Monday, April 16, 2007

Converting QuarkXPress files to InDesign

Not new, but I keep getting questions about this: Adobe InDesign can convert QuarkXPress 4 or older files by simply choosing File > Open in InDesign, and opening the QuarkXPress file. The Quark file is converted on the fly, and opens as an untitled document. The conversion works pretty well. In general, the page geometry (master pages, location and size of text and graphic frames, style attributes and colors) converts well. For various technical reasons, the location of text and graphics within the boxes often will move and require adjustment. For further information on what can go wrong, and how to fix it, see the handout I've prepared on the topic here.

But what do you do about QuarkXPress 5, 6 or 7 files? Get yourself a copy of Q2ID from Markzware. This is a handy plug-in for InDesign that, once installed, quietly allows InDesign to open and convert any version of Quark file using File > Open in InDesign.

2 comments:

Boston Red said...

I had a question in regards to your experience with this product. I actually called Markzware and they had no clue on the phone.

Here is the question...
If you set anchors in Quark 7. Do the anchors convert over with this product (Q2ID) to Indesign.

Basically I have quark files that when exported to PDF have footnotes that when clicked will take you to the footnote and back up to the text paragraph. This is for accessible PDF reading for the visually impaired.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Leo

Keith Gilbert said...

Leo, I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to your question either. I'm surprised that Markzware wasn't able to tell you the answer. I haven't had a chance to try the workflow you describe with Q2ID, sorry.