Quark announced today the immediate availability of App Studio for Quark Publishing System, a new module for Quark Publishing System that reduces the creative and technical barriers associated with publishing to the iPad. Quark Publishing System is the editorial workflow system that is the core of Quark’s dynamic and digital publishing solutions for mid-to-large business organizations. With App Studio, professional and corporate publishers who use Quark Publishing System can cost-effectively create and publish custom iPad apps and put designers in control of producing compelling digital publications. Advanced automation within Quark Publishing System assembles and publishes each digital issue. No longer will companies have to invest in complex development, time-consuming manual processes, disconnected workflows, and additional infrastructure to publish to digital devices such as the iPad.
“Many of our customers are looking to publish design-rich and engaging interactive content to the iPad in order to extend their brand, generate new revenue streams, and reach new customers. However, the barriers – both financial and technical – to publishing to devices such as the iPad can be significant, and for many, impossible to absorb in this economic climate,” said PG Bartlett, senior vice president of product management for Quark. “App Studio for Quark Publishing System gives professional and corporate publishers a cost-effective and manageable solution for publishing to the iPad that puts designers, rather than programmers, in control.”
App Studio for Quark Publishing System enables users to easily configure a starter application that aligns with their branding and user interface requirements to create a custom app for the iPad. Designers can create digital publications directly within QuarkXPress 8.5, easily enriching their designs with sound, video, and interactive features. Once complete, Quark Publishing System automatically builds and publishes the digital publications and makes them available to the custom app. An online management tool enables easy control of multiple custom apps, publications, and issues. App Studio for Quark Publishing System includes:
- Quark iPad starter application, which is the starting point for configuring custom iPad apps
- iPad Framework which allows publishers to create highly customized branded apps
- QuarkXPress XTensions software for enriching content with interactive elements that will be stored on a file system or Quark Publishing System
- Web-based service for managing apps, publications, and issues from anywhere at anytime
- Features for previewing custom apps and digital publications in Apple’s iPad simulator or directly on specified iPads
- Automation workflows in Quark Publishing System to publish and update digital publications using any Web browser
Quark and Digital Publishing
In 2010 Quark unveiled a platform-independent strategy for helping publishers take advantage of Digital Publishing 2.0 for the new generation of digital devices. Quark’s Digital Publishing 2.0 strategy automates the publishing process to offer publishers efficient and cost-effective ways to:
- Create design-rich, interactive content – for any platform
- Automate publishing – to any media (print, Web, digital)
- Engage customers – on any device
- Let publishers focus on content – not technology
Starting with the rich, compelling designs attainable with QuarkXPress integrated with Quark Publishing System – the engine that powers dynamic publishing – Quark is helping both enterprises and individual creative professionals publish to the iPad and other digital devices in a variety of ways. App Studio for Quark Publishing System does not require that users have any programming or other special skills to enhance their print content, nor does it require any additional, customized infrastructure to publish to the iPad.
Quark Publishing System customers can try App Studio for free, and will be able to preview publications within Quark’s free Preview App on the iPad or in the iOS Simulator on their Mac. Customers only pay once they are ready to submit their app to the App Store and are then also responsible for a fixed, per-issue price for each digital publication (issue) that is created. App Studio for Quark Publishing System is $4,000, which includes the Starter Application and a license to produce an unlimited number of apps for the iPad. In addition, customers pay a license fee to publish their digital issues. Prices start at $349 for publishing a single issue, and decrease depending on the number of issues purchased. An unlimited annual license is also available. Quark does not require a monthly subscription nor take any margin from App Store sales.
For more information, please visit: http://www.quark.com/Products/Quark_Publishing_System/App_Studio.aspx