Quark 6.1 and imported pdf font issues

[pol]

Here's the config of our machines:
OSX 10.3.2 Panther
Quark 6.1
INPosition 6
Suitcase X1
InDesign CS

We've just made our conversion to OSX, figuring that we'll just have to work through the bugs....That said, here is the issue we're facing:

Due to our pagination process of commercial jobs, all pdfs need to be placed in Quark in order to impose and send to the imagesetter. For those who aren't familiar with INPosition, it's a plug-in for Quark and has always handled our 8up magazine flats flawlessly.

Okay, that being said, here's the issue albeit very inconsistent. PDF's which are quite perfect, fonts all embedded, etc. are dropped into Quark
for me to build the publication. Great, until I go to print. Then I get an error box stating that many, many fonts are missing from the image placed into Quark (my pdf) and it won't print. Just like placing an eps which contains fonts and not having them on the system.

We've always handled pdf jobs this way, and 99% of our customers are providing us with pdfs. Some are created in InDesign, some Quark, some Pagemaker. I can't connect one originating OS (windows/OS9/OSX) and/or program with the issue because it's so inconsistent. I've even tried different ways of creating the pdfs, exporting as pdf, saving as eps, then distilling, or creating a .ps and distilling. The same pdfs will impose through Quark 4 just fine - but then if the original program that created it, such as InDesign, uses transparency, I'll get black boxes.

Sooo, we're all pioneers in the valiant new effort to bring forth the icon of OSX. 8O Does anybody have any input on this?

[Bart]

The best solution to your problem is to stop using Quark for Imposition. It cannot handle PDF Versions above 1.3 and InDesign's CID Fonts really screw it up as well.

Why not try a native PDF imposer like Quite Imposing?

If you cannot buy another Imposition programme then save all your PDFs as Level 1 EPS files. This can create other problems but it is generally acknowleged as one of the safest routes.

[tuff_gong]

10.3.3 has solved a few quark font issues for me. There are still fonts, however, that output flawlessly in ID and Ai that quark will not see.

[cp-adn]

I work in a prepress environment with the exact same set up as you have. I am experiencing the same problems. I've written to quark and am waiting for a reply. The back up everything you say. I'm struggling to figure out the problem also. I'll update if I get a solution.

[pol]

Cool! I'll do the same - We just converted our entire composition department, 14 machines, to Panther. It's just the pdfs that are causing issues for me at this point. Do you use PitStop Pro?

[pol]

Just a thought. Several times, while experiencing the font issues, I've actually placed the pdfs into InDesign and used the Tempus plug-in in INposition to pull the InDesign doc through the imposing process without really having to dink with Quark (even though Quark has to be open to use INposition). At least I'm not placing the pdfs into Quark. This works fine some of the time until I get an error from INposition telling me to check my eps export settings in InDesign (which are all set according to the specs provided in the INposition manual). So, finding nothing wrong with my eps settings, I was once again forced to get the job out through OS9.

The other thing I experienced just yesterday, was a perfect pdf, placed into Quark 6.1, sent to film had intermittent knockouts all over the place. Overprinted black text would have some characters randomly knocked out. This was the same if I eps'd the pdf and placed it into Quark. If I just sent the pdf to the RIP, it was perfect. If my customers would provide the pdfs in exactly the size I needed them, I wouldn't have to go through Quark at all, but for our imposition process, it's crucial that pages are placed exact, as I'm sure any prepress person can relate.

As a workaround to the pdf thing in Quark, I'm going to attempt to place my pdfs in InDesign and create a multi-page pdf which I will pull into InPosition using the Tempus plug-in. This will alleviate the eps error message related to InDesign, and the pdfs will then be program independent for the most part. I'll let you know what happens.

[Eyetech]

FWIW Alap now do Imposer Pro, that does 8 up in IDCS or QXP and is very easy and inexpensive compared to the higher end packages.

They do a 30 day full function demo too.

Also I watched an operator using Inposition and it took at least twice as long to produce an impo from it as it does with Imposer Pro. Maybe thats down to ImpPro not needing to have a ps file to work with. One nice feature is it can either run your 4up or 8up direct to your rip or create a new imposed document from your multipage original complete with crops and colour bars.

regards

[pol]

Wow, I'll have to give the demo a shot then. Thanks! Still haven't figured out the weird font thing with Quark though. It's a hassle even if I just want to print the front page of the newspaper to the hp (if it has a pdf in it).

[T-Rex]

Have you verified if any of these fonts giving you problems are OpenType fonts? These are not supported in QuarkXPress 6.0 beyond the basic 256 ASCII character layout.

[pol]

I don't know if they are open type or not. They are fonts embedded in the pdf. Prints with no errors through Quark 4.1/OS9, but not through Quark 6. Actually, I should point out that if I ignore the error about the missing fonts, the pdfs (through Quark/Inposition) print fine to the AGFA imagesetter. I can't get them to print through the Epson proofer though (which uses the BestColor proofing system), they just get flushed. If I save them as EPS, drop them back into Quark, I get no font errors and they print fine to the proofer.

Granted, this is an extra step, but has proven to be the only reliable way to get the jobs out.

What really concerns me about this whole thing, is that our paper will be fully paginated in the next 60 days. Our GM is looking at purchasing another license of Inposition to handle the papers (mine is for commercial printing). I don't know if Inposition is really such a good idea at this point. Just thinking out loud.