Prepress
Leading Regional Newspaper Group is UKs First to Publish in QuarkXPress 8
Thursday 05. March 2009 - The Midland News Association Chooses Award-winning QuarkXPress 8 as the Backbone of Cutting-edge Editorial System
Quark Inc. announced today that the Midland News Association, publishers of two of the UKs top-selling evening newspapers, the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, has become the first UK newspaper group to go live using QuarkXPress 8.
The MNA, part of the independent family-owned Claverley Group, began producing the West Midlands Chronicles and Shropshire Weekly Newspapers series in January using a new editorial system from Press Computer Systems based on QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress Server 8 for pagination.
The Kidderminster Chronicle was the first newspaper off the press, followed by the Telford Journal and Walsall Chronicle. QuarkXPress 8 and the new system will be implemented across all twenty weekly titles in the group by the end of May. The next step will be to upgrade the daily newspapers, Express & Star and Shropshire Star, to the new system.
The desire to remain with Quark was a key factor in the MNAs decision to specify QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress Server 8 as the base for its preferred version of the smart and versatile KnowlEDGE development.
“Our groups titles are extremely popular across the West Midlands and Shropshire and we pride ourselves on our reputation for being innovative and cutting-edge,” said Adrian Faber, MNA Editorial Director, and Editor of the flagship Express & Star. “We have always been quick to embrace new technology, and there has been so much positive opinion in the market surrounding QuarkXPress 8 that we were keen to upgrade and maintain QuarkXPress as a key part of our editorial workflow.
“We have also found that while users have been able to take advantage of the many new features within QuarkXPress 8, their very familiarity with QuarkXPress as a product on which many users have worked for years, has been a positive factor in easing the transition to KnowlEDGE,” he added.
“Quark has gone to great lengths to improve the overall usability and efficiency in QuarkXPress 8. This is extremely evident in the redesigned use interface, which takes existing tools and expands their functionality in an intuitive way to make the user instantly more efficient at day-to-day tasks. In addition, the new Content tool allows significantly streamlined manipulation of boxes as well as their content, eliminating the need for time-consuming tool changes or menu commands. All of these improvements mean that our users can now work faster and smarter, which is extremely important in a busy newspaper environment,” continued Faber.
Press Computer Systems Ltd is a leading systems supplier to the UK publishing industry with a comprehensive suite of proven integrated systems specifically designed to maximise the potential efficiency and profitability of information publishing. PCS has developed KnowlEDGE, a leading-edge editorial workflow system that integrates seamlessly with QuarkXPress.
Philip Walker, Managing Director of PCS, said: “KnowlEDGE is a system built from the ground up to integrate some very smart technologies, many of them very new to the newspaper industry. But PCS has worked closely with Quark for many years delivering to the industry innovative and cost-effective solutions. That close working relationship has meant we have been able to rapidly integrate QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress Server 8 within the overall KnowlEDGE package.”
“By maintaining a position at the cutting-edge of technology, we are committed to developing systems that help our customers to continue to push their business forward both in terms of revenue and technology.”
Matthew Wallis, Quark senior vice president of sales in Europe and Africa, said, “Quarks dynamic publishing technology can bring significant productivity benefits to the newspaper sector by streamlining the workflow and automating business processes to gain greater efficiency. We are thrilled that PCS, who have been at the forefront of the UK newspaper computer revolution, are leveraging the creative power of QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress Server 8 to deliver dynamic publishing systems to their customers.”