Michael Zack, graphic artist for the Oakland County Government in Oakland, Michigan, recently wanted to share his experiences about Markzware‘s conversion software, Q2ID (Quark to InDesign).
Zack’s role as graphic artist varies quite a bit, from producing newsletters, advertising material, promotional posters, creating informational fliers and brochures, to creating annual reports, etc. His past creative jobs have included designing Olympic-style medals, candy wrappers, invitations and engraved material.
Previously in his career, Zack had worked with QuarkXPress, but transitioned over to Adobe InDesign, starting with the first version, and has updated ever since. Zack is now working with the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Professional edition.
Markzware was curious as to how Michael Zack found out about Q2ID. He shared with us that, while attending an InDesign User Group meeting in Livonia, Michigan, he had picked up a flier that provided information on this data conversion tool. He had also spoken to his local printer, Sanders Printing in Pontiac, Michigan, who had highly recommended the technology.
The role that Q2ID has played with the Oakland County Government workflow was described as such – County government contracts with outside advertising/marketing agencies who have a variety of projects, such as the Oakland County Magazine and various marketing initiatives often use QuarkXPress as their graphic arts program.
Michael Zack explains, “We asked that they provide us with copies of all files created. These files are then sometimes used ‘in-house’ to create follow-up on marketing pieces that I had created. Prior to Q2ID, I would open them in Quark and essentially duplicate the design in InDesign — a tedious process.”
Zack continues, “Additionally, in one case we had a supplier go out of business after supplying us with 12 detailed brochures. All of the brochures were done in Quark. I quickly converted them all to InDesign [INDD] documents using Q2ID. So far, it has been extremely reliable and seamless. I am continually amazed to see the former Quark document come up in InDesign looking essentially the way I expected it to.”
When asked if he would recommend Markzware’s Q2ID, Zack’s comment was “Absolutely! When you don’t use Quark on a regular basis, it is quite daunting to convert a document manually. With Q2ID, it is as easy as opening up any document in InDesign. You really don’t have to think about it.”
You can buy InDesign plugin and conversion tools, including Q2ID, via the Markzware Products page.
Quite Daunting to Convert A Document Manually
