FlightCheck vs StickMan

Inspired by the “Animator vs Animation” Flash animated film by Alan Becker (click here to see that one), David Nieuwenhuizen, the Markzware Europe design-intern and student at Grafische Lyceum Rotterdam or GLR for short, created this cool piece. What we like about it is that it is not only showing animation and flash in a fun way, but also giving you a tour of FlightCheck Professional, highlighting some of the more important features and interface items. The FlightCheck eagle has his talons full with this pesky image, the Stickman;

FlightCheck vs Stickman

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7lu2IKZIVU&hl=en">

InPreflight from Zevrix Updated

Adobe Plugin developer Zevrix has updated its InPreflight solution for InDesign.

Zevriz has updated InPreflight, a quality control solution for Adobe InDesign that lets
users locate potential problems and produce error-free documents, to version 2.2.5.

SOURCE: MacsimumNews.com via Graphicstart.com.

Yet another piece of evidence of why not to be tricked into feeling safe using the pre-flight feature within InDesign itself, as this video highlights titled, Adobe InDesign preflight vs Markzwares FlightCheck.

PDF, Designers & Bicycles- FlightCheck User Interview

More and more printers and publishers are reverting from demanding print-ready PDF jobs only. PDF and the various standards out there like PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, cPDF and the great work by the GWG (Ghent PDF Workgroup) are excellent initiatives, but not the cure-all. The reasons for this have to do with preflighting and last minute file corrections. Editing a PDF is not a trivial task. Yes, a prepress expert well trained with tools like Enfocus PitStop or Callas PDFToolbox can get away with some, but not all changes. (We will cover this in a future blog post.)

Here is an interesting FlightCheck user interview with Mr. Paul de Boer which goes into further detail on this exact topic. Paul is a freelance graphic designer from The Netherlands whom specializes in laying-out books for artists and historical societies amongst other more standard design products.

De Boer on why he bought FlightCheck on a sunny Friday afternoon; “I want this weekend to have the time to correct them [the 100 page book] properly. Now InDesign, the program (Adobe) InDesign you can have a sort of ‘FlightCheck’ as well, but I am searching for perfection and FlightCheck from Markzware is giving more detail.”
Paul de Boer, freelance book designer – http://www.pauldeboer.eu

Hear about the run-in with his printer over delivering PDFs, open InDesign files and why he uses FlightCheck Designer- even on the weekend via this YouTube interview from MarkzwareTV:

It was a pleasure servicing Paul’s order, especially since he personally picked it up on his bicycle with payment in cash! Not all of you can come into Markzware in southern California or our European office in South Holland, but still feel free to send in your videos about how and why you use your Markzware product- all entries win a t-shirt just for entering! See contest rules and regulations here:

http://www.markzware-europe.com/contest/

Testimonial from Paul de Boer:
I used FlightCheck when I was working with Quark. Then Adobe came with InDesign, and I thought:
Well, now I can check it within that programme. What a mistake !!!.
Ok, InDesign checks some basic elements, but I am a pro, and I deal with many print companies, each with their own (unique) demands. And some of those demands are not seen by InDesign.
Some people told me: You can also check it all by a programme like PitStop. Yes, but I don?t design with PitStop, I design in InDesign. So if I make adjustments or corrections, I want to make them in the original files in an easy and fast way, and FlightCheck professional gives me that opportunity.  PitStop has indeed its place in the workflow, but on other moments.

Last week I was finishing a 100 page book, and there was no time left for errors and delays. (yeah, yeah, the famous deadlines !!) and InDesign could not guarantee me a perfect job. So I put up the phone and called Markzware in Rijswijk (the Netherlands) and asked theme if they could help me instantly (it was Friday, and I only had the weekend left for corrections). Normally the software has to be bought by resellers, but due to the time limit I could come to the firm. I jumped on my bicycle and  went for a 30 minute ride (I live in The Hague, Holland) to meet David Dilling of Markzware at his office, and I can only say that I was indeed helped instantly with great service !!

It’s really refreshing that a company gives so much service. You people are really great !!
And also important: I indeed could fix a (minor) mistake, because of FlightCheck (was not seen by InDesign), and still had time left that weekend to go to the beach.
So David, I make you a promise: I will promote your company and software programmes wherever I can, because like I said: You people are really great (as well as your software programmes) !!!

All the best,

Paul de Boer

Xerox FreeFlows with Prinect and XMF

This Drupa may prove nothing else than the show where they all just got along. Take this example, which includes some form of preflighting (Let’s call that postflighting maybe.); Xerox’s FreeFlow workflow collection of approved vendor solutions and products which now includes FUJIFILM Workflow XMF and Heidelberg Prinect as possible connections to the extended Xerox flow.

The FUJIFILM Workflow XMF has some interesting possibilities, as this article on WhatTheyThink.com highlighted;

“XMF provides pre-flighting, native file conversion to PDF, color management, single-click imposition, and job management capabilities. It also enables electronic proofing with a three-dimensional view of the job, permitting the proofer to flip through virtual pages to check flow and alignment as well as color.”
SOURCE: WhatTheyThink.com

It is good to see major, competing vendors working together to help provide a link between all of these various tools in use at any given shop. This spirit of cooperation is exactly what JDF needs to finally succeed… maybe. In any event it is announcements like these that give promise to truly automated workflows. Now, how to we ensure that everything that is fed into these workflows is print-ready? FlightCheck.

Badia Printools for InDesign – batch printing and prelfighting

There are many plugins that offer useful enhancements to Adobe InDesign. Here is one that claims to offer error-free output from Badia called Printools.

Badia Printools for Adobe InDesign CS3 provides prepress and printing professionals with a powerful collection of printing tools for automated and error-free output. In one comprehensive package you get batch printing of multiple documents, rename at print, print to file in different formats, and preflighting. You can even combine several of these tools during the same print session to streamline complex printing tasks.
SOURCE: www.pluginsworld.com via Graphicstart.com

You may also want to watch this video on InDesign’s preflighting as well.

QualityLogic to Launch Three Products at drupa

QualityLogic Press Release

QualityLogic to Launch Three Products at drupa
QualityLogic, a provider of leading-edge QA and QC test tools and services for the imaging and telecom industries, will launch three products at Drupa 2008, May 29 to June 11, at the Dusseldorf Fairgrounds, in Dusseldorf, Germany. QualityLogic will be in Booth # 7.0E (Hall 7, Stand E).

QualityLogic will launch:

• XPS eXaminer – a powerful tool, for developers and test engineers that allows users to open any XPS document file and examine, analyze, validate, edit and manipulate it for testing purposes.

• PDF FTS – a functional test suite for PDF, the predominant cross-platform document format.

• SP1 update for XPS test tools – QualityLogic’s entire line of XPS test tools has been updated to accommodate Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

QualityLogic will also exhibit XPREF, its family of products that provide preflight, workflow automation and document optimization for XPS document files. XPREF is used by OEMs who need to integrate XPS document file processing with existing print production systems.

For more info, go to http://www.qualitylogic.com

Q2ID Return On Investment (ROI) over 1,000%!

Below is a press release from IT Enquirer on a recent, detailed ROI (Return On Investment) report they did on Markzware’s Q2ID or QuarkXPress to Adobe InDesign conversion plugin. As you can see in this chart, a single license of Q2ID can have a first year ROI of over 1,000 %*! That is amazing. See exhibit from IT Enquirer report here:

* Make note: This report is using ONLY five files over a year period as an example and even with only so few, the ROI is over 1,000 percent- likely many publishers and advertising agencies will have many more than that, making the return on investment really incredible.

You can download the complete report for free here. They put a lot of attention to costs, time and complexities between QuarkXPress and InDesign, for all layout or DTP programs are not created equal. This is a great resource for publishers or agencies that often need to first prove ROI to purchasing managers or executives before getting approval for buying software licenses. Here is the full press release from IT Enquirer below;

IT Enquirer publishes Q2ID ROI report

On Monday, IT Enquirer, a leading cross-media publishing industry website, has released a report on Markzware Q2ID, a conversion tool that translates layouts from QuarkXPress 7 and earlier to InDesign CS3. The report contains the return on investment for one-seat and five-seat licenses of Q2ID. It calculates the Return of Investment (ROI) for 1 to 5 documents. The measurements that led to the ROI results are included with the report.

The Markzware Q2ID ROI report is the first of a series of ROI reports planned for publication on IT Enquirer. This first report is a completely free download –no prior registration required. The following ROI reports that will appear on IT Enquirer will be available to V.I.P. subscribers only (a 95.00 EUR / year subscription fee).
Planned ROI reports include a report on Workflow Automation with PowerSWITCH, Preflighting, the value of early-in-the-workflow preflighting, XML cross-media publishing versus other methods, etc.

The Q2ID ROI study can be downloaded for free by right-clicking the following URL:

http://www.it-enquirer.com/media/q2id.pdf

About IT-Enquirer
IT-Enquirer is an online publication for digital designers and publishers. It contains reviews, technical background information, and feature and trend analysis.

Erik Vlietinck has over 12 years of experience as a freelance journalist for magazines in Belgium, the Netherlands and Great-Britain. He has written manuals for software such as Smart Connection Pro and Enterprise and the Unisys Hermes system, and technical and market analysis papers for the photo- and large-format printer divisions at Hewlett-Packard and Ricoh.

Media Contacts:
Erik Vlietinck • erik@it-enquirer.com • +32 495 206795 or +44 208 816 8082
http://www.it-enquirer.com/

Q2ID Conversion Tool at Leo Burnett

This is an excellent article from sf8h.net on how Leo Burnett (Frankfurt office in this case), one of the world’s more prestigious advertising agencies, uses Markzware’s Q2ID or QuarkXPress to Adobe InDesign conversion plugin. It says in part;

“3f8h.net equips 20 workstations at Leo Burnett GmbH in Frankfurt with Q2ID (Quark to InDesign) from Markzware.

Existing Quark documents are now being converted to InDesign on a daily basis.”

You can read the entire article, with comments from their Group manager Production design here:

+ Update: Markzware’s Q2ID (Quark to InDesign) at Leo Burnett GmbH

Preflight- a brief history

Preflight, in the graphic arts sense, is the process of checking a digital document before it goes to plate, print or otherwise output (exported – such as to PDF). It traditionally is a way to check quality before going to the printing press, digital or otherwise, but can also be used to check online banners and gifs. Preflight is best done on the source document, such as those created in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, QuarkXPress or Corel!Draw as some examples, before becoming a PDF (Portable Document Format). Similar to a pilot whom walks around and performs a pre take-off pre-flight check, preflighting for designers and prepress operators should be a must.

The term preflight was first used during a presentation in 1990 by Chuck Weger, a well know industry consultant. There were some early on postscript (rips) that interperted data and provided a preflight report of sorts. However the first true preflight application came from Markzware and was wisely called FlightCheck another term pilots also use.

Even before FlightCheck® was out on the market, Markzware applied for and was dully granted a U.S. Patent Number 5,963,641 – ‘Device and method for examining, verifying, correcting and approving electronic documents prior to printing, transmission or recording.’

As a way to ‘break-out’ from under Quark’s wings (Markzware started with QuarkXPress XTensions), and to become more ‘independent’ as a software development company, a key decision was made for FlightCheck to become a stand-alone application including additional value such as compatibility with file formats such as formerly Aldus PageMaker, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and others.

FlightCheck was released during the Seybold Conference at San Francisco in the fall of 1995. Although the product did not ‘officially’ ship, until December of that year. During those three days at Seybold, Markzware sold nearly 500 units! Fast-forward to 2008 and, although Markzware develops plug-ins and Xtensions for preflighting and conversion, FlightCheck Professional remains a stand-alone application. Easy to use via a drag-and-drop interface it now validates some 50 file formats including of course Adobe InDesign and PDF, FlightCheck is even more important than ever to tens of thousands of printing, publishing and creative companies, worldwide.

Other preflighting tools have come along, including the popular Enfocus PitStop, which also is more of a PDF editor and other generally PDF orientated checking devices. Although some of the page layout tools offer limited preflighting, it is virtually un-comparable to Markzware’s FlightCheck.

Preflight is a process that you do in PREperation, before you send off to others or hit command-P (print). Postflight is the process that is administered on the resulting PDF file. Many will loosely use the term “preflight” to cover both preflight and postflight.

The importance of preflighting can be seen in the exhibit below:

To learn more about Markzware’s FlightCheck, visit their web page here:
http://www.markzware.com

To purchase FlightCheck, click here:
Markzware Online Store

The invention of preflighting may not be on the same level as Gutenberg’s printing press, however I am quite sure Johannes would have used FlightCheck – watch YouTube Movie here:

http://www.youtube.com/v/x_H6V58eJfg&hl=en

Get Your Markzware T-Shirt. Join Our Video Contest!

 
Submit Your video (or photos) and Win!

That is right, simply video yourself (or have someone video tape you) at work and tell us:

*Who you are and what you do(name, title, company, specialty, etc)

*How you use your Markzware product(s)(FlightCheck, Q2ID, ID2Q, PUB2ID, MarkzTools, etc.)

*Be Creative! Show us around your work environment

(The more educational and informative, the better!)

For full details, go to the contest details

Email your entries to sales@markzware.com
If your attachments end up being larger than 2MB, simply email us for our FTP details.

Terms & Conditions for Contest:

* One submission per person of either a video explaining who you are and how (what) you use of Markzware and why it is so awesome, or a paragraph or two of text doing similar along with a photo(s) of yourself or your shop.

* VALID – Contest will run will June 15th. 2008 OR until 100 submissions have been received.

* All valid submissions will get a FREE T-SHIRT from Markzware! (shipped for free to you.)

* Email entries to: sales@markzware.com
NO attachments larger than 2MB please.-Email FIRST for FTP upload details.

* Photos can be in JPEG, GIF or PDF format and text supplied within email as plan text.