If you’re looking for an easier way to get finished XML content from your QuarkXpress or Quark Publishing System-based workflow, you’ll be interested in a recent announcement from Callas Software and Easypress Technologies. Callas and Easypress have announced that their respective Quark tools, AutoPilot XT and Atomik 3.0 Developer Edition, work together.
AutoPilot XT is a QuarkXpress and Quark Publishing System (QPS) automation tool. Atomik, meanwhile, is a QuarkXpress to XML solution. Atomik Developer Edition incorporates automation features to enable it to integrate with Quark-based editor systems, including Quark Publishing System.
Easypress Technologies marketing manager Gavin Drake explained that this connectivity was developed because the companies saw the benefit of removing users from the automation process entirely. “With Atomik 3.0 Developer Edition and automation module AutoPilot XT from Callas Software, QuarkXPress-to-XML conversion can take place in ways that have until now been unattainable,” he said.
Users simply drop QuarkXpress documents into any designated “hot folder” and Atomik and AutoPilot XT will extract the page automatically into XML code without any need for user intervention, according to the developers. QuarkXpress documents can be automatically checked out from QPS when a certain document status is reached, and Atomik can then extract the content as XML. The documents are then automatically checked back into QPS, without ever needing a user.
Atomik 3.0 Developer Edition costs US$19,995; multi-user pricing is also available. AutoPilot XT costs US$4,999 for the first server license and $2,999 thereafter.