Preview, Convert & Export
Adobe InDesign Files: IDMarkz at
Digital Dots (Markzware Case Study)

Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master at Digital Dots Ltd, participated in an IDMarkz case study. IDMarkz is Markzware’s stand-alone conversion application for macOS to preview, convert, and export Adobe InDesign files to QuarkXPress, Affinity Publisher, older Adobe InDesign versions, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, IDML, and many other formats:

1. Client Description

Paul Lindström, Owner, Digital Dots
Image Source: https://digitaldots.info/

About Paul Lindström – Technical Editor, Journalist, Consultant

Paul Lindström entered the graphic arts industry in 1980 as a typographer and graphic designer. He has worked in computer assisted graphic design and print production ever since. Paul was the production manager and part-owner of a commercial printer in Sweden where he became involved with digital printing, before moving to Elanders’ Electronic Printing division. During his three years with Elanders Paul played a key role in developing the company’s variable data management and print on demand solutions.

Between 1993 and 2003 Paul worked as technical editor for AGI, Scandinavia’s leading graphics arts trade magazine. In addition he lectured part time for the Graphic Arts Department at Malmö University, running degree courses on digital imaging, color- and quality management, the optimization of workflow systems and production processes. Since 1998 Paul has been an UKAS accredited auditor for ISO 9001 and ISO 12647 certification, and is the co-editor of the certifications schemes in both Sweden and the UK. He is an appointed expert to ISO TC 130, the technical committee responsible for authoring ISO standards for graphic arts and print media production.

Yeah. I started out to be a part-time printer and I was doing the pre-press department, managing files for all kind of clients, publishers. And, then, I was asked to do freelance work as a journalist, testing software and hardware. So, that was my entry in, to become a more full-time journalist and, on top of that, then, at night, I was asked to teach at the University in Copenhagen and MoMA.

So, teaching production managers expected to go out in printing and publishing companies. So, I’m combining teaching, consulting, and training with trying out all the new and latest software and hardware, and that’s been quite good fun, over the years.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

Paul is based in Sussex, in the English countryside, where he practices beekeeping as a hobby. Beekeeping reinforces sustainability, which is championed by the Verdigris Project:

I was actually interested in getting bees when I retired … I was persuaded to start earlier than I expected. We now keep some colonies and they are amazing creatures. And many people sympathize with trying to do what you can, to help the bees survive, because they are under stress. They are under great pressure, from modern farming, etc., etc., and pesticides. So, we have three colonies, which is a small library, but that’s enough to get some honey and watch them at work. It’s really relaxing to sit by the bees and see what they’re doing.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

Image Source: https://digitaldots.info/

About Digital Dots Ltd

Digital Dots is an independent graphic arts research group established in 1999. The company is a collection of like-minded consultants and professional journalists specializing in digital prepress, printing and publishing technologies. The company provides exclusive market research, testing and evaluation services for digital production technologies relating to these industries. Our business is based on journalism, consulting, presentations and seminars, and bespoke publishing projects. Content is the foundation of our business so we take it very seriously.

Over the years Digital Dots has spearheaded many graphic arts projects, including the following. The Verdigris Project has been investigating the environmental impact of print media for over 20 years. Digital Dots Publications include Spindrift, Wild Format, The Technology Guides and Special Reports.

2. Objectives

• Minimize Software Costs in the Graphic Arts Research Workflow

• Improve Productivity despite Time & Production Constraints

• Maintain File Compatibility, while Accommodating Different File Types

3. Challenges

• High Costs of Layout Application Licenses and Subscription Renewals

• Meeting Deadlines and Productivity Requirements

• Difficulties with File Compatibility between Application Versions

4. Solution

Solution for Minimizing Graphic Arts Software Costs

Graphic arts workflow members and other InDesign document producers can save money on software costs, since IDMarkz operates without the need to renew an InDesign subscription or to install and launch InDesign on the computer in use. For example, a user could have a catalog created in InDesign, but not have the Adobe InDesign application. That user could drop the catalog document on the IDMarkz interface and export a page of the document as an image format.

IDMarkz Preview Feature with File Info Panel (Dark Mode)

The IDMarkz preview and the file info go hand-in-hand, where people can first get a visual idea of what the file is, along with file info. So, they can decide what they want to do next. Users can zoom into any part and get crisp details of the file.

Users can also take any thumbnail of a page and drag-and-drop it, outside of the interface, onto the Desktop. This will create an instant PDF of that file on the computer screen. The file can then be used for social media, for pre-press, or for sending back to the customer to inform them of any issues.

Paul finds very handy the ability to get a preview of InDesign files, plus File Info, all without the need to launch or have InDesign on your machine. He stated:

And the InDesign file, in my case, because I don’t use Quark much anymore, opened up nicely, and you have a nice preview, as if you were in InDesign. … Yeah, it’s a guide to how to use ISO standards in print production workflows. So, several years ago, we started to do certification, back in Sweden and England, in the UK, teaching printers how to, first of all, to teach printers and publishers that there are many ISO standards that tie into a quality managed print workflow.

ISO 20067-2 is amongst the most well-known and the proofing standard, but there are other pre-press standards on how to calibrate the monitor, etc. And we tie that up to the whole package. Which ISO standard should you use, for example, to, when you buy viewing booths, then, ISO standard 3664, I think it is. And we wrote this guide, the manual, to check the whole workflow from monitor calibration, image retouch, plate making, CTP, calibrating presses, and finally printing, with what ISO standard you should know about and apply. 

And we collected that to a set of guides that we call Production (SPP). And that was one of the documents I just, by chance, was curious to see would IDMarkz open that? And … we got it to work.

The File Info window in this InDesign file converter (for Creative Cloud and Creative Suite users) is very handy for seeing what the file and file content involve:

IDMarkz File Info Panel (Dark Mode)

And you also have, which I note, that was a little extra bonus, you get the pre-flight summary, which is a nice feature, I think. …

Yeah, I think, if there are some signaling or some arrows, of course, people might have or want to buy the big full-version of the [FlightCheck] preflight software, to really go into the details, but … This [IDMarkz File Info feature] is just a hint that you might need to check these files, before you do more with it.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

Solution for InDesign Version Compatibility

IDMarkz offers “Open In” features, such as Open In QuarkXPress, Acrobat, an older InDesign version, IDML, and more. Without Affinity Publisher on your machine, you can export the entire InDesign document to Affinity Publisher and multiple formats, including PDF, IDML, and several image formats.

Just click the QuarkXPress icon, and IDMarkz will fire up QuarkXPress and open the document in QuarkXPress. Regarding the “Open In” functionality in IDMarkz, on which users can drop an InDesign file and open it in another application, Paul says:

Exactly. It takes care of many conversion scenarios, so really, really useful and handy, as I see it. …

The IDML format seems to be accepted by quite a lot of web authoring tools. So, that’s one route, to do it, that seemed to be quite a stable format, the InDesign Markup Language file format. … 

If you have the Adobe Creative Cloud software on your computer, it [the IDML file] opens up, immediately [in InDesign]. So, you can check if it’s been converted in a way you’re happy with, so … If you export a PDF, you get it immediately opened in Acrobat DC. I see many, many types of users that would appreciate this kind of commercial software [IDMarkz].

… let’s face it. If you do a conversion from one application to another, the reason why you do it is probably because you want to update the document. So, you have a legacy document and you need to do some corrections and I would accept minor tweaks and touch-up because, in the end, I need to do some other edits to the document, probably in the new software, be it Quark or Affinity Publisher.

There are probably other things you want to do with the document. Then, you’re just grateful you can bring … it over to this new platform. Then, continue from there.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

IDMarkz Automation Feature (Dark Mode)

Solution for Meeting Deadlines & Productivity Requirements

Markzware’s InDesign utility benefits graphic designers, DTP publishers, marketing department members, and many other creative professionals. With IDMarkz, users can preview plus convert InDesign files, and also export a page as a PNG, JPG or PDF, which is very useful for marketing professionals to get content for social media and more.

Users can quickly open flakey InDesign files in IDMarkz and export the IDML, to clean the files, in most cases. Users can then more safely open those files in InDesign.

QuarkXPress users can benefit from this, because of the IDML import feature, in QuarkXPress. Now, they can just open it in QuarkXPress, through IDMarkz. It’s a very handy tool for QuarkXPress users who are working in an InDesign mixed workflow.

So, then, you can decide to export to where you want the file and you can either export, with the backward compatibility to an older version of InDesign, which could be useful for lot of publishers with legacy data, but I also note that you have an Export route to … Affinity Publisher. And I suspect quite a lot of designers are tempted to check out an alternative to InDesign and, not least, else who might be not so happy with the Adobe subscription model.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

5. Implementation

Implementing IDMarkz into the Digital Dots workflow was as simple as downloading and opening the app. Paul Lindström was able to easily drag and drop a file onto Markzware’s stand-alone IDMarkz (InDesign to IDML) application for Adobe InDesign export, preview, and conversion of .indd files.

So, quite straight-forward and looked very handy to me. … It seemed quite a more or less seamless integration, immediately when you export. … I know Markzware have and had solutions, from before, to conduct between QuarkXPress to InDesign, and vice-versa. But, when I heard about the brand new software, of course, I wanted to see how that works.

And [FlightCheck] pre-flight software from Markzware was one of the software I had the students try out and use, as an example of all-round pre-flight software that could not only open PDF files, but actually open native files, QuarkXPress or InDesign. So, I’ve known Markzware products, from early on, and always brought them to the students to try out, and was really intrigued with the new software, so, of course, jumped on the chance to test it in an alpha beta version.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

6. Results

Money Savings

With the freebie version of IDMarkz, users can preview InDesign file pages and document details, for free. IDMarkz enables Digital Dots to save money, as there is no longer a need to continue annually renewing an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription:

Then, of course, if you can’t open the file, you try to find a conversion tool, and this [IDMarkz] is one for InDesign files and you have other conversion tools to convert QuarkXPress files, etc. So, they’re really handy and nifty tools to have at hand for, let’s say, a pre-press production manager or technical support, in a bigger publishing house, or big PR company, with one or two people who are really good at fixing files from colleagues or customers or clients.

So, for those type of troubleshooters and problem solvers, this is a tool they should have and know of and invest in, because it’s reasonably priced and does really unique work. It’s, when you need it, it’s what you need and, then, you have to have it.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

Note: At the time of this writing, the current Creative Cloud subscription price for the full suite of Adobe apps (which includes InDesign) is approximately £46.05 per month (about £552.60 per year). So, if an average UK graphic arts business did not pay for an annual Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, they would likely save around £552.60 per year. Adobe offers various Creative Cloud subscription options, as well as discounts or promotions that could lower the annual cost.

For a UK-based graphic arts business whose work is done mainly in InDesign, there are more cost-effective alternatives, including Affinity Publisher, available for a one-time purchase, rather than a subscription that requires renewal costs. It is possible that a one-time Affinity Publisher purchase could lead to more savings, in the long run, over Creative Cloud subscription expenses.

Time Savings

IDMarkz allows users to quickly preview, export, and convert InDesign files to many other file formats, including Affinity Publisher, QuarkXPress, etc. Paul found these IDMarkz benefits to be quite valuable:

[With IDMarkz] You immediately get it [the Adobe InDesign file] opened. …

Within minutes, you have it [the converted file], and that should be really useful for lots of people. Excellent! … instead of remake the whole design, which takes days and weeks.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

Labor Savings

It’s really simple to use IDMarkz. Users can drop an Adobe InDesign file on either the IDMarkz icon in the computer Dock or drop it on the app’s interface. And in a matter of seconds, this file converter allows users to see a complete preview of the InDesign document. 

Paul expressed that it is extremely easy to use IDMarkz. Very little effort is expended, since users can just drag and drop an INDD document, to start previewing and converting InDesign files:

And it [IDMarkz] was a very straight-forward, easy user interface. You open a file, and it comes up.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

7. Reasons for Success

IDMarkz offers affordable flexibility for users who work with various InDesign file versions. Markzware’s versatile application allows users to open InDesign in QuarkXPress, Affinity Publisher, older InDesign versions, and more.

I mean there has been a lot of controversy over the years, whether that [Adobe subscription model] is reasonably priced. I can’t say. It’s [Adobe Creative Cloud is] a nice suite of software but, yeah, you are locked into a subscription model. But, anyway, for anyone who wants to look at alternatives, the IDMarkz is a bridge, to convert old legacy documents into other desktop application desktop publishing software.

– Paul Lindström, Owner & Web Master, Digital Dots Ltd

8. Next Steps

Digital Dots Ltd plans to continue to support the Verdigris Project. This effort raises awareness of print’s positive environmental impact, helps printing companies informed about environmental standards, and shows how environmentally-friendly businesses can increase revenue.

In addition, Digital Dots will be creating more content for the Verdigris Blog, which includes articles covering technology and sustainability advances in the graphics industry over the last 25 years. The Verdigris initiative promotes environmental, commercial, and societal sustainability of printing companies, print buyers, print users, and the like, to minimize waste and to optimize production efficiencies and energy usage.

Digital Dots also plans to continue to keep up-to-date on print sustainability, print economics, and the latest technological advances in the graphic arts industry, including:

• artificial intelligence
• book distribution
• book marketing
• book publishing
• book recycling
• color printing
• digital content delivery
• digital messaging
• display
• events
• finishing
• initiatives
• ink coverage
• inkjet printing
• labels
• online content
• packaging
• prepress technology
• print automation
• print quality
• print run preferences
• print supply chain
• print-online integration
• printed content
• printed delivery
• printing costs
• printing on demand
• printing system technology
• production costs
• production management
• readerships
• sell-then-print models
• signage
• substrate costs
• typesetting

Furthermore, Paul Lindström said he would be recommending IDMarkz to other users, possibly graphic artists, marketers, publishers, etc.:

Yeah, I think hopefully people who need to do those kind of conversions will find their way to the software, because it’s [IDMarkz is] a must-have, if you sit in a production stream and have files you can’t open, for different reasons. … Let’s hope people find their way to this really useful, handy tool, because it is really a godsend, for when you send and have legacy files that you don’t know what to do with …

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Preview, Convert & Export Adobe InDesign Files: IDMarkz at Digital Dots (Markzware Case Study)