Converting and Preflighting Layout Documents
Converting InDesign files into QuarkXPress and vice versa without the need for manually cleaning up does not exist, but Markzware’s products come close enough to avoid timely --costly-- manual editing of the complete file afterwards. Markzware is about the only company which has the tools for these conversions. The company also has preflighting software. Markzware’s products therefore are extensively covered on IT Enquirer.
IT Enquirer reviewed all of Markzware’s products starting in 2006.
Based on QuarkXPress Server 7, we reviewed FlightCheck Online, a Web-based, quality-control, and file-delivery solution that enables quick communication among senders and receivers of digital files to ensure they conform to print-ready specifications. Besides QuarkXPress files, the system can preflight over 45 file types, compressing and FTP’ing them in the process.
We covered FlightCheck Studio, a flexible and good-enough preflighting application for most users. The default FlightCheck Studio rules cover general office or PDF output, but require customisation to check whether your transparency settings will print on a Fiery RIP.
For Prepress Pros and Layout Designers Who Want to Preflight Early in the Workflow
FlightCheck Professional 6 was the last preflighting product of Markzware we reviewed. The application is more intelligent than its predecessors, switching between PDF preflighting and other preflighting modes automatically.
ID2Q7 earned a 4 cubes rating because, despite some of its apparent problems with transparency in InDesign, it did allow for considerable time savings. When Markzware later that year released an updated version of the plug-in, most problems were ironed out.
The reverse product, Q2ID isn’t perfect either, but again I found that Q2ID saves a lot of time.
