Hi, everybody! David Dilling for Markzware here and,
today, we're going to give Amybeth Menendez a call.
We've known Amybeth, for quite some time. She's a long-time customer,
back since the FlightCheck days, actually. And, when we saw this
review, on our website, on the new product QXPMarkz,
which is the replacement for Q2ID, which we're slowly phasing out...
It's not going to be gone in one day, because Q2ID is a top-seller.
Q2ID is a plug-in. QXPMarkz is a standalone application.
It does more than just Quark to InDesign, also
Quark to Affinity Publisher, Quark to Illustrator, Quark to IDML,
Quark preview, Quark downsave, ... Well, you get the idea. And here's what
Amybeth wrote on our webpage, as a review.
"As an avid InDesign user and loyal Q2ID subscriber, my first impression
was to ask, 'Is this going to replace Q2ID?!'
My thoughts are... it should!" And the rest, you can read, here, yourself.
Amazing, amazing review, there. So, I read this quote from
Amybeth Menendez. I thought, "Well, we have to give her a call."
Alright. There, we have Amybeth Menendez, all the way from
New York. And I see you're working from home, as well.
Working from home, indefinitely. Wow! Yeah, but maybe let Amybeth
introduce herself, here, before we jump into the QXPMarkz side of the
the new product she's using, from Markzware. Can you tell us more about
yourself, Amybeth? My name is Amybeth Menendez.
I am the Assistant Manager of Print Workflow, for a large
publishing corporation, located in Manhattan, New York.
My background is pre-press, printing, graphic design,
large format, web, sheet-fed, out of home, digital, the entire gamut of printing.
I've been in printing, since I've been a kid,
since they were putting chromium powder on
proofs and making match prints. So, I've definitely been in this
industry, for a long time. I currently also do a lot of
Adobe training. So, I'm very application-based and I'm always looking.
Part of my job is always looking for ways to make the
workflows more efficient and the users, the designers, more productive,
and myself more productive. So, I do a lot of
scripting. Yeah. We're always looking to optimize
and make the workflow more efficient, with different
plugins, scripts, and workflows. And you used to be a Q2ID user, as well,
and that's what QXPMarkz is kind of phasing out, is Q2ID. Is that correct?
Yeah. We still license it, for our graphic arts team,
because we do have a lot of legacy Quark files
that were done by designers, and that is not an
application that we deploy on our work computers, anymore.
So, we need to make changes
and bring back these titles that have
previously published. And, so, yes, we do use Quark to InDesign. Okay, cool.
Alright. Great. So, and then, now, at a certain point, you saw the new product
and you jumped right in and got or acquired the product,
QXPMarkz. We just launched it about about a month ago, at
CreativePro Week, where we missed you this year. I know, I know. Yeah, I guess
because of the working at home and what have you. Yeah. But, Amybeth was there.
What was that? Two years ago, now? Was that New Orleans?
Right. Yeah. Next year, ... Washington DC! Washington DC. So, I'm hoping to be there,
because it's not too far. Yeah, that's really close, yeah. So, yeah,
well, cool. We launched it there. It was an online event, of course. It went really well,
online. It was very interesting, but... Okay. What was your, especially as a
Q2ID user, a PDF2DTP user, an IDMarkz user, a Markzware user,
what were your impressions of QXPMarkz?
Okay, well, I have to say I was a little...
I didn't understand, at first, why they needed to
add onto what was already such a perfect product.
Yeah. You know, the Quark to InDesign. And, then, I installed this.
And I'm not just saying this, because you're interviewing me, but I was really
like, "Wow!" First of all, the
user has an option whether or not you want to
use it, in your traditional InDesign, you know,
like in your Scripts menu, where you'd see it, at the top of your
InDesign toolbar. And it launches the same
stand-alone application, which I'll get into the benefits of that,
in a minute, why I was so impressed, when you open this. So, compared to
just a regular Quark to InDesign... And that was one of the first questions
I messaged you. I was like, "Is this going to phase out
Quark to InDesign?!" And you were like, "Eventually, yes,"
because, when you drag... when you open... when you say,
"Convert my Quark file," you get this beautiful user interface that anybody
can understand. It's not like it's a report.
It tells you what version of QuarkXPress it was created in.
So, the file that I'm looking at, now, was created in QuarkXPress 6.
It says when it was created, when it was last modified.
So, all that information that you get, in the document information,
it's telling me the page size, what the trim is set to,
how many fonts are used, how many colors are used.
You get this entire, beautiful interface, as soon as you open up the document.
And, then, you have all these other options. So, Quark to InDesign,
you can basically just Export to an IDML from a QuarkXPress. I mean, yeah,
you can... The Quark to InDesign, you just, basically, export to an InDesign document
or an IDML. And, in this one,
you have a choice. You can export to InDesign,
Publisher, Acrobat, and/or Illustrator. So, if the person has to
convert this, or maybe you're
sending it to somebody that only has Illustrator. I mean, you have an
option to Export that. And, then, you could also make a
PDF, right out of this thing. Yeah.
And what I was really impressed with is that
this application, this standalone application, can do this,
can create a PDF, and the person... So, I'm thinking of, like, production people
that don't necessarily even know how to open InDesign or know how to use the
Adobe products, or... But they don't even need to have these
installed on their computer, the apps. Nope. Yeah. So, I mean this is a
game-changer. To me, I mean, you didn't have to sell me on promoting this.
It's like a game-changer! I can't wait to show
everybody this, when I get back to work. Yeah. Yeah, well, that's what I liked about
it, too, because Q2ID was like interfaceless. Right. It works great!
You click a button. Right. And you get a Quark document into... like you File > Open
a Quark document in InDesign. Right. But, with this QXPMarkz, you get
that preview. You don't even need InDesign. Right.
Like you said, if you just want to preview it as a... By the way,
Amybeth, the preview part's free. So, if some of your colleagues, like in
management or production, don't own InDesign, they can just use
QXPMarkz, for free, to preview Quark files,
for instance. There you go. So, that's another whole
other workflow possibility, for just viewing and saying, "Well, this is the
Quark file we need." Right. "This is the cover that I'm looking for, this is the
design that I'm looking for, with this jacket." Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, great!
So, it's easy, like it was perfect what you said. So, I don't know really what I ...
Yeah, because I really love it!
I really can't even say more about it. Yeah, yeah. It was so easy to write a good
review about this, because I love it. Well, I've just got to ask you, anyway,
just for the sound bit.
Would you recommend QXPMarkz to other potential users?
I would highly recommend QXPMarkz to other potential users, whether or not you
are a user of Quark to InDesign, now. I think, if you are a user of
Quark to InDesign, now, this will be your go-to. I mean, it is just so much more
robust and user-friendly. And there's so much more features and you will be
visually pleased and, like, yeah. Yeah.
And I've converted a whole bunch of documents.
I've tried – I don't have – Publisher, but I've made PDFs from them.
I've made Illustrator documents from them. Right. And everything, of course,
works perfectly. So, you might be sending it to somebody that only has a
certain application and you have choices, now.
Right. Awesome, awesome! Okay. Thank you. So, now, you're using
IDMarkz, you're using now QXPMarkz, the two new
products in the Markz line. And next is coming PDFMarkz.
Do you have any ideas or suggestions, for the future of these products?
Well, it's funny that you should ask me that,
because what would be amazing, for me, is if you put everything all into this one
interface, so that I could either...
So, say, even with the standalone application, so, maybe I want to
throw a PDF in there, as well, and then have all these different options to
export it. Wouldn't it be great, if I could throw my
Quark documents into the same user interface? I mean, it would be
one-stop shopping for everything. Right. So, that would be like
my ultimate software, like, ... Okay. ... "I will be there to test that, for you."
Well, that's good to know, because that's what we're working on, as well.
Ohhh. See? Yeah. It's Christmas! Yeah, almost. They're just going to come, before
Christmas. But, no, no, that's what we're definitely working on. So, it's good to
hear that feedback. That'd be interesting that it's gonna become ...
Yeah, that was the first thing I thought about,
like, "Wouldn't it, because everything is so great, why not put it together?"
Yeah, it's gonna be called, "OmniMarkz." We already have a box, a little logo for it,
and everything, but it's just not quite ready, yet.
Oh, I'm so happy! So, it is something! Yeah, yeah. But this! Just having this whole
interface, I mean, that's a live pre-flight, almost. Right, right.
You know? Right. So, I like all that.
Great, Amybeth. Well, anything else you want to say, before we let you go, here,
on what looks like a beautiful, sunny day, there?
You know, it is a beautiful, sunny day. And it's been cloudy.
It's like 90, 90-something, all week, here. Wow! It's really hot and stifling,
but I've got the air conditioner on.
My grumpy bulldog is sleeping on her ... Awww! Look at that! Yeah, she...
You could tell. She's just hot. She's like, "Oh, my gosh!" I want to say
that it's always a pleasure, and that I'm really...
I don't want to say "infatuated" with the software, but I really
love this software, actually. So, I am looking forward, to be able to
use this as a replacement, in my workflow. And I can't wait to
share this with other users that... I can't wait to show my boss this!
Cool. It's just I'm really thrilled about this. I really do
think there's nothing, you know. It's just all great things about this.
Awesome! Well, Amybeth, thank you very much. It was my pleasure.
And you have a great day! You have a great day!
And I'll look forward to the cut version. Absolutely. Alright.
Take care. Alright. Bye, David.