How to Import Quark 7 Into InDesign CS3

While you can't just open or place QuarkXPress 7 documents in InDesign CS3, that doesn't mean you can't migrate your layout file from one application to the other. There are several options, all of which use software you already may have, including QuarkXPress 7. The first method involves saving your QuarkXPress file as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The second entails saving each page as an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) document. The third method requires that you have QuarkXPress 6 and 5 available in addition to QuarkXPress 7.

Things You'll Need

• QuarkXPress 7
• InDesign CS3
• QuarkXPress 6
• QuarkXPress 5

Instructions

Method 1: Using .PDF Format

1. Launch QuarkXPress 7 and open your QuarkXPress document. Go to the "Utilities" Menu and choose "Usage." Scroll through the "Pictures" tab and make sure all your graphics are listed as "OK" in the "Status" column. Update any pictures that are listed as "Missing" (by relinking them) or "Modified" (by updating them). Then click "OK" to close the "Usage" dialog box.

2. Go to the QuarkXPress Menu and choose "Preferences." Choose "PDF" from the list on the left side of the window when the "Preferences" dialog comes up on screen.

3. Set "PDF Workflow" to "Direct to PDF" and click "OK" to close the "Preferences" dialog.

4. Go to the "File" Menu, choose the "Export" flyout and select "Layout to PDF." Make sure your file will be saved to the location you prefer.

5. Click the "Options" button to bring up the "PDF Export Options" dialog. The full name of this dialog will end with the name of your QuarkXPress document when it comes up.

6. Go to the "Job Options" tab of the "PDF Export Options" dialog. Click the "Embed all fonts" check-box to activate, if it isn't already selected. Set "Subset fonts below" to 35 percent. Set the compression options for color, grayscale and monochrome images to "None" and the resolution options to "Keep Resolution" if you need a high-resolution version of your QuarkXPress document for prepress use. Otherwise, you can leave the compression options at their defaults. Make sure "ASCII Format" is not checked.

7. Go to the "Output" tab of the "PDF Export Options" dialog. Set "Color Output Type" to "Composite" and "Print Colors" to "As Is." Check "Produce Blank Pages" if your document contains any so you'll know where they are when you get to Adobe InDesign. Make sure "Use OPI" is unchecked and "Registration" is set to "Off." Set "Bleed Type" to "Page Items Only."

8. Click the "OK" button at the bottom of the "PDF Export Options" dialog, then click the "Save" button at the bottom of the "Export as PDF" dialog to start the process of making your PDF file.

9. When your PDF file is complete, you can close your QuarkXPress document and shut down QuarkXPress 7.

10. Launch Adobe InDesign CS3. Go to the "File" Menu, choose the "New" flyout and select "Document." Set the number of pages to match your QuarkXPress file. Set the "Page Size" pop-up to the same size used in your QuarkXPress document, or set the width and height to a matching custom size. Set the page orientation to match your QuarkXPress document as well. Now click "OK."

11. Go to the "File" Menu and choose "Place." Navigate to the location of the PDF file you made in QuarkXPress 7. Select "Show Import Options" and click "Open." In the "General" tab of the "Place PDF" dialog, set the "Pages" option to "All" and the "Options" to "Crop to Bounding Box." Now click "Open." Note that when the "Importing" progress screen disappears, your cursor will change to show that the PDF material is ready to place on your document pages.

12. Click at the top left corner of the first page of your InDesign document to place the first page of your PDF file. Click the "Next Page" icon (the right-pointing arrow) at the bottom of the file window to navigate to the next page of your InDesign document. Repeat Step 12 for every page in your PDF file.

13. Save your Adobe InDesign document after you have finished placing all the pages of your PDF file.

Method 2: Using .EPS Format

1. Launch QuarkXPress 7 and open your QuarkXPress document. Go to the "Utilities" Menu and choose "Usage." Scroll through the "Pictures" tab and make sure all your graphics are listed as "OK" in the status column. Update any pictures that are listed as "Missing" (by relinking them) or "Modified" (by updating them). Then click "OK" to close the "Usage" dialog box.

2. Go to the "File" Menu and choose "Save Page as EPS." Set the "Format" to "Color" and the "Space" to "As Is," unless you know whether your document is RGB or CMYK--in which case you should set the "Format" to match your document. Set the "Preview" to "TIFF" and the "Data" to "Binary." Make sure "Spread" is not checked. Click "Save" to save the first page of your QuarkXPress file as an EPS file. Now navigate to the next page of your QuarkXPress document by pressing "Shift-Page Down".

3. Repeat Step 2 for each page of your QuarkXPress document. You should not need to reset the color options each time.

4. Close your QuarkXPress document when you have finished saving all its pages as EPS files.

5. Launch Adobe InDesign CS3. Go to the "File" Menu, choose the "New" flyout and select "Document." Set the number of pages to match your QuarkXPress file. Set the "Page Size" pop-up to the same size used in your QuarkXPress document, or set the width and height to a matching custom size. Set the page orientation to match your QuarkXPress document as well. Now click "OK."

6. Go to the "File" Menu and choose "Place." Navigate to the location of the EPS files you made in QuarkXPress 7. Select "Show Import Options" and click "Open." Click on the first EPS file to select it. Hold down the shift key and click on the last file to select all the EPS files from a multi-page QuarkXPress document. Click "Open." Make sure the "Use TIFF Preview" option under "Proxy Generation" is selected in the "EPS Import Options" dialog. When the "Importing" progress screen disappears, your cursor will change to show that the EPS files are ready to place on your document pages. Look at your cursor to see a thumbnail preview of the first file that's ready to place, along with a number that tells you how many files you're ready to import.

7. Press one of the arrow keys on your keyboard to cycle through previews of the EPS files you're importing until you see the material from the first page of your QuarkXPress document. Click at the upper-left corner of the first page of your InDesign file to place that EPS file on your document page. Repeat this step until you've placed all the EPS files representing the pages of your QuarkXPress document.

8. Save your Adobe InDesign document after you've finished placing all the EPS files you created in QuarkXPress.

Method 3: Saving Your File Down to QuarkXPress 4

1. Launch QuarkXPress 7 and open your QuarkXPress 7 document. Go to the "File" Menu and choose "Save As." Change the "Version" pop-up to "6.0" when the "Save As" dialog comes up on your screen. Rename your file so you don't accidentally overwrite your original QuarkXPress 7 document with the QuarkXPress 6 version you're about to create. Now click "Save." Close your QuarkXPress 7 document and shut down QuarkXPress 7.

2. Launch QuarkXPress 6 and open the QuarkXPress 6 version of your document. Go to the "File" Menu and choose "Save As." Change the "Version" pop-up to "5.0" when the "Save As" dialog comes up on your screen. Rename your file so you don't accidentally overwrite your original QuarkXPress 7 document (or the QuarkXPress 6 version) with the QuarkXPress 5 version you're getting ready to create. Now click "Save." Close the QuarkXPress 6 version of your QuarkXPress 7 document and shut down QuarkXPress 6.

3. Now launch QuarkXPress 5 and open the QuarkXPress 5 version of your document. Go to the "File" Menu and choose "Save As." Change the "Version" pop-up to "4.0" when the "Save As" dialog comes up on your screen. Rename your file so you don't accidentally overwrite your original QuarkXPress 7 document (or the QuarkXPress 6 or 5 versions) with the QuarkXPress 4 version you're getting ready to create. Now click "Save." Close the QuarkXPress 5 version of your QuarkXPress 7 document and shut down QuarkXPress 5.

4. Launch Adobe InDesign CS3. Go to the "File" Menu and choose "Open." In the "Open a File" dialog, navigate to the location of the QuarkXPress 4 version of your document that you saved in QuarkXPress 5. Now click "Open." InDesign goes through the process of converting your QuarkXPress 4 version to an InDesign document. This process may take a few minutes.

5. Page through your new InDesign file and look for discrepancies between the conversion and your original document. You may want to open the original QuarkXPress document in QuarkXPress 7 and look back and forth between the original and the InDesign conversion to verify any differences between them. Make adjustments as necessary.

6. Save your Adobe InDesign document after you have finished adjusting it to match your original QuarkXPress file.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have upgraded your QuarkXPress software from one version to the next, you may have all three versions on hand. If you don't have all three versions, use one of the other two methods or rebuild your file from scratch in Adobe InDesign. Using either of the first two methods will not allow you to edit the material you place in your Adobe InDesign file.

• Converting your file to Adobe InDesign by means of PDF documents or EPS files can result in a very large InDesign file when you save it.

• QuarkXPress does many things differently from Adobe InDesign. This can mean minor or even major differences between your original QuarkXPress document and a conversion to Adobe InDesign.

References

• CreativePro: On the Move to InDesign: Converting Quark Document and Template Files
• Adobe Systems: Tutorial: Convert QuarkXPress Files
• Graphic Design Employment: Is There a Free Quark to InDesign Conversion Method?