Twenty years ago, many days seemed like Christmas at my office.

That’s because I used to receive packages from dozens of software and hardware companies with their latest products, hoping I would review them in my syndicated columns.

I still receive software occasionally, but FedEx or UPS doesn’t deliver it; the applications come in emails with URL links and passwords, allowing me to download and install applications on my computer.

Now and then, I will test a product that would benefit my newspaper friends. Recently, I tested the latest versions of Markzware, a software developer based in Dayton, Nevada. I have used previous versions of two of these applications for years, while the third, OmniMarkz, was new to me. By the end of this column, I will suggest that most newspapers would be wise to have one, if not two of these applications available on their computers.

FlightCheck: Most publishers have likely heard of FlightCheck, even if they’ve never used it. That’s because larger newspapers and printers often use it to perform preflight quality control inspection on many common types of files. FlightCheck entered the market in 1995, allowing Markzware plenty of time to perfect the application.

Basically, FlightCheck examines and preflights many of the files we use in the publishing business, including InDesign, QuarkXPress, Illustrator, PDF, and Photoshop files to find printing issues before the files go to press. I tested FlightCheck on files from InDesign, Photoshop and Acrobat and received a report of potential problems found in each file. Finding one error could save many of us more than the US$399 perpetual license fee for FlightCheck. An annual subscription is available for US$249, but I suggest that those using FlightCheck purchase the perpetual version.

The list of checks would take more than my allotted space, but significant orienting issues, including harmful or missing fonts, text on multiple plates, and colour issues are included.

A fully-functioning free 30-day demo of FlightCheck is available at markzware.com.

IDMarkz: Trust me, IDMarkz is worth its weight in gold. Thankfully, a perpetual license can be purchased for US$179. IDMarkz has many functions. A few include exporting InDesign files so they can be opened in Affinity Publisher, Illustrator, various versions of InDesign and many other applications.

Why is IDMarkz so valuable? I’ve often received frantic messages from publishers who could not open their page templates or files, even though the documents were fine just a few moments earlier. Even earlier versions of the files on their backup drives wouldn’t open. That is a sure sign of a corrupt file and usually means beginning from scratch to re-create the document. That’s where IDMarkz comes in. Even though an InDesign file might become corrupt, IDMarkz still manages to open the file and export it to an IDML file that opens perfectly in InDesign.

IDMarkz also allows users to extract InDesign text as RTF, TXT, or HTML files while preserving the original formatting. For newspaper using Affinity Publisher, IDMarkz will enable you to export an InDesign file to PDF without needing InDesign or Acrobat.

One use of IDMarkz to save a corrupt document pays for the cost of a perpetual license.

OmniMarkz: OmniMarkz is a newer application by Markzware. Think of it as IDMarkz on steroids. OmniMarkz combines these three apps:
-IDMarkz,
-PDFMarkz, and
-QXPMarkz.

In a nutshell, OnmiMarkz allows the user to convert InDesign, QuarkXPress, and PDF documents to other formats. Conversion possibilities include:
-PDF to InDesign,
-InDesign to Affinity Publisher,
-QuarkXpress to InDesign,
-Adobe Illustrator to InDesign,

InDesign to previous versions of InDesign.

Yes, you can open PDF files and edit them in InDesign. If you have legacy QuarkXpress files, you can open them in InDesign. If you’re an Affinity user, you can quickly convert your InDesign files to open in Affinity Publisher. And you can quickly export just about any type of file to a high-quality PDF. During export, OmniMarkz even runs a preflight to inform the user of potential font, link, and colour problems.

OmniMarkz isn’t cheap. With a perpetual license of US$599, it’s a tool larger newspapers or deign centres should have. Small papers might be served as well by having IDMarkz on hand.

I’ve appreciated Markzware for two decades. They continue to create quality software while keeping the needs of newspapers – and other publishers – in mind. Visit markzware.com and find these and other apps and demon versions of many of their products.

# Contact Kevin Slimp at kevin@kevinslimp.com