Quark Acquired by Parallax Capital Partners 

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Recently selected—Gartner Cool Vendor / Content Services & a 2017 SIIA CODiE Award finalist—Quark has been acquired by Parallax Capital Partners, LLC (Parallax), a Southern California-based private equity firm.

The new owners intend to help Quark accelerate the adoption of its content automation solutions through investment in organic growth & acquisitions. Since 1999, Parallax has acquired over 20 companies.
 
Oh yuck! Is is just me thinking this but when companies like Parallax buy a company, that company is doomed.
 
michaelejahn said:
I am pretty sure Quark was doomed FAR BEFORE this acquisition.
Click to expand...

Ahem! I just completed my first PAID jobby on Quark 2016 since Quark 3.11 and it was like slipping into a comfortable old shoe, everything was where it should be and the job was finished as fast and as good as anything done in InDesign.
Now if they could only get the aliens back.
 
Slammer said:
I just completed my first PAID jobby on Quark 2016 since Quark 3.11 and it was like slipping into a comfortable old shoe, everything was where it should be and the job was finished as fast and as good as anything done in InDesign. Now if they could only get the aliens back.
Click to expand...

Slammer, great to hear that. The two Aliens didn't survive QuarkXPress' move out of the Carbon ages… unfortunately. Still convincing R&D to bring them back.

michaelejahn said:
I am pretty sure Quark was doomed FAR BEFORE this acquisition.
Click to expand...

You are saying that because you have tried QuarkXPress 2017? And you feel that a layout tool that can make PDF elements editable, offers proper text shading, can export apps and responsive HTML5, offers non-destructive image editing, line-breaking variables and custom kerning adjustments must be doomed? What else would you like to see? Fair prices and no forced rent? Have that too.

Or is this solely based on experience in the past?

Thanks
Matthias
(Quark)
 
mguenther said:
You are saying that because you have tried QuarkXPress 2017? And you feel that a layout tool that can make PDF elements editable, offers proper text shading, can export apps and responsive HTML5, offers non-destructive image editing, line-breaking variables and custom kerning adjustments must be doomed? What else would you like to see? Fair prices and no forced rent? Have that too.

Or is this solely based on experience in the past?

Thanks
Matthias
(Quark)
Click to expand...

Maybe take a history lesson: How QuarkXPress became a mere afterthought in publishing

Famous quote from the CEO at the time Fred Ebrahimi:

Quark repeatedly failed to make OS X-native versions of XPress—spanning versions 4.1, 5, and 6—but the company still asked for plenty of loot for the upgrades. With user frustration high with 2002’s Quark 5, CEO Fred Ebrahimi salted the wounds by taunting users to switch to Windows if they didn’t like it, saying, “The Macintosh platform is shrinking." Ebrahimi suggested that anyone dissatisfied with Quark's Mac commitment should "switch to something else."
Click to expand...

And so they did.
 
Hi Joe,

ok, so this is solely based on experienced in the 90's and early 2000. I understand and yes, mistakes have been made.

It's 2017 now. Please have a look at today's QuarkXPress. It is completely different, fast, modern, with innovative features that you do not find in any other page layout application:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgSwuBrUhEw

And Quark (company) is also completely different. Approachable, open, responding to customers, listening to needs.

Thanks
Matthias
 
Quark would possibly have a chance if they also bundled an illustration program, photo editor, and a PDF editor with their page layout application but not too many people are going to pay for an Adobe subscription to get any one or all of those 3 applications and then also pay for Quark instead of using InDesign. We used Quark exclusively where I work and then OS X came along and Quark dropped the ball and gave users the choice of either switching to Windows or switching to another page layout application. Would we ever consider switching back now and paying for both Quark and Creative Suite (necessary because we also need Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat)? Not in this lifetime. We would love to see an Adobe competitor and a single application page layout app isn't going to be that.
 
Watch Affinity ( https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/ ) They've got a great photo app that, IMHO, has most of the features of PhotoShop, an Illustrator app that is killer, and this Fall they will be bringing out a page layout app. Great company with great support and engaged with their customers.
 
gordo said:
Watch Affinity ( https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/ ) They've got a great photo app that, IMHO, has most of the features of PhotoShop, an Illustrator app that is killer, and this Fall they will be bringing out a page layout app. Great company with great support and engaged with their customers.
Click to expand...

They have been promising that page layout app for about 3 years now and the date of the beta constantly gets pushed back. I'll believe it when I see it this fall. Still no affordable stand alone PDF editor either.
 
Joe said:
They have been promising that page layout app for about 3 years now and the date of the beta constantly gets pushed back. I'll believe it when I see it this fall. Still no affordable stand alone PDF editor either.
Click to expand...

Yes. And they have apologized for the premature announcement. Based on what they've accomplished so far I have every intention to support their efforts.
 
Hi Joe,

I am not sure. If Quark was to create a suite, would that not possibly create a situation again, where you are completely dependent on one vendor and its desire to serve print & publishing?

We hear that a lot from customers that they exchanged one "monopoly" in the past against another today. And being forced to pay subscriptions for tools that do not use standard file formats locks you into the ecosphere of one vendor even more.

I see it like with any tool set for professionals. Think of a DIY. Do you buy the pre-bundled toolbox or do you go shopping around and decide for the best tools yourself?

I had some thoughts on an independent, alternative suite, please see here: http://www.planetquark.com/2017/05/18/the-non-rental-suite/

Let me know what you think please.

Thanks
Matthias
 
gordo said:
Watch Affinity ( https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/ ) They've got a great photo app that, IMHO, has most of the features of PhotoShop, an Illustrator app that is killer, and this Fall they will be bringing out a page layout app. Great company with great support and engaged with their customers.
Click to expand...

I like Affinity photo and since I have started to use it I no longer need Photoshop, it does some things better than PS in my opinion but there are one or two issues that irritate, having said that the community around Affinity is quite responsive and the developers seem to listen to the users, I havn´t tried designer yet as I am trying to get my head around InkScape.
Maybe time to look at a Affinity-Quark combo.
 
gordo said:
Yes. And they have apologized for the premature announcement. Based on what they've accomplished so far I have every intention to support their efforts.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have been following it and will support it too if that page layout app ever comes to be. At least you can buy Acrobat without the subscription scam so those 3 apps + Acrobat would be far cheaper than the full Creative Suite scam.
 
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