Quark 6!!!!

[artchick]

Anyone considering using it. We are looking at it because our paper is print and web and this version just might allow us to cut our the transfer step--easily.

 

[jimoblak]

The web capabilities of Quark and InDesign are improving but they are not perfect. One should not expect a perfect HTML page to jump from Quark or InDesign. You must set-up your document properly to take advantage of the cross-media capabilities of these programs. Depending on the work flow, this set-up can sometimes be more tedious than creating a web page from scratch in a proper web authoring application.

- - picklefish - -

 

[artchick]

Yes, I have run into this in the past. The main hurdle we have to face is getting our completely edited copy from the print version to the web version each week. I am at the place where I need to redesign the web site. I "could" possibly design it so the copy flows to the site easily--at least that's the theory. Now we hand code the copy to get it out of Quark with it's paragraphs intact and then retag all the copy. Even if this one step were eliminated, it might work. Tweeking in photos, headlines, visual elements is fine but I hate going over the same copy each time.

 

[GeorgeMack]

You might consider loading pdf pages on your website. Fonts/images come out correctly, and you can add hot links, etc. to other sites/pages. And there's not too much conversion time required. It depends on what you need on the page; sounds as if you're doing a straight translation of a fixed print page, not a dynamic web link to a database or changing list, so pdf might be a useful way to go.

George

 

[artchick]

Pdfs would definitely not work. They would take too much time to make and page loading would increase. This is a weekly newspaper. Time is of the essence.

My boss so far says no to Quark 6 anyway. It's too much money and we would have to switch up to OS 10.

I can dream though.

 

[TashaGoddard]

It sounds like your situation is ideally suited to using XML. I don't know how good Quark 6 will be with XML, but InDesign2 seems very good. I'd be inclined to go with that. You need to spend a fair amount of time setting up the 'templates' with XML but when it's done it should all streamline very well and quickly into both the print and the web versions. (Although, it would depend on the structure and complexity of the layout. You would need a fairly standard structure - but usually a newspaper would have that.)

 

[zavsays]

My experience with PDFs (jumping a paragraph ahead) is that they take little time to create, dowload rather quickly and retain your exact formatting but it wouldn’t win you any design awards.

Just visited the Quark website and notice they seem to have removed their forums? Found this explanation by doing a search ... "Due to the upcoming restructuring of the Quark Web site forums will be temporarily unavailable. Forums will return in a reorganized format to better serve you."

After the deluge of angry messages from MAC users with the release of Quark 5, I suspect that message board won't be serving the public for awhile. It took Quark six months to release a patch to make the program run properly. It didn’t just slow down Quark but every program on the computer ... AND every computer that was on the same network.

Another quirk of Quark is that they likely don’t include an instruction manual anymore (they didn’t with version 5). You’ll need to purchase an instruction book separately or navigate their site for answers (You'd better have a fast internet connection).

I'd be anxious to hear how version 6 behaves in action before upgrading.

 

[jimoblak]

You’ll need to purchase an instruction book separately or navigate their site for answers (You'd better have a fast internet connection).

FYI - The user manual is on the CD in PDF. This began with Quark 5. No internet connection is needed.

- - picklefish - -