TechNote (Archived)

Open QuarkXPress files in InDesign (CS, 2.x)

Adobe InDesign can open QuarkXPress 3.3-4.11 files, including templates and single-language QuarkXPress Passport documents. InDesign supports opening QuarkXPress 5.0 files, but only if they're saved as version 4.x.

The table below describes what happens to various features, settings, and elements when you open QuarkXPress files in InDesign. For more information about InDesign features discussed in this document, see InDesign Help.

Publication Settings and Preferences	Supported?	Notes
Accents for All Caps characters	Yes (limited)	Accents for All Caps characters convert, but they may look different depending on the font used. For example, accents that appear below an ascent in QuarkXPress may appear above the ascent in InDesign.
Ligatures Break Above	No	All letters respond to the tracking value in InDesign, and all ligatures are lost.
Flex Space Width	No	Flex spaces convert to standard en spaces.
Auto Kern Above	No	InDesign does not have an auto kern above feature. It applies the default Metrics kerning values to all text.
Standard Em Space	No	InDesign only recognizes the standard em space (defined by the font size) and converts other values to this standard.
Offset Characters	Yes (limited)	InDesign supports both the subscript and superscript settings, but not the superior setting. Superior converts either as the default superscript, or as subscript if the offset character has that attribute as well.
Vertical Scale	Yes	InDesign maintains the vertical scale options set in QuarkXPress.
Maintain Leading	No	InDesign does not support this feature. The result is an effect similar to deselecting this option in QuarkXPress.
Leading Mode	No	InDesign supports baseline leading only, which corresponds to "typesetting" leading in QuarkXPress. Word processing leading (which measures from the ascent of the line to the ascent of the next line) converts to baseline.
Tools	No	InDesign does not convert tool preferences.
Trapping	No	InDesign does not convert trapping settings and defaults.
Page Layout Features
Page Sizes	Yes (limited)	Nonstandard size pages are not the same size in InDesign as they are in QuarkXPress.
Master Page Items	Yes	InDesign converts master page items as local overridden master page items on document pages and retains the links to the master page items.
Guides	Yes (limited)	InDesign 2.0-2.0.1 imports ruler guides, margin guides, and baseline grid guides, but some may shift. Rulers, margins, and baseline grid guides don't shift in InDesign 2.0.2 and later.
Master Page Guides	Yes (limited)	Master page guides convert but some may shift.
Booking Feature	Yes (limited)	InDesign 2.x supports booking."Synchronized" books in QuarkXPress do not alter individual chapters unless the individual chapters are opened and resaved after synchronizing. If this step is not taken, the changes made when synchronizing are not brought into InDesign.
Table of Contents	Yes (limited)	InDesign 2.x doesn't support alphabetical sorting in a table of contents.
Drag and Drop Editing	No	InDesign does not support drag and drop editing.
Pasteboard Items	Yes	Items on the QuarkXPress pasteboard appear on the pasteboard in InDesign.
Master Page Frames	Yes (limited in 2.x)	In InDesign 2.x, any object that spans facing master pages is shifted when you open the QuarkXPress file.
Suppress Printout	Yes	InDesign marks objects with Suppress Printout applied as Nonprinting in the Attribute palette.
Character Attributes
Bold or Italic Type Styles	Yes	InDesign correctly converts text to which you've applied a bold or italic type style in QuarkXPress.
Type Size	Yes	InDesign correctly converts QuarkXPress type sizes.
Baseline Shift	Yes	InDesign supports manual and styled baseline shifts.
Kerning and Tracking	Yes	QuarkXPress measures the spaces between letters in ratios of 1/200th of an em space. InDesign uses 1/1000 of an em space. Due to the increase in precision, kerning and tracking values may be different in the converted document.
Additional Text Styles in Measurements Palette	Yes (limited)	InDesign requires the necessary font files be present to print or display stylized text. QuarkXPress documents with styles applied convert to the correct font style in InDesign if the files are available. If these files are not available, the text converts as plain text highlighted in pink (as with missing fonts).- The shadow style is not supported in InDesign. - The outline style is converted to a stroke of .25 and a fill of none.
Styles	Yes (limited)	InDesign converts all used and unused styles when you open a QuarkXPress document, but it cannot import styles from another QuarkXPress document.
Ligatures	Yes	InDesign converts ligatures from QuarkXPress.
Paragraph Attributes
Paragraph Rules	Yes (limited)	InDesign 2.x may apply different positions or line styles to paragraph rules. InDesign CS maintains QuarkXPress line styles. InDesign preserves tint values applied to paragraph rules.
Single Word Justification	Yes	InDesign supports single word justification.
Hyphenation Method	No	QuarkXPress supports Standard, Enhanced, and Expanded hyphenation settings. InDesign uses an algorithm that most closely matches the Enhanced setting in QuarkXPress.
Hyphenation Limits	Yes	InDesign maintains hyphenation limits from QuarkXPress.
Flush Zone	No	InDesign does not have this feature; the last word will justify on the left.
Tabs Alignment on Comma or Character	Yes	InDesign converts tab alignment on commas or characters.
Tabs Set Outside of Text Frame	Yes (limited)	InDesign wraps tab stops that fall outside of a text frame to the next line. This may appear to affect leading unless the tab stop is removed.
Page Number Place Holder, Previous Box Page Number, and Next Box Page Number	Yes	InDesign converts these attributes to Auto Page Number, Previous Page Number, and Next Page Number, respectively.
Indent to Here	Yes	InDesign converts the Indent to Here character, allowing lines that follow the character to be properly indented.
Next Column and Next Box Special Characters	Yes	InDesign converts these special characters to the Column Break and Frame Break special characters, respectively.
Paragraph Style Keyboard Shortcuts	Yes (limited)	InDesign reserves the number pad in combination with the Option, Command, and Shift keys (Mac OS) or Ctrl, Alt, and Shift keys (Windows) for use with paragraph styles. If you create a paragraph style keyboard shortcut in QuarkXPress using other keys, InDesign returns a conversion error and applies no shortcut to the style.
Section Breaks and Pagination	Yes	InDesign converts section breaks and pagination.
Styles	Yes (limited)	InDesign converts all used and unused styles from a QuarkXPress document, but it cannot import styles from another QuarkXPress document.InDesign does not convert Based On and Next for H&J and line styles.
Subscript/Superscript Values	Yes	InDesign 2.x converts subscript and superscript characters. InDesign 1.x converts subscript and superscript characters, but doesn't display a baseline shift in the Character palette.
Superior Characters	No	InDesign does not convert Superior Characters, but maps them to InDesign Superscript characters.
Text Attributes
Kerning and Tracking Values	Yes	InDesign converts custom kerning and tracking values from QuarkXPress.
Kerning Pair Tables	No	InDesign does not convert kerning pair tables.
Horizontal and Vertical Scaling Values	Yes	InDesign converts horizontal and vertical scaling values from QuarkXPress.
Font Usage Utility	Yes	InDesign 2.x displays information from the Font Usage utility in its Find Font utility.
Frames
Bezier Frames	Yes	InDesign converts and enables you to edit Bezier frames from converted QuarkXPress documents.
Runaround	Yes (limited)	All QuarkXPress runaround types map to the "Wrap Around Object Shape" text wrap in InDesign. Differences may appear on conversion. It is possible to select the desired Text Wrap type in InDesign after conversion. QuarkXPress runarounds assigned to one side of an object wrap around both sides in InDesign.QuarkXPress text does not wrap around objects below text. When you open a QuarkXPress file that contains a text box which is on top of, and within the bounds of, an object, InDesign 2.x uses the Ignore Text Wrap option (this is required for InDesign to display the text). InDesign CS uses the "Text Wrap Only Affects Text Beneath" option.
Vertical Alignment	Yes	InDesign converts text that is vertically aligned. As in QuarkXPress, however, InDesign does not apply vertical alignment to text that takes a nonrectangular shape, due to text frame shape, text wrap, or corner effects. In these cases, InDesign applies top alignment.
Empty Frames	Yes	--
Skewed Text	No	InDesign converts skewed text as plain text (where the text itself is skewed, not the frame containing the text).
Objects and Line Styles
Line Styles	Yes (limited)	InDesign converts thick and thin strokes, but the weight of the lines in InDesign is different from the weight of the lines in QuarkXPress.
Compound Paths	Yes (limited)	Compound paths do not map to InDesign. InDesign creates a simple path in their place. To avoid losing information, release the paths in QuarkXPress (release All Paths, not just Outside), and make them compound in InDesign.
Grouped Objects	Yes (limited)	Grouped objects retain their associations on conversion, but they are split if some of the objects are nonprinting.
Stacking Order	Yes (limited)	Overlapping items that are grouped may appear in a different stack order in InDesign.
Colorized Images	Yes (limited)	InDesign supports colorizing only 1-bit and grayscale TIFF images, while QuarkXPress can color several other file formats. When converting documents, InDesign imports the linked file and discards any color or effects added to graphics other than 1-bit and grayscale TIFF images.
Unsupported Graphic File Formats	No	PhotoCD, Paint, and OS/2 bitmaps are not supported in InDesign. If you try to convert a QuarkXPress document with these file types, an alert box appears. These images are ignored on conversion. Image previews can be created if a TIFF preview is present in the image. InDesign may display a proxy image if the display preference is set to Proxy rather than Full Resolution, even though the image was not imported. If Full Resolution is selected, these images are dimmed.
Missing Graphic Links	Yes (limited)	InDesign returns a warning if links in a converted QuarkXPress document are missing. Use the Links palette to relink links.
Transformed Graphic Links	Yes (limited)	When InDesign opens a QuarkXPress document containing EPS or TIFF graphics, and the graphics have clipping paths and have been transformed (for example, scaled, flipped, or rotated), InDesign does not transform the clipping path with the graphics.
Color
Color Swatches	Yes	InDesign imports all used and unused color swatches from QuarkXPress documents, as well as colors that are applied to items on the pasteboard.
HSB	No	Maps to RGB.
Library Color	Yes (limited)	InDesign 2.x maps library colors to RGB. InDesign CS maps library colors correctly.
Multi-Ink	Yes (limited)	InDesign 2.x converts Multi-ink to RGB. InDesign CS converts Multi-ink to Mixed-ink.
RGB	Yes	Maps to RGB; some differences in color may appear even though both have identical RGB values.
CMYK	Yes	Maps to CMYK.
Process Colors	Yes	Differences may occur in library colors.
Spot Colors	Yes (limited)	InDesign converts spot colors to RGB for on-screen display and lists the color formula in RGB, but it separates spot colors correctly.
Tints	Yes (limited)	You can determine whether a tint is applied to an object by selecting the object and noting the percentage area in the Color palette.
Gradients	Yes (limited)	InDesign converts gradients created in QuarkXPress 4.x as either radial or linear gradients. InDesign converts gradients created in QuarkXPress 3.3.x or 4.x files saved as 3.3.x format as solid colors.InDesign CS can convert gradients with tints from QuarkXPress 4.x documents.
Color Management	No	Since InDesign and QuarkXPress use different color management systems, this information is ignored on conversion.
Libraries	No	InDesign cannot import QuarkXPress Libraries.
XTensions	No	The following XTensions do not interfere with the conversion of QuarkXPress documents, but their mapping depends on how they are used in QuarkXPress.QX-Tools by ExtensisXPert Tools Vol 1 & Vol 2 by ALAPShadowCaster by ALAPXdata by Em SoftwareXtags by Em SoftwareQuarkXPress documents containing objects created by third-party XTensions may not convert. If your document does not convert, check the original and remove any objects that were created by an XTension. Resave the QuarkXPress document and convert it again.