Despite the hype, neither InDesign nor QuarkXPress fully answers the needs of newspapers.
Newspapers run faster, leaner, and are more collaborative than other desktop layout workflow. On the one hand, the rapidity of their publication, the volume of content, and the number of personnel involved in their production makes them more difficult, and the demand they place on their sofware more rigorous. On the other hand, several major selling points of layout applications are never touched in newspaper production because news design is invariably built on rigid grids with an equally rigid style guide; the production of a paper depends on controlled boxes, and rarely uses drop shadows, feathers, transparency, or the other creative features of an application typically employed by advertising, magazine, and other workflows.
The question of InDesign or QuarkXPress, while evaluated by most creative professionals from the standpoint of the latest version’s features, is, in the newspaper world, typically appraised from the perspective of automation and collaboration. Indeed, while most designers look for ways to expand their creative choices in the next version of QuarkXPress or InDesign, newspapers fret over how much they will be required to change their procedures while addressing long-standing needs. Moreover, neither application is suited for a newspaper production workflow out of the box. They both require customization and helper applications, and they both have their pros and cons.
In “Design Software at Newspapers,” Designorati:News Design editor Dhyana Sansoucie, a ten year veteran of newspaper design, turns a critical eye toward both QuarkXPress and InDesign in a real world newspaper production workflow.
Having used programs such as Pagemaker, RSG3 , Quark and In Design over the last 20 years these programs are essentially for page make up. Programs such as Creator do a much better job for you in setting individual advertisements that can then be placed in Quark or In Design. This is a very clean and rapid way of producing newspaper pages.
Tom McGowran
Having operated in the digital realm of page make up and design for a good 15 years – starting with Pagemaker and currently being forced to operate Tera/ GN3 (Goodnews) as deciated newspaper and layout package
I would have say that GN3 is an effeciate if not souless package, you forced to operate in a source code window and it feels far to much like DOS environment sometimes.
At home I produce a range of publications, adverts and design projects using the entire Creative Suite . For pure newspaper design, layout, editing etc… a basic if not cheap and nasty package does a very workman like job of putting our newspaper. There are no frills, no transparency, or bells or whistls just an ability to wack out pages with the minmum of fuss.
So if we are talking no frills – GN3 does a fair job, but I am designer dammit!, not just a sub editor and sometimes information needs soul, colour, deep etches and transparencies, nothing touches Indesign for ease of use, tools and stability. Quark crashed when I wanted to output .pdfs, it was a cranky progeramme that cost me money. Indesign, Creative Suite has paid for itself again and again need I say more .…..?