David Creamer has reviewed Markzware’s document conversion tool, Q2ID v4 in the current issue of “Layers Magazine.”

FROM QUARK TO INDESIGN IN A SNAP

The main focus of Q2ID v4 is to support InDesign CS4 and QuarkXPress 8 files. One important thing that’s changed in this version is the updated conversion notes PDF, which now lists most of the conversion issues you might encounter. Another change is that you can use either the InDesign Open menu or the new Markzware menu. Quark files with multiple layouts can be converted individually or all at once; multiple Quark files can be converted, too.

This version appears to fix most of the issues I noted in the last version, including keeping the proper based-on settings, better translations of Quark’s transparency effects into InDesign (with one major exception noted below), and better layer translation between programs.  Read more... (333 words, 1 image, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Despite all the gains and benefits of computer-to-plate (CTP) imaging and digital design, the process of creating compelling packaging designs is actually more complicated than ever. In the days of film, it didn’t matter what creative application you may have been using — Adobe Illustrator or QuarkXPress, for example — because in the end the creative work became film, which any packaging manufacturer could accept.

Then came CTP, and film stepped aside and allowed digital workflow to take center stage. No longer was film trafficked; rather, digital files became the means for exchanging packaging content. And suddenly, it became increasingly important what design application a creative director may be using, and what types of digital file formats a package printer may (or may not) accept.

There will always be loyal QuarkXPress fans, or loyal Adobe fans, who stick with their favorite creative application, no matter what the other developer may offer. But increasingly, there are greater numbers of package designers who find that it’s not a matter of choosing one application versus the other. Instead, they find themselves enmeshed in a creative workflow that requires the use of both Adobe’s and Quark’s solutions.  One solution, Q2ID by Markzware, converts QuarkXPress content to Adobe InDesign content.  (Q2ID 3.0 / Q2IDv3 can be upgraded to Q2ID version 4.)  Read more... (701 words, estimated 2:48 mins reading time)