Markzware & Others Host Free Seminar

XChange announce free one-day Workflow &
Productivity Seminars with software prize drawings

London, UK – XChange International, the source for extended technology worldwide, are pleased to announce two FREE one-day seminars, presenting time saving solutions for businesses — small and large — to save money and become more productive. The seminars, co-sponsored by Quark, Markzware, Enfocus and other extended technology software publishers, will be held in Central London on the 29th and 30th April 2008.

Production departments, designers, printers and anyone working with native Quark documents or PDFs will benefit from the seminar and will have the opportunity to find out how to save money and increase productivity in their day-to-day operations. Additionally, attendees are automatically entered to win in a drawing for prizes from participating software publishers totalling over £1,779.00 including a copy of QuarkXPress 7.

“In today’s economy, publishing professionals are always looking for ways to work smarter and faster. Time is money, and we constantly get calls to our pre-sale technical support staff asking what is out there to help speed production of tedious tasks, repetitive handling of data, catalogue and brochure production, as well as design tools to streamline creative processes,” states Greg Stodghill, Support Services Manager for XChange International. “The majority of our customers are literally gob-smacked when they see some of the features offered by our tools and utilities. They instantly grasp how they can save time and money using these tools. The idea behind the seminars is that we wanted to offer publishing and graphics professionals a chance to see these tools in action and to ask questions that pertain to their specific production needs. They can find out how to save time and money right away, without paying a consultancy fee.”

Historically, customers have travelled to exhibitions or now, participated in online webinars to see products demonstrated and many users want to ask specific questions about their own production requirements. Some XTensions, such as Xdata/InData and Xcatalog/InCatalog, fully automate complete mail merge and catalogue production, saving businesses and users thousands of pounds with the first use. Other XTensions/utilities save designers hours of layout time per project. The seminars are geared to show the most time-saving tools available.

The seminar will be an all-day event, and will be held in the XChange Training facilities at 17-18 Britton St, Clerkenwell, London EC1M 5NQ in Central London with reservations being taken on a first come-first serve basis.

“We fully expect users to leave the seminar in awe of the options out there for automating previously monotonous or labour intensive tasks,” states Greg Stodghill. “When they see what’s available, they can’t believe they have gone so long, and put in so many hours without them.”

To sign up for the seminar or for more information, users can visit www.xchangeuk.com, or call on +44(0)20 7490 4455 during UK business hours. Email address is info@xchangeuk.com.

XChange are a leading supplier of desktop graphic and publishing applications, QuarkXTension® technology; Adobe InDesign®, Acrobat® and Photoshop® Plug-ins® and other design and publishing utilities. XChange offer extended technology products from across the world specific to the graphic design, print and publishing industries and make them available to an extensive user base via their printed catalogue or online at their web site. The company are headquartered in Central London and also offer specialist training on many of the solutions they sell.

To Sign-Up, surf here:
http://www.xchangeuk.com/main_pages/home/main_section_wflow08.html
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What Is A Preflight Check?

 

 

 

 

preflight: quality check your files

 

What is a preflight quality check?

 

It is a final look through all your production files in order to do a last quality check before they leave your building. This not only saves time as it hopefully eliminates many common project-delaying errors, but it also saves money as a final quality and content check ensures all the client’s colours are correct and all the project specifications are adhered to.

 

I have always felt it is best to have someone other than the production artist look over the files as a fresh set of eyes is more likely to catch potential problems. 

 

Create a paper checklist to keep your work methodical and which you can hand back to the artist flagging problems for correction.

 

Depending on your industry or the nature of your files, use and adapt the following checklist when Preflighting files:

 

Quick Quality Checklist by a dedicated Preflight Manager

 

1. Artist: Collect or package all your files, ready to burn to CD and update links. Prepare all your paperwork, burn to disk, and package everything up ready for the supplier then hand it off to your quality control manager for a final check. If you need help preparing your package read my article on How To Ship Files.

 

Goal: Preparing the package to go out means that all materials in your package – digital or paper – can be checked and if it is approved it can go immediately to the supplier.

 

2. Preflighter: take the package and download the contents of the disk to your hard drive so you have a record of what you checked and what shipped.

 

3. While they are downloading: Look at all the paperwork and the printouts supplied by the artist.

 

Goal: This visual check gets you familiar with the job and flags the most obvious problems quickly.

a) Do they seem to have been built to supplier specifications?

b) Are printouts of all elements on the disk provided?

c) Do they seem to conform to your company’s expected standards?

d) Do you see any obvious errors (ie safety, spelling, improper template usage)?

e) are the markups to your supplier clear or do they raise more questions?

 

4. Run a preflight software like FlightCheck

 

Goal: For me, Flightcheck is the fastest way to get a snapshop of the project as a whole allowing you to flag potential problems immediately.Once files are downloaded and you have made some notes from the printouts for follow up, load the fonts and run the files through Flightcheck.

It will flag:a) RGB Images which should be CMYKb) low resolution imagesc) missing fontsd) Pantone colours in usee) missing images

 

5. Now look at the files

 

Goal: You have flagged issues from the printouts and flightcheck. Now it’s time to open and have a look at the files themselves.

a) are they built to the correct size?

b) what file format are they (Illustrator, Quark, InDesign, PDF) and is this appropriate to the job?

c) are they the right scale?

d) is there enough bleed and are all graphics within the safety area?

e) are folds, dielines and glue flaps created properly?

f) check Ink densities (see my Ink Density post)

 

Total time for check up to this point: 15-30 mins (perhaps up to an hour for a larger project)

 

At this point you have three options for your project

1. Run with it as is and ship package to supplier

2. Request revisions and a new disk from the artist

3. Flag marginal problems with the Studio Manager or Account person and decide on course of action (ie fix or ship)

 

Stay consistant and allow that extra 1/2 hour for the quality check and you will see your re-run or re-print costs go down. You will not eleiminate every error but in a busy studio, where artists are often rushed, taking a moment to stop and double check things will be time well spent.

 

 

BIO:

David Williams is from Toronto, Canada. He has over 20 years of experience in print production, pre-press, creative, studio management, print purchasing and client liaison and currently works for a large format printing firm in Mississauga.

 

LINK

http://www.silverpeak.ca

Corrupted InDesign doc? Fix it with QuarkXPress!

How To Convert InDesign To QuarkXPress

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbUL3TXbJaw&hl=en">

Interview with Neil Bruington of PIASD

 

MARKZWARE: Welcome, Neil. So, I’m always fascinated to learn how people find their

way into this crazy world of graphic arts. What piqued your interest

initially? How did you get your start in this business?

 

NEIL: While I was attending San Diego State I worked for an Large Architectural

Firm running their InPlant. They did large government projects that required

manuals and proposals for each set of drawings. I went on to get a secondary

teaching credential and a Masters Degree. I taught high school graphic arts

classes for 11 years before going to Palomar College for 25 years.

 

MARKZWARE: What are some of the classes you currently teach at Palomar College?

 

NEIL: I used to teach most of them! I am retired, just teaching part time. I teach

digital imaging classes, introduction, intermediate and advanced.

 

MARKZWARE: I suppose one of the challenges in teaching graphic arts design and

production is really keeping up with the fast-changing technologies out

there–all the applications, and so forth. So, how do you personally keep up

to date on technical developments as they unfold in the industry?

 

NEIL: It is very much “shifting sands” given changes in technology. I still take

classes at conferences and attend seminars to keep current. The internet

helps deliver educational information on broad topics in the digital world.

 There is always the challenge of acquiring hardware and software to provide

students with the current technology.

 

MARKZWARE:  One of the woes I often hear in the industry these days is that many of

the graphic arts programs out there focus so much on aesthetics–on the

creative aspect of the business–and often neglect the mechanics of how to

get those designs to print. In your courses, how do you prepare budding

graphic designers for the “real-world” of graphic design today?

 

NEIL: Palomar College Graphic Communications still provides that comprehensive

educational package for students. We have several Certificates that require

the Students to take pre-press and press classes. We have current CTP

equipment and presses that are used both by the college and the educational

department.  The real answer to your question is that it is less expensive for an

administrator to offer pure design class than to invest in pre press and

press equipment. That is at the college level. The high school level has

totally different set of requirements and funding. The CSU and UC’s have an

enormous influence over what is offered.

 

MARKZWARE: So much attention in graphic arts has shifted to electronic media. Kids

coming up want to learn how to design for the Web, which is clearly

important these days. But what does it mean for print? In your opinion, what

impact will the Web have on print in the coming years?

 

NEIL: I think that is great! We live a digital world. Content flows to where ever

the costumer thinks is an effective way to communicate their message. Sure

market segments are smaller, but blending of the delivery systems increases

the probability of client success for reaching the target audience. I have

always felt that we have a powerful medium. Why don’t we use it more to

promote Print?

 

MARKZWARE: Obviously preflighting and quality-control for print is dear to our

hearts here at Markzware. And a lot of our customers face challenges as to

how best to create content for a plethora of output intentions–print, the

Web, maybe CDs or other types of electronic media. Is there any advice you

can offer to them? Any best practice suggestions for ensuring that the

content they painstakingly create reproduces the way they expect?

 

NEIL: Print is unique because it is “Custom Manufacturing.” (Don’t have your sales

manager call me, I know Printing is a service and is sold that way.) Each

job possesses it’s own unique properties. Workflow varies and anytime you

increase the variables in manufacturing that leads to assumptions and that

leads to problems. You have a good solution in Fight Check.

 

MARKZWARE: Another question I field often is “What resources or industry

associations should I know about if I’m new to the graphic arts industry?”

Any suggestions?

 

NEIL: We encourage everyone to seek out and become a member of Professional

Organizations.  Don’t just look at one or two, look at all the related

Organizations. You may get better perspective with a related group than the

“good old boys”. All have website that have wonderful information. PIASD is

a wonderful organization, but there are a lot of valuable professional

organizations. Shop around an mingle.

 

Conversion Breakthrough – by Gavin Anderson

American Printer, Mar 1, 2008

If you have been in the print industry for any length of time, you know that there are certain file types printers dread receiving from customers. Right at the top of the list is content created in Microsoft Publisher. You see, almost every prepress department out there is Mac-based, and Microsoft has never released a Mac version of Microsoft Publisher.

For those of us in printing, this is a bittersweet thing. We’re torn between the positions: “Why have they never deemed it necessary to make a Mac version for us poor saps who have to deal with the Publisher files people send in?” and “Thank God they haven’t made a Mac version of that program!” Microsoft Publisher is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an industry-standard application.

Unfortunately, with the shift toward a PDF workflow, more and more customers are using office software like Microsoft Word or Publisher to create their “print-ready” documents. This is bad news for printers, as we’d rather deal with professional programs, such as QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign, that deliver predictable, reliable results.

At A S Hospitality, we also get our fair share of Microsoft Publisher documents — thankfully, not as many as some — and, like many prepress departments, we have resorted to keeping the token PC computer on hand to open these problematic files.

The last thing a print customer wants to hear is that their print supplier can’t open a file. They might not understand why the 72-dpi picture they pulled off the Internet is not of sufficient resolution to grace the glossy cover of their publication — nor do they care. They expect the supplier to take whatever they produce and turn around a masterpiece in record time.

PUB2ID to the rescue

Fortunately, the print industry might now have a simple and inexpensive way to resolve the “Publisher-to-print dilemma.” Markzware (Santa Ana, CA) is a developer that’s been making prepress software for more than 15 years — everything from preflighting applications like FlightCheck Professional to conversion tools and plug-ins.

When I received the invitation to beta test Markzware’s latest conversion tool, PUB2ID, I was eager to put it through its paces and see if it lived up to the developer’s promise: to take Microsoft Publisher files and convert them to a native Adobe InDesign format.

To test the application, I selected some Microsoft Publisher 3.0 documents to try. They comprised four-color files with a fair mix of graphics (approximately 71 images in all), copy and line art.

Like Markzware’s other conversion tools (Q2ID and ID2Q), PUB2ID is simple to use. Experienced graphic artists and prepress technicians will find it familiar if they’ve ever opened a QuarkXPress 4.x file in Adobe InDesign. See www.markzware.com/pub2id.

Take care of the little things

PUB2ID was almost perfectly successful in transforming these complex documents into native Adobe InDesign format. I say, “almost,” because there were some minor revisions and fixes I had to make to the files post-conversion. Copy, for example, was a bit of an issue, simply because of the way each platform (PC and Mac) manages fonts. But after opening them in InDesign, I was able to simply substitute the Mac versions of the corresponding PC fonts.

With another document, I ran into a problem with images, but this was not a result of the PUB2ID application’s inadequacy. Rather, the original document contained eight images in total, four of which had duplicate naming conventions to the other four. Thus, when I opened the file in InDesign, only four of the images made the crossover.

As in any conversion process, it is best to have a PDF or a hardcopy proof to refer to, to ensure the post-conversion file meets those expectations. The proof will alert you to any pesky PC-to-Mac platform abnormalities that might pop up despite PUB2ID’s best efforts.

While small adjustments might be required after the file is converted, PUB2ID enables designers and technicians to otherwise forego recreating a document from scratch. That’s a tremendous time savings for a rather modest investment — from $199.

Gavin Anderson is the senior creative graphic designer for A S Hospitality, supplying print and communication services to the hospitality industry. Contact him via www.ashospitality.com.

 

© 2008, PRIMEDIA Business Magazines & Media Inc. All rights reserved. This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, redisseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of PRIMEDIA Business Magazines & Media Inc.

Invitation to join the Markzware Users Group on LinkedIn

 

Hi everyone,

You’re invited to join the Markzware Users Group on LinkedIn.

This group is for people using, selling and integrating Markzware’s preflight and conversion tools.

Here we can network and communicate about FlightCheck, Q2ID (QuarkXPress to Adobe InDesign), MarkzTools and PUB2ID to name just a few of our products – and engage in general graphic arts discussions too!

Joining will allow you to find and contact other Markzware Users Group members on LinkedIn.

 

The goal of this group is to help members:

- Reach other members of Markzware Users Group

- Accelerate careers/business through referrals from Markzware Users Group members

- Know more than a name

– view rich professional profiles from fellow Markzware Users Group members

 

Here’s the link to join:

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/70725/106EFD509D8A

 

Hope to see you in the group,

— The Markzware Users Group Team

Plug-in Guru To Teach At Adobe Summit

I can vouch for Kris that he is the ‘real-deal’ and have known Kris for several years.

His insight in translating the ideas of the ‘artist’ into software solutions is uncanny.

For those wanting to reduce development time and get to the nitty-gritty, pronto – I suggest to sign up for his next class before it’s too late! April 28th is not that far away.

To review, if you:

- will be involved in InDesign Plug-In development

- have some experience in C or C++ development

- might have experience with QuarkXPress XTension development

- might have experience with other Adobe SDKs

- might currently already be doing InDesign plug-in development but don’t fully understand it, then:

Don’t wait – sign up today! Remember, space is limited.

email Kris directly at: training@rorohiko.com 

 

 

Any Reasons To Be Green?

Markzware created OurGreenReasons as a forum to share ideas with the printing and publishing community and to help educate others to become ‘more efficient’ and to eliminate waste.

There are several printer manufacturers that have adopted ‘green’ technologies, but what exactly are these?Several paper and ink manufacturers have done the same.

What are the ‘benefits’ of using such products?

How has it changed your workflow efficiencies?

If you are a printer or publisher that is currently ‘Green’ could you share some of your stories?

ROROHIKO LTD. Teaches plug-in development at Adobe Summit in April

Getting started with Adobe InDesign Plug-Ins?

Is your team in need of more InDesign developers?

Want to be more efficient at developing InDesign Plug-Ins?

Getting up to speed with the InDesign SDK easily takes between two and six months of non-productive time.

Attending this one-day workshop will shave at the very least one month from this non-productive lead time.

No doubt you have a good idea what the cost of one developer-month is, so you can easily estimate what value this workshop is to you.

The workshop will be run on Monday, April 28th, on the first day of the Adobe Creative Suite Developer Summit, by Kris Coppieters from Rorohiko Ltd. The cost is only US$1149.00 per person.

To check availability and/or to register, e-mail us at training@rorohiko.com.

Make sure you book early – space is limited! More info about the rest of the summit can be found here:

http://blogs.adobe.com/notesfrommnr/2008/01/save_the_date_2.html#more