Quark Launches iPad Publishing Service for QuarkXPress 8 Users

Theresa Stone

[Editor’s Note: To read the CreativePro.com summary of Quark’s two iPad-related announcements, go to “Publish to the iPad Using QPS or QuarkXPress 8.5.”]
Press Release
Quark announced today a new service that enables QuarkXPress® 8.5 users to publish QuarkXPress content to the iPad. With its iPad Publishing Service for QuarkXPress, Quark will configure a starter iPad app with the customer’s logos and colors, and enable the enrichment of QuarkXPress content, which can then be published to that app. The new service is ideal for anyone from the individual designer to corporate publishers and book, newspaper, and magazine publishers who are interested in reaching the digital market quickly with richly-designed, interactive content at a fraction of the cost of conventional app development and publishing.
“We have received tremendous interest from QuarkXPress users to be able to publish to their own iPad apps,” said PG Bartlett, senior vice president of product management for Quark. “We believe our iPad Publishing Service provides the easiest and most cost-effective solution available in the market for QuarkXPress 8.5 users to publish to the iPad. Customers that use the iPad Publishing Service starting in February 2011 will be able to easily migrate to App Studio for QuarkXPress later in 2011.”
With the iPad Publishing Service for QuarkXPress, users can either convert existing print publications for delivery to the iPad or create dedicated iPad versions. As a part of the Service, Quark will provide the following iPad publishing components to customers:
* The Quark Starter iPad App, which Quark will configure to the customer’s needs and prepare it for the customer to submit to the Apple App Store
* Free XTensions software that will allow QuarkXPress 8.5 users to enrich their QuarkXPress layouts with the sound, video, and interactive features that make digital content compelling
* Conversion of enriched QuarkXPress layouts into “issue” files that can be published to their iPad App
* Web-based service for managing apps, publications, and issues from anywhere at any time
Cost
The components of the iPad Publishing Service for QuarkXPress that allow users to enrich, preview, and manage their content and apps are included as a part of the service while the configuration of the Starter iPad App will require a one-time $499 charge per app. The conversion of the QuarkXPress layouts to iPad issue files costs $499 per issue. The customer will also pay a license fee that is charged for each issue published. The cost of the license fee starts at $349 for publishing a single issue, and decreases depending on the number of issues purchased.
Apart from the one-time app configuration fee per app, a per issue conversion fee, and a per issue licensing fee, Quark does not require any further commitment from customers, such as sharing revenue from sales made from the iPad app.
Availability
Quark’s iPad Publishing Service will be available in February and interested customers are encouraged to visit https://www.quark.com/Solutions/Applications/Digital_Publishing_Solutions.aspx now to complete the online information form. A Quark representative will contact customers to get started.
Requirements
Customers must have their own Apple Developer ID and will be responsible for submitting the app generated with Quark’s iPad Publishing Service to the App Store. Also, the enrichment of QuarkXPress content must be done using QuarkXPress 8.5. Users on previous versions of QuarkXPress must upgrade to the latest version; current QuarkXPress 8 users can upgrade to version 8.5 for free.