Quark Publishing System 8: Now Supports Both QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign in a Single Workflow System

DENVER, CO - 10/27/2008 -

Today Quark announced groundbreaking innovation in automated workflow publishing by extending the capabilities of Quark Publishing System® 8 (QPS® 8) to include support for both QuarkXPress® and Adobe® InDesign. QPS users now have the flexibility to use QuarkXPress with QuarkCopyDesk® and Adobe InDesign® with Adobe InCopy® at the component level in a single workflow system. The capability to use both - or either - graphic design and page-layout program with QPS enables customers to streamline their publishing process to save time and reduce administration, training, and hardware costs.

Customers Make Clear Requirements for Workflow Technology
"We surveyed magazine and newspaper publishers, advertising agencies, and marketing groups and asked them what their most significant needs are for collaborative publishing today," said Linda Chase, General Manager for Quark Publishing System. "The majority of respondents indicated they need to support both QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign in their environments and would welcome a workflow system that does not dictate which page-layout and design application they use."

"Now, with QPS XTensions® for Adobe InDesign, a customer’s choice for QPS gives them the flexibility to use both QuarkXPress and InDesign in one workflow system."

QPS Delivers Greater Flexibility
QPS allows users to work with both QuarkXPress with QuarkCopyDesk and Adobe InDesign with InCopy to:

• Support designers, writers, and editors who use either QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign
• Help agencies work more efficiently with their customers who use either application
• Manage creative assets across all projects more efficiently
• Automate the routing of projects from both applications in one workflow
• Monitor the status of projects in both applications

"To successfully meet today’s market requirements, providers of enterprise publishing software must develop format-agnostic solutions, even if it means embracing competitive software," said Melissa Webster, Program Vice President, Content and Digital Media Technologies for IDC. "By recognizing and delivering on customers’ real needs to use both QuarkXPress and InDesign, Quark is showing leadership that will force the delivery of a new level of benefits to customers seeking workflow solutions."

QPS for InDesign Users
QPS users who work with InDesign and InCopy can work simultaneously in InDesign layouts and InCopy articles, create revisions, and push updates back and forth between InDesign and InCopy. In addition, InDesign and InCopy users can:

• Work in the same workflow as users of QuarkXPress and QuarkCopyDesk
  Check-in InDesign layouts and InCopy articles to QPS, and assign InCopy articles directly from InDesign layouts
• Leverage the Search Results palette in QPS to drag and drop assets into a layout
• View the thumbnail previews, list views, and project views with attachment information
• Drag and drop content from Microsoft® Word to InDesign
• Use content from the same Microsoft Word document in both QuarkXPress and InDesign at the same time

QPS and the Competition
QPS is already the most flexible and easy-to-use workflow system available today. Now, unlike Woodwing’s Smart Connection Enterprise and Softcare’s K4, only QPS offers component-level collaboration for both QuarkXPress and InDesign in a single workflow system. Component-level collaboration allows multiple designers and content contributors to work on the same page or document of a QuarkXPress/QuarkCopyDesk or Adobe InDesign/InCopy project at the same time. Component-level collaboration also allows users to work in parallel rather than in serial (or linear) methods, which saves time and increases efficiency.

"Quark led the industry in switching from proprietary workflow technology to open solutions, helping customers easily integrate QPS into their IT environments and connect with other business applications," said PG Bartlett, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Quark. "Extending the benefits of collaborative workflow technology across design applications is another way Quark continues to respond to customer needs and deliver greater value for their investments."