Realising the importance of preflighting as a critical part of the production workflow, we, here at Print Solutions, were eager to put into practice what we preach. Having used the preflighting tools within our designer software previously, it was interesting to see what difference having a more comprehensive solution would make.

Speaking to our friends at Markzware, we soon found that we were missing out on many benefits through not making this step in production more robust.

However, not only did Markzware allow us to test its preflight software FlightCheck, but also its file conversion solutions in the form of Q2ID and ID2Q (basically converting Quark to InDesign and InDesign to Quark).

So, what did we find?

Very easy

Our creative director Steve Crawley is a busy man. He is responsible for the production of four magazines, many handbooks, loads of marketing collateral, direct mail pieces, awards information, as well as other publishing jobs which we undertake outside the graphic arts – so

anything that makes his life easier is good.

Thankfully, he is also extremely organised and able to create order from the chaos that can sometimes be the world of publishing. Files come in to Steve from many sources. Internally and externally he receives everything from editorial and images, to adverts and inserts – even book manuscripts.

Steve said, ‘I really like all the Markzware software – both the file converters and the preflight check – they are very simple to use, and quick and easy to learn. It really can be as simple as pressing the button and they quietly sit in the background and do the work.’

He continued, ‘We process hundreds of files a month, and it is amazing how many come in with mistakes – and even small errors can cause a lot of extra work. With FlightCheck, having to worry about this is a thing of the past. Our files can now be processed efficiently, and this makes us more productive as FlightCheck will flag up problems such as missing fonts, colour issues, low res images, and much more.’

Making changes

Steve is also a big fan of Q2ID and ID2Q.
The two solutions quite simply convert

files from one application to another, leaving them ready for editing.

‘We are always having to convert files,’ he said. ‘People tend to use the design software that they are most happy with, but we need to make sure that what we end up with is a cohesive set of files. So, we very often have to make changes.

‘What I really love about Q2ID and ID2Q is that they quite simply do what it says on the tin. Again, the software is effortless to use and takes away a production headache that would otherwise cost us time – always a big plus for us as we are pretty much always on deadline!’

Steve continued, ‘These Markzware tools, along with FlightCheck, have become a valuable part of our production workflow – they definitely tick all the benefits boxes with time, cost and labour savings. Plus, they ensure that errors are kept to a minimum and allow us to stop mistakes before they happen.’

So, would Steve recommend the products to others in the graphic arts? ‘Definitely, yes!’ he said. ‘They are very useful and they certainly give us more control.’

If you would like to know more about Markware’s product line, please see markzware.com