Over the years, our team fields lots of questions from clients needing to convert documents from one page layout program to another. For this tip we’ve compiled a number of utilities we’ve used and recommended.
Q2ID — QuarkXpress to InDesign
ID2Q — InDesign to QuarkXPress
PUB2ID — Microsoft Publisher to InDesign
PM2Q — PageMaker to QuarkXPress
MIF Filter — FrameMaker to InDesign
MIF Filter — FrameMaker to QuarkXPress
The full version of this tip includes some additional details for each converter, including pricing, links, etc.
QuarkXPress to InDesign — Q2ID
Right out of the box, Adobe InDesign can open and convert QuarkXPress 3.3 and 4.x documents. So if those are the only Quark files you need to convert, you don’t need to buy anything extra.
If you need to convert QuarkXPress 5, 6, or 7 documents into InDesign, Markzware’s Q2ID utility is ideal. The plug-in supports InDesign CS2 & CS3. In our experience, the Markzware converters do an excellent job.
Q2ID — QuarkXpress to InDesign Converter
Cost: $199
Developer: Markzware
Demo Available: No.
InDesign to QuarkXPress — ID2Q
ID2Q is an XTension for QuarkXPress that provides a quick and easy way to migrate your existing InDesign files into a new QuarkXPress document. The latest version works in QuarkXPress 6.1 or 7.x, and will convert InDesign CS3 documents and earlier.
ID2Q — InDesign to QuakXPress Converter
Cost: $199
Developer: Markzware
Demo Available: No.
Microsoft Publisher to InDesign — PUB2ID
PUB2ID is a plug-in for Adobe InDesign. It provides a quick and easy way to migrate Microsoft Publisher files into new Adobe InDesign documents. This plug-in works with InDesign CS2 & CS3, and converts MS Publisher 2002 through 2007. Sorry, we don’t have a solution for going the other direction right now.
PUB2ID — Microsoft Publisher to InDesign
Cost: $199
Developer: Markzware
Demo Available: No.
PageMaker to QuarkXPress— PM2Q
This converter has been around for years, and had not been updated in some time. Most PageMaker users moved on long ago. Still if you have some old PageMaker documents you need to cover over to QuarkXPress, here is the tool. This XTension supports QuarkXPress 6 and can import Mac/PC PageMaker 4.2 through 7.1 documents.
PM2Q — PageMaker to QuarkXPress
Cost: $199
Developer: Markzware
Demo Available: No.
PDF to InDesign — PDF2ID
PDF2ID is and InDesign plug-in that converts every page in a PDF file to an equivalent page in the resulting InDesign document. This utility allows you to use PDFs as a conversion path for many programs that you would not normally be able to convert into InDesign format. This tool was the basis for our recent tip, Convert FreeHand files into InDesign using PDF2ID.
Cost: $249
Developer: Recosoft
Demo Available: Yes.
FrameMaker to InDesign or QuarkXPress — MIF Filter
This last filter is a bit different. The MIF Filter is a European tool that allows you to import FrameMaker MIF documents into Adobe InDesign CS2/CS3 or QuarkPress . Rather than buying the software, you pay for your conversion on a per-page basis. The price per page ranges between 0.35 – 0.18 EUR ($0.50 – $0.25) depending on the volume purchased. Conversion is charged only upon saving the document – if you don’t like the results, don’t save the document and there is no charge.
MIF Filter — FrameMaker to InDesign
MIF Filter — FrameMaker to QuarkXPress
Cost: Per-Page-Price
Developer: DTP Tools
Demo Available: Yes.
Source: This tip inspired by many client requests over the years. Most recently inspired by a Quark to InDesign conversion request from Turnstyle in Ballard. Our research into FrameMaker to InDesign conversion was originally inspired by a request from the in-hosue creative team at Aviation Supplies & Academics in Renton.
