QuarkXPress

This configurator drives QuarkXPress (or QuarkXPress Passport). It is a processor that allows saving a QuarkXPress job to PostScript or EPS. In addition it supports executing a custom AppleScript in QuarkXPress, which allows automating most of the application's functionality from within Switch.

(Unfortunately QuarkXPress doesn’t allow saving to PDF under remote control.)

The configurator supports incoming job folders in addition to individual files. In case of a job folder, the configurator expects that the folder contains a single QuarkXPress file on its topmost level, and that all resources referred to from within the QuarkXPress file reside in the job folder or in one of its (nested) subfolders. The "Collect for Output..." function in the QuarkXPress File menu produces a folder that conforms to these requirements.

Refer to Version requirements for third-party applications for more information on the third-party application required by this configurator.

Keywords

Keywords can be used with the search function above the elements pane.

The keywords for the QuarkXPress configurator are:

creative
PostScript
EPS

Detecting the application

This configurator implements the following mechanisms to detect the presence of the corresponding third-party application. See Detecting third-party applications for more information.

Detection mechanism	Comments
Automatic detection at startup	Uses information registered with the operating system when the application is installed
Searching from the elements pane	In addition to the above, searches the system program files/applications folder for the application
Manually locating the executable	Select the application bundle

Connections

This configurator allows only a single outgoing connection.

Properties

Property	Description
Name	The name of the flow element displayed in the canvas
Open	The method used to open the incoming file or job folder; i.e. one of the following options: Automatic: opens the incoming file or job folder in QuarkXPress without further instructions Use script: executes a user-provided AppleScript to open the incoming file or job folder in a customized manner
Command	The command to be performed; i.e. one of the following options: None: does nothing (other than what's specified for opening and saving) Use script: executes a user-provided AppleScript on the file or job folder for customized processing
Save as	The method or format to save the job; i.e. one of the following options: QuarkXPress: saves the job in the native QuarkXPress format; in case of an incoming job folder the complete job folder is copied and the original QuarkXPress file is replaced by the new version PostScript: saves the job as a single PostScript file; the configurator shows extra properties to specify the desired settings EPS: saves the job as a set of EPS files (one file per page) inside a job folder; the configurator shows extra properties to specify the desired settings Use script: executes a user-provided AppleScript to save the job in a customized manner
Re-link all graphics	If set to yes, the configurator instructs QuarkXPress to re-link all graphics before processing or outputting the QuarkXPress document
Use fonts in job folder	If set to yes, fonts included in the incoming job folder are used while processing or outputting the QuarkXPress document
Fail jobs with unavailable fonts	If set to yes, the configurator fails any jobs that use one or more fonts which can't be found/activated; i.e. these jobs are moved to the problem jobs folder If set to no, the configurator doesn’t test for unavailable fonts
Fail jobs with unavailable images	If set to yes, the configurator fails any jobs that use one or more images which can't be found; i.e. these jobs are moved to the problem jobs folder If set to no, the configurator doesn’t test for unavailable images

Custom AppleScript

When “Use script” is selected for the “Open”, “Command”, or “Save As” property the configurator shows additional properties to specify a script file and argument values to be passed to the script. See AppleScript for applications for more information.

Properties for PostScript output

The following extra property is shown when the “Save As” property is set to “PostScript”.

Property	Description
PostScript driver	The printer driver used to generate PostScript; this can be the driver for a physical printer or for a virtual printer (such as "Adobe PDF") Switch displays a list of ALL printer drivers found on the system; selecting a non-PostScript printer driver has undefined results
PPD	The name of the PPD used to generate PostScript (the PPD must be installed and enabled in QuarkXPress, even if set to default) The default PPD is a PPD that is specified in the Quark document. If you use "capture settings" in the "Print" dialog, the settings will be saved to the document. If you select "Default" as a value for the "PPD" property in the Quark configurator, the PPD that is specified in the document is used for saving the document to PostScript.
Data format	The data format for the PostScript file; choices are “ASCII”, “Binary”, “Clean 8-bit”
Color setup	The color output setup for the PostScript file; choices are "Grayscale", "Composite RGB", "Composite CMYK", "Composite CMYK and Spot", "As Is"
Bleed	The amount of bleed for the PostScript pages, in points
OPI	The OPI options for images in the PostScript file; choices are “Include images”, “Omit TIFF”, “Omit TIFF and EPS”
Registration marks	The presence and mode of registration marks in the PostScript pages; choices are“Off”, “Centered”, “Off center”
Registration marks offset	The offset for the registration marks (in points)

Properties for PostScript output

When the “Save As” property is set to “EPS”, the configurator creates a job folder that contains an EPS file for each page in the document. The files are named by adding a prefix and/or suffix to the incoming file’s name (the suffix is added before the filename extension).

In the filename prefix and suffix specifications described below, the following character sequences (regardless of case) are replaced by the appropriate number for the file as follows:

Index: the one-based index of this file.
Total: the total number of files in the job folder.

The following extra properties are shown when the “Save As” property is set to “EPS”.

Property	Description
Filename prefix	The string pattern to be inserted before the filename
Filename suffix	The string pattern to be inserted after the filename
Scale	Scale of the EPS image in percentage
Preview image	Determines the presence and format of a preview image in the EPS file; choices are “None”, “TIFF”, “PICT”
Data format	Data format for the EPS file; choices are “ASCII”, “Binary”, “Clean 8-bit”
Page white	Determines how page white is treated in the EPS image; choices are “Included”, “Transparent”
Color setup	Determines the color output setup for the EPS file; choices are "Grayscale", "Composite RGB", "Composite CMYK", "Composite CMYK and Spot", "As Is"
Bleed	The amount of bleed for the EPS image, in points
OPI	Determines OPI options for images in the EPS file; choices are “Include images”, “Omit TIFF”, “Omit TIFF and EPS”