-
“My initial reaction to PageZephyr was one of excitement” – Jeff Kew Fireboy Creative Inc.
“My initial reaction to
PageZephyr was one of excitement,” according to Jeff Kew, Fireboy Creative Inc., in Vancouver, BC. Canada, where he establishes workflow and prepress of files. Kew is also the founder and chapter representative of the Vancouver InDesign Group.
When Markzware sat down with Kew, we wanted to know his initial first impressions of PageZephyr, which provides the full power to search InDesign, QuarkXPress and Microsoft Publisher files. It can also index files of those file types, as well as extract content to text file formats, during and after prepress, allowing you to reuse content and improve ROI (return on investment).
At first, when Kew gave it a try, he didn’t realize he was working with a v1.0 application. Kew explained after his initial reaction of excitement, “However, my needs from PageZephyr were more than the programmers had considered in their initial release. I was indexing over 10,000 files across terabytes of drives. I quickly discovered what an amazing support team Markzware has. I was able to speak with the actual developers and they worked with me to resolve the issues. They even sent me updates directly to use. Within weeks of my input, PageZephyr v2.0 was released and it is a very functional product.
Dearchive or retrieve copy
Kew, whose work is mostly in the print ad based arena, is asked to dearchive (which is the process of reinstating archived files) or retrieve jobs that are based on the headline used or retrieve copy to reuse content in other documents. “PageZephyr has been a huge help in improving efficiencies in dearchiving and job searches. It’s paid off for itself many times over since I started working with it.”
An unforeseen ROI
So, where does the ROI come into play in Kew’s use of PageZephyr? Kew shares this, “An unforeseen ROI has been that the “suits” can also search text and retrieve copy, etc., from other jobs for use in their proposals even though they don’t have InDesign on their computers. Again, another opportunity to improve efficiencies.” Kew continues to explain, “when using PageZephyr on my laptop with only a few hundred files, it was super quick and efficient. When connected to my network systems and searching through thousands of files, it is equally quick. However, to be warned, the initial setup of your PageZephyr can take awhile — so I suggest you let it index files at the end of the day. This is no different from Spotlight, too.”
PageZephyr picks up where Spotlight leaves off as it can search InDesign CS-CS5, QuarkXPress 4-8 and Microsoft Publisher files on Mac storage volumes, index files, and search text in the indexed files. This enables you to reuse content, as well as save time and money when you need to search text and dearchive and index files, which can improve ROI. So, remember to use PageZephyr to search InDesign, Quark and Microsoft Publisher files, and improve ROI today.
What are your thoughts
Do you have a need to search text in legacy documents within these prepress dtp files? Do you wish to see other files added, and if so, which ones?
Do you want to have the capability to extract content to text file formats in which Spotlight is unable to search, but without the need to have the original applications just to extract content?
We would love to hear your comments, questions, and feedback. See original post:
