Each month Design Tools Monthly will review some of the best plug-ins and XTensions on the market. To kick things off, Jay Nelson, editor of Design Tools Monthly, provides an overview, followed by this month’s reviewed products. Most of the mentioned products can be purchased through The PowerXChange.
Do you cook? Do you use herbs or spices when you cook? Could you cook without using herbs or spices? Some of you might say you don’t use spices, and others will say you couldn’t cook without them. But the truth is, whether it’s oregano, cumin, or good old salt and pepper, we all use spices.
The same is true for software plug-ins. Consider salt and pepper. As spices they’re so common and inexpensive that we take them for granted. That’s also the case for plug-ins that ship with applications. Whether you know it or not, you’re using plug-ins every time you use an application to import a word processing document, or in some cases, print it.
Now consider saffron, or vanilla bean. Yes, they’re expensive, but some recipes simply cannot be completed without them. Similarly, some plug-ins may be pricey but they’re indispensable for particular tasks.
The Origins of Plug-Ins
In the early 1990s, QuarkXPress became the first major graphic arts application to allow other parties to add new features; it was the first “extensible” page layout tool. Quark itself used this technology, which it called “XTensions software” to provide new features as users requested them. Quark’s XTensions were free, and gave users new features without requiring an entirely new version of QuarkXPress. Quark also allowed other parties to write XTensions. This created a new cottage industry dedicated to providing solutions for QuarkXPress users.
These “XTension developers” created XTensions for several purposes: for their own in-house use, as custom XTensions for large clients, for commercial sale, and they also gave some away. Why would someone give away the hard-earned fruit of their labor? There are several reasons. In some cases to advertise the quality of the developer’s other XTensions, and to spread their name. In other cases, it was because the work involved was not substantial, and the developer wanted QuarkXPress users to benefit from their effort. And sometimes it just wasn’t worth all the marketing hassle to collect money for the product. Whatever the reason for their effort, the users of QuarkXPress have benefitted tremendously.
Now many software applications use plug-ins. It used to be that “plug-ins” only referred to Adobe Photoshop software and “XTensions” only referred to QuarkXPress software. These days plug-ins are a generic term, although XTensions are still unique to QuarkXPress.
Playing with Fire
Like spices, most people have a few plug-ins they use all the time and others they use occasionally. Also like spices, there are some plug-ins that clash with other plug-ins. Compatibility problems are generally the fault of the plug-in developers, who must work with the application developer to be sure their plug-ins aren’t going to stomp on someone else’s plug-ins.
Which leads us to… Pasteboard XT. This free XTension for QuarkXPress allows you to make the QuarkXPress pasteboard larger, horizontally and vertically. Years ago, when PasteBoard XT first came out, the developer mistakenly included this requirement: if Pasteboard XT was installed when a document was saved in QuarkXPress, then PasteBoard XT had to be installed on the subsequent copy of QuarkXPress in order to open the file. Every version of Pasteboard XT after this first one removed this requirement, but many documents were created in the meantime (the older version still exists on some people’s systems!), making it difficult to open older QuarkXPress files. If you run into this problem, simply install a newer version of Pasteboard XT or PBFix, or get Markzware’s Pasteboard XTerminator, which batch-removes the requirement from every XPress document on your hard drive.
The oldest version of Pasteboard XT is an example of a “required” XTension: one that when used in a document is then “required” for re-opening the document. None of the XTensions in the list below are “required” XTensions. (Only a tiny number of XTensions are “required” XTensions.)
Another potential problem arises when you load a demo version of a plug-in. A few companies’ demo XTensions temporarily turn QuarkXPress into a demo copy, which means that documents or Libraries saved while QuarkXPress is in this mode will only be openable in a demo copy of QuarkXPress. (An easy way to ruin a Library!) Demo XTensions that turn QuarkXPress into a demo version will say so in their Read Me documents – another good reason to pay attention to Read Me documents.
XTensions built for older versions of QuarkXPress can also cause problems. For example, “Bob” and “Son of Bob” from Quark, which were designed for QuarkXPress 3, can cause crashes when used with QuarkXPress 4. (Quark has released other free XTensions that replace the functions of Bob and Son of Bob.)
Finally, be sure you allocate a little more RAM to an application when you add plug-ins. Complex plug-ins require more RAM, and simple plug-ins require a little RAM. (For guidance, read the Read Me documents that come with each XTension, or contact the developer.)
Spice Merchants
Plug-ins are available these days for many applications, including Acrobat. Most pixel- and vector-editing plug-ins developed for Photoshop and Illustrator work with comparable programs from Corel and Macromedia. Some QuarkXPress XTensions are being rewritten as InDesign plug-ins. The list goes on.
How many plug-ins are there? Zillions. Almost anyone can write a plug-in. We’ve found that some products and developers are more reliable than others. The plug-ins we review are from very reliable developers.
Which plug-ins work with my version of an application? Some plug-ins work on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Some work with several versions of an application, but others work only with certain versions.
(Generally speaking, XTensions that have been rewritten for QuarkXPress 4 will work with QuarkXPress 5, while those that were written for QuarkXPress 3 but were not rewritten for QuarkXPress 4 will not work with QuarkXPress 5. Some new XTensions have been written exclusively for QuarkXPress 5. Similarly, plug-ins for InDesign 1.x won’t work in InDesign 2.x. And all plug-ins must be rewritten to work in Mac OS X.) The best way to determine whether a plug-in will work for your application is to contact the developer or ThePowerXChange, which distributes plug-ins. If you find a plug-in you really want and it isn’t yet available for your application or your platform, contact the developer. It will speed up their development.
Where do I get them? Commercial plug-ins: These days, many developers sell their plug-ins on their Web sites. These Web sites are very useful because they often show how a plug-in is used, provide testimonials from happy customers, and sometimes show return-on-investment information. (This helps prove to your supervisor that you really should get the plug-in.)
The developers’ site is useful if you already know there is no other product that may do the job better. However, if you want an overview of products that may solve your problem, we recommend calling ThePowerXChange. Their staff has years of experience in real-world graphic arts production, and can recommend the product(s) that are best for your particular situation. They’re also a handy one-stop source for all your plug-in needs or dreams.
Now on to this month’s reviews…
This article was last modified on January 18, 2023
This article was first published on September 4, 2002
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Don’t listen to VF.
Pasteboard is an extremely useful XT and as someone mentioned was fixed shortly after it came out many years ago.
It’s great to see someone talking about these XTensions and plug-ins. People really need to get used to the idea that using a plug-in isn’t weird or dangerous, but actually will help save time and money. The person who wrote about Pasteboard XT below didn’t read the article very carefully.
–David Blatner, author, “real world quarkxPress 5”
“VF” wrote in his comment that you shouldn’t use PasteBoard XT. I think VF didn’t read my paragraph completely. PasteBoard was released in early 1994, more than 8 years ago. Almost immediately, it was replaced by a version that does not require anyone to have PasteBoard to subsequently open a document. Bottom line: every version of PasteBoard after that first one in 1994 works just fine.
Pasteboard XT
Do not install this plug in.
Do not install any plug in that then becomes a requirement for your system or software package without your knowledge or permission.
When this particular plug in first came out, it not only affected the systems of those who installed it, it also infected the systems of anyone (printers, service bureaus) who handled the infected file. This plug in acted as a virus and all so you can have a larger pasteboard.
Why install anything that does so little and can damage so much?
Think hard before you use plug ins and never ask advice from people who sell product. Ask the experts. Ask printers, production people, service bureaus. And only buy from reputable companies.
Otherwise, you can get yourself and your colleagues into some serious trouble with poor choices like Pasteboard XT.
Before you use an extension to allow you to put an original, layered Photoshop file into Quark, ask your printer if that file will still print correctly.
Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should do it.