How to Convert QuarkXPress to InDesign
InDesign, Adobe's flagship desktop publishing tool, first appeared in 1999 and has been duking it out with pioneer QuarkXPress for the hearts and minds of print and cross-media creative professionals ever since. The market share battle continues, but it's fair to say that the Adobe program has made considerable inroads with Quark's former user base. If you are a Quark devotee thinking of making the switch, you will need to convert your QuarkXPress documents and templates to InDesign files. The conversion process is not complicated, but be aware that it requires more than just the click of a button.
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Things You'll Need
- QuarkXPress file
- Adobe InDesign CS3 or 4
- Q2ID application
- Windows PC or Mac
Instructions
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Store all linked files that are in your QuarkXPress document or template, including imported picture files, into a single folder. Relink all pictures in the Pictures tab of the Usage dialog box (Utilities > Usage > Picture) in QuarkXPress, and then click "Save As" on the File menu to save a clean version of the document. This will preserve all the links during the subsequent conversion to InDesign.
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Close the cleaned-up QuarkXPress file.
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Open InDesign and choose "Open" from the File menu.
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In the Windows dialog box, choose "QuarkXPress (3.3-4.1x)" from the Files of Type drop down menu.
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Select the file to be converted and click "Open." If a warning dialog box appears, click "Save" to save a text file with the warnings for reference when making fixes. Then open the QuarkXPress file in InDesign.
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Proof the results carefully in the newly created InDesign file. Most objects, styles and colors will have translated properly, but text may not line up or flow as it did in the original QuarkXPress file.
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Select "Text Wrap Only Affects Objects Beneath" in the Composition area of InDesign's Preferences dialog box to better convert the text wrap from QuarkXPress. Then assign "Adobe Single-Line Composer" in the Paragraph panel menu to one or more paragraphs.
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Save your new InDesign document. (To save as a template, choose "Template" from the Save As dialog's Format drop down menu.)
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Tips & Warnings
•QuarkXPress versions 5.x, 6.x, 7.x and 8.x files are stored in a proprietary format that requires a third-party InDesign plug-in MarkZWare called Q2ID to allow conversion with the Open File command.
•Rather than converting, it is often better in the long run to re-create the document with InDesign. This would also be the case if you inherited QuarkXPress files but cannot execute all of the conversion steps because you don't have QuarkXPress.
•If you can use a document "as is" without further modifications in InDesign, consider exporting the QuarkXPress file as a PDF file and then placing each page of the PDF into the InDesign document as a graphic.
Be sure to back up the QuarkXPress files you have selected for conversion to avoid losing an original file should it get corrupted during the conversion process.
