SoftCare has announced that its K4 workflow publishing system based on Adobe InDesign and InCopy now supports Adobe Creative Suite 3. By working with the CS3 editions of Adobe’s software, K4 version 5.8 expands its cross-media production potential, further boosted by the release of an optional XML Exporter module. Systems integrators working with SoftCare expect to be able to roll out K4 version 5.8 from the end of July.
www.k4publishingsystem.com
Archive for June, 2007
European web site IT Enquirer has published a report giving the results of an extensive comparative test between QuarkXPress 7 and Adobe InDesign CS3. The test covered areas of productivity, creativity and efficiency, scoring them for speed of completion, ease of use and so on. Perhaps unexpectedly, QuarkXPress 7 looks like the overall winner in this report: in speed alone, it apparently performed 79% of the tasks more quickly than InDesign CS3 could manage. The report is free to download. A full evaluation of the report findings, including our opinion on the impartiality of the project and the choice of tests, will appear here on LAYOUT next week.
www.it-enquirer.com/main/ite/more/report_qxpvsidcs
Sometimes QuarkXPress 7.2 (and version 7.1 before it) fails to display any layers in the Layers palette if you launch the program by double-clicking on a QuarkXPress project file. The program launches and the file opens without any apparent problem, but the Layers palette remains blank.
There’s no need to quit QuarkXPress and try again. Simply closing the project and immediately re-opening it clears the problem, forcing the Layers palette to display its contents correctly. Alternatively, get into the habit of launching QuarkXPress from its program icon (or shortcut) first, and only then double-clicking on project files to open them.
Here’s an old productivity tip for QuarkXPress that’s been doing the rounds since version 6, and I still use it for certain version 7.2 projects today. It won’t be appropriate for every job but see what you think.
Object libraries can be inconvenient if your QuarkXPress layouts move between computers, from user to user, etc — it’s difficult to keep track not only of where the library file is (if it’s available at all), but which is the latest version. If this is a recurrent problem, try putting your regularly required objects in their own layout within the QuarkXPress project file itself. If you have a lot of objects or multiple libraries, set them up across multiple layout tabs. This way, you can call up re-usable design objects with a single click on a layout tab while working on a project — no need to hunt for a library file to open, and no need to guess what each object is from those tiny thumbnails.
Optical character recognition (OCR) technology developed by I.R.I.S. has been built into the hardware of HP’s CM8060 and CM8050 business multifunction printers. This allows you to scan a paper document on one of the devices and leave the printer to handle the recognition and conversion routine, producing a text file at the end. You do not have to install any OCR software on your computer: it is all done inside the printer. The system can recognise printed text in more than 120 languages.
QuarkXPress Server 7.2, Quark Systems’ dynamic (variable data / on-demand) publishing system, is now available. The new release lets you export XML straight from QuarkXPress documents to other XML-supporting systems such as an email or web server for dynamic content delivery. QuarkXPress Server 7.2 supports http, SOAP, .net, ASP, PHP, JSP and includes a Java manager. QuarkXPress Serve 7.2 is also a Universal Binary (Mac).
http://euro.quark.com/en/products/server7
Adobe has updated its digital photo workflow program, Lightroom, to version 1.1. The update supports multi-computer workflows, improves noise reduction and sharpening, and is Windows Vista-compatible. Adobe has also taken the opportunity to add a few more camera models to the supported list. Windows only.
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom
Koingo Software has updated its font browser and management tool, Font Pilot, to version 2.1.4. The update fixes a range of issues and introduces a Keyboard Viewer. Mac only.
www.koingosw.com/products/fontpilot.php
Stretched Out Software has updated Font Match to version 1.7. This utility lets you scan in some text characters and then it searches through your installed fonts for a match. The update makes the program compatible with Windows Vista, adds a Text Preview window so you can view a string of characters in the selected font, and offers a Symbol mode which searches every character of each font when looking for a match, including symbol glyphs. Mac and Windows.
www.stretchedout.com/products/fontmatch/fontmatch.php
Badia Software has updated its text export plug-in for InDesign to version 1.1. The update allows you to choose further formatting options for exporting as plain text, RTF and tagged text. Mac only.
www.badiasoftware.com/IDproducts/id_exportools.html
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