androidfig
Technical User
I work with a development team creating a database driven publishing system using quarkxpress and xdata. We generate personal marketing materials such as business cards, letterhead, and envelopes. Currently we have a relatively high success rate of around 90+%. The workaround go through our traditional typesetting department. In reviewing the common problems which result in these workarounds, it has become clear that horizontal condensing is our biggest battle. My routine uses character counts to estimate horizontal scaling, but it is far from foolproof. We use an x as our default character, but one can never really estimate what an individuals information will be. i.e. many l's or many w's. Anyhow, I have explored different xtensions such as bantas Designmerge software, but none of them seem to be able to perform the task correctly. Designmerge will condense to fit a box, but i really need it to condense to fit individual paragraphs or lines. Ideally, i could use style sheets to identify which styles i wanted condensed as a block. I know this probably sounds confusing, and it is. Aside from all the corporate rules i have to integrate, i also need to condense within certain parameters. The address block, phone block, name block all need to be handled as seperate entities and condense say, up to 50%, but one or more block may not require the condensing. If you can visualize the red overflow copy indicator. Any time i see this, the routine needs to be activated. We have also looked into using applescript and maybe even paying someone to write an xtension. I have a hard time believing we are the only ones running into this problem, so i am confident something already exists out there. Any help would be greatly appriciated. Gasp!