Just like FW you now don’t have to distinguish between a text box and a graphic box - just draw the box and either import an image or text. Amazing FW’s been doing it for ages and Quark have only just got round to it.
Well I have to say I agree with you Chucka. I got ripped off by Quark with their aggressive pricing policy for living in the UK and 7.31 never worked that well. I asked for my money back as it was so full of bugs and they gave me 6.52 free.
In my opinion the switch over to InDesign was quite easy really. Both myself and my wife purchased Adobe’s Creative Suite at version 1 and are now on version CS3.3.
Both of us used to use QXP, but were also fed up with the lack of updates and innovation. Both of us found it extremely easy, with just a couple of minor ways in which ID does things differently to QXP, to switch over. And we have never looked back since.
Pretty much the same result here. I used QXP from version 1 to 4,
over 9 years!! I got a free copy of ID1 when I bought a Mac long ago,
and it included the ability to import existing Quark documents pretty
seamlessly. Quark have closed that loophole with subsequent versions,
but at the time, all I had on hand were legacy QXP4 documents, so it
worked out really well for me. About the only thing that still trips
me up, even now, is Apple-D versus Apple-E. Probably because Freeway
still uses Apple-E for File/Import, same as QuarkXPress ever did.
Walter
On Aug 6, 2008, at 12:26 PM, Craig Paterson wrote:
In my opinion the switch over to InDesign was quite easy really.
Both myself and my wife purchased Adobe’s Creative Suite at version
1 and are now on version CS3.3.
Both of us used to use QXP, but were also fed up with the lack of
updates and innovation. Both of us found it extremely easy, with
just a couple of minor ways in which ID does things differently to
QXP, to switch over. And we have never looked back since.
It’s still there in ID3. You can fix it, if you want to, by remapping the keyboard shortcut, either in ID or in the System Preferences. It’s funny how ingrained these shortcuts get in your head – it takes an effort for me to put my ID hat on and remember to use Apple-D to put a picture or text into a box from an external file.
I agree pricing is a big issue in the UK is probably causing many to think twice.
Quark 7.3 is still our main studio app here, but I must admit is been working pretty well especially with the recent free inclusion of many useful XTensions.
We’ve even found that Quark Interactive designer XTension has been surprisingly very useful to knock out animation for flash to put into Freeway web sites. And for producing interactive presentations for clients.
Quark 7 was probably only keep bods happy whilst 8 was in the background being developed. So were faced with another UK overpriced upgrade to 8 if we want to keep up, or swap completely to ID, with the problems of a huge back catalogue of clients Quark files - its never a simple choice.
David
On 6 Aug 2008, at 17:05, Kryten wrote:
I got ripped off by Quark with their aggressive pricing policy for living in the UK
David Owen
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I haven’t messed around too much with the 60-day demo of 8, but on a PPC Mac it takes a whole minute to load while on an Intel it’d take about 15 seconds. Maybe it’s my system or something, but that’s going to be frustrating for the one or two things I’d use it for.
I just started using ID CS3 and it takes nearly a minute to start up on my iMac G5, even longer if I launch it by double-clicking on a file in the Finder. Sheesh.
It has been a while since I’ve used a page layout app like this (PageMaker, anyone?), but I don’t like ID. I can see that it has tons of features but I’m finding it convoluted, as well as wishing it was more like Freeway.
I’d use something else, the project is a PDF newsletter so I could use one of a few other apps, but there’s a chance that the person who was doing it before me might take it back at the end of the year anyway. I don’t want to leave her with a bunch of files she can’t open.
I have to be one of the few that likes and prefers Quark over ID. I never had the bug problems that others seem to suffer from and even though the new version doesnt have that many new features compared to 7.3.2 it does have some nice developments.
As far as speed, it feels quicker than the old 7 and like David indicated making simple flash stuff is a breeze with it.
So for what its worth (Not much I know) I would say its a good progression)
You can count me in also Max,… we’ve got ID2 but its just never really been used. Personally I don’t find the ID2 interface that friendly/swift to use.
On 6 Aug 2008, at 21:53, max wrote:
I have to be one of the few that likes and prefers Quark
David Owen
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You can count me in also Max,… we’ve got ID2 but its just never
really been used. Personally I don’t find the ID2 interface that
friendly/swift to use.
I got ID when I bought what was then the Design Collection. At the
time I was using XP4 (as we all did in those days) running in Classic
mode on my OSX system. It was a kludge at best, but it was a simple
choice for me.
XP4 had cost me £1000 or more. For a one-trick pony. Adobe were
offering ID, AI, PS7 and Acrobat for the same money. I needed PS7 more
than the others, but it was a no-brainer. ID came along for the ride,
and I played with it.
I ended up liking what I saw, and have stayed with it. The silly
amounts of money Quark wanted to upgrade to v6 and beyond - though
it’s been amusing to see what amounts to begging me to “return to the
program you love” and the more sensible prices - simply were not an
incentive enough. For me, despite the OSX nativeness, it was too
little, too late, for too much.
Now, I’m freelancing at a small (read three people) design company.
They had been Quarkies, but wanted to see what ID could do. I showed
them, and it was decided to move over wholesale. The one XP licence is
still active, though, and what’s making us think we me might invest in
the v8 upgrade are the Flash features. Much of the other “new” stuff
really seems to be catching up to where InDesign was about four years
ago. Still, if you can’t beat 'em…
I don’t like Flash nowadays, but there are times when a client will
insist. Rather than get the whole Adobe Flash thing, we may well get
XPress 8.