i believe. at any rate, the fellow i spoke with was short, rude and had a loose grasp on the english language.

can their cust support actually be getting worse? and i didn't think that was possible.

JacobyO · Jan 15, 2004, 10:09 AM

<disclaimer>I hate Quark and in no way defend their horrible concept of customer service</disclaimer>

I have been dealing with Quark 6 since it came out and have been annoyed by many of the same things everyone here is complaining about.

The Shift-align problem was one of the most annoying issues but it seems that installing panther has taken care of it.

Saving to a Quark 5 file doesn't require a restart of quark. I have to do this every time I send out a file to a magazine. It is a bit touchy but it works. You can't save over the current file when you do it. You must give it a different file name. I usually just add a "_q5" to the end of the document name. You also have to pay attention when choosing "5.0" in the version popup because it tends to go back to 6.0 once you click off it. Look at the icon it creates in the finder. if it is a quark 6 icon then it didn't save as a v5.

One of the other things that is a bit bothersome is that the "step and repeat..." shortcut matches the systems "hide dock" funcion. That is a huge deal for somebody who religiously uses keyboard shortcuts.

As far as validation of Quark on installs... we are screwed. I have already had to deal with reinstalling the software several times. You can go online and download a pdf that has a reauthorization form and print that out. You then need to fill out all the info and fax it to them. Once faxed it will take at least a day for them to send you the new validation code. I have actually never had this work at all. I have had to call the rehab center.. I mean the call center every time.

expect to be hung up on a couple times after waiting on hold for 15min. Once you get thru to a person ( I use that term loosely) you have to convince them that you have already tried to fax the form and it was never received, and to give you the new code over the phone.

All that just to install software that you paid out the #$% for. They don't make it very easy to be legit.

The moral of this story...
If you don't have to use Quark and your vedors will allow you to use Indesign. DO IT!

art_director · Jan 15, 2004, 12:41 PM

JacobyO:

thx for posting. i feel your pain.

the validation code business is bullsheet. a buddy of mine found a crack that he uses to get around the entire issue without problem or delay. he has a pirated copy that he does this with. in the future i will trouble him for the technique. i'm not wasting any more money or time fooking with quark's pathetic excuse for a cust serv department. the hang ups, the rude employees and the poor english skills have sworn me off that approach. sure, using a crack workaround is illegal but i fugure i quark already has their nut from me and i just want to use the software i own. those buggers, or, as they say in india, those choots.

when i try to open any document saved dwon to v.5 from v.6 in v.5 i must quit out of v.6. how are you getting around this? need to know....

the step and repeat key command conflicting with the hide dock key command pisses me off. just how stupid can the quark engineers be? i believe you can reprogram the key commands but why not just build the effing app correctly in the forst place?

designbc · 03:59 PM

Hey art_director:
In these days I've been searching for a crack to deal with the validation issue. I just installed Panther and AGAIN I'm having problems with this. I don't want to call Quark every time there is a problem. I own a legit copy of their software and I should be able of uninstall it, reinstall it, change operating system on MY COMPUTER any time I want to.
I can't wait to put my hands on a crack!!!
Any clue?

art_director · Jan 15, 2004, 05:52 PM

newsgroups

dadder · Jan 15, 2004, 09:30 PM

Originally posted by art_director:
JacobyO:

thx for posting. i feel your pain.

the step and repeat key command conflicting with the hide dock key command pisses me off. just how stupid can the quark engineers be? i believe you can reprogram the key commands but why not just build the effing app correctly in the forst place?

Go to System Preferences in the Finder and click on Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts
Turn off everything but Screen Capture (at least that's what I do since I use screen capture a lot)
Hope this helps.

art_director · Jan 16, 2004, 09:34 AM

Originally posted by dadder:
Go to System Preferences in the Finder and click on Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts
Turn off everything but Screen Capture (at least that's what I do since I use screen capture a lot)
Hope this helps.

rock on, dadder. knew it could be done just never bothered with trying to figure it out.

and happiness was spread throughout the land.

JacobyO · Jan 16, 2004, 10:39 AM

Thanks for the Keyboard help Dadder.

A_D, I didn't realize that you were then trying to open the files in Quark 5. I don't do this so I haven't encountered the problem. Why are you opening them in 5 on the same machine? Are you having to save them as version 4?

I generally work on the files and save them as v6. Once the file has been ok'd I then do a collect and save the collected file as a v5 to send out to the publishers or the printers.

art_director · Jan 16, 2004, 11:00 AM

Originally posted by JacobyO:
A_D, I didn't realize that you were then trying to open the files in Quark 5. I don't do this so I haven't encountered the problem. Why are you opening them in 5 on the same machine? Are you having to save them as version 4?

I generally work on the files and save them as v6. Once the file has been ok'd I then do a collect and save the collected file as a v5 to send out to the publishers or the printers.

my client is scheduled to go live with q.v.6 next week. i've been doing some testing to make sure i'm ready. i got a little bold and revised some live files in q.v.6 w/o saving a copy.

i know, i know, stupid with new software. can't teach an old dog new tricks. lesson learned.

i like the way you handle it. thx for the tip. i'm going to do the same.