Testimonials

Here's the whole list of what our enthusiastic users are saying about Em's products and support, all of them completely unsolicited and in their own words. You can also see fewer at a time.

"Once again, great product (I did a 3-month stint at {large music company} this year, and Xcatalog is used extensively there - a real life-saver for them), and I really appreciate the quick responses from you." --S. P., Aug, 2001, re: Xcatalog

"I'm working with XCatalog Pro (Windows) latest version and I'm very satisfied. Through ODBC I can contact my Oracle database and it works very well." --F. C., Jul, 2001, re: Xcatalog

"Thanks again for your response--can't do without Xtags!" --J. P., May, 1999, re: Xtags

"PS--We just made over 30,731 pages today (proof pages) with Xtags with text from the database. (These are proofs of abstract records for a large book which will eventually be 2,500 published pages. This was in 63 separate Quark files.)" --Janet Shafer, ScholarOne, May, 2001, re: Xtags

"Let me add that I deeply appreciate all the advice and insight that you and C. share with us as soon as we ask. You provide support at an almost unparalleled level, and that adds tremendously to the value of the software itself." --D. K., Oct, 2001, re: support

"By the way, this plugin [InCatalog] is saving me tons of time. About 2-3 weeks of time every time we want to put out a new catalog in the future. " --Chris W., April, 2002, re: InCatalog

"Thanks, as always, for your thorough and timely support." --L. F., October, 2000, re: InData support

"Xtags 2.0 was brilliant; I am looking forward to using the new version. I recommend your software whenever the issue of needing to import formatted copy arises." --G. M., May, 1999, re: Xtags

"Love Xdata. Have used to convert 2 Filemaker date files to Quark 600 page catalog. " --J. G., March, 2002, re: Xdata

"I would just like to forward my thanks for your speedy and efficient response to my request. I must also say that I have never had this kind of response and help from any other software company we have dealt with to date. We hope to do more business with yourself and your company in the future." --A. O., May, 2001, re: support

"Over the past three days I've run and printed a 1400-record, duplex InData import. ... Every page flawless. What a great product. ... Just seems like the right day to send you a big thanks for all you've done. Chris solved the problem on the Expert fonts within a single day. Not many companies are as responsive as yours. It's a true pleasure to be a customer. Thanks again. ... You guys are the bee's knees." --D. E., February 2001, re: InData

"I've been using Xdata for a few years now and like its features. I've also found that FrameMaker is better for some long documents because it can do some things that Quark can't, and it can do some things better than Quark for long documents. So I've recently started using Xdata and Quark to generate data files for FrameMaker! It works very well. This way I get the power of Xdata for pulling data out of the database and then the power of FrameMaker for the long documents." --K. L., December, 1999, re: Xdata

"Thanks! I am very impressed by the competent, quick and thorough support from you. And you're welcome to quote me. :)" --Anjo Krank, Feb, 2002, re: support

"Besides this little problem, I'd like to tell you that your Xdata is absolutely great." --S. B., May, 1999, re: Xdata

"I can't thank you enough. You guys are so on the j.o.b. with help right there!" --N. D., January, 2001, re: support

"I want to thank you for your quick and accurate responses that helped us out." --E. S., April, 2000, re: support

"... your software is easily the most appreciated thing to appear in our office on the practical work front for a long time. We've been hand formating massive amounts of text for the last five and a half years. Xdata will probably save us 20+ man-hours a month, and that's just time, it doesn't include the frustration and boredom factors! ... Don't think that your efforts are unappreciated, I thought originally that $350 was expensive for just an extension. Then I wrote a simple prototype and watched seven hundred records format themselves in under a minute, it used to take 1 1/2 days by hand, and I realised it was the best $350 I'd spent this year. It's definitely whizzy for us!!!" --S. D., May, 2000, re: Xdata

"By the way, fantastic product (xdata) - we recently used it to great effect to produce The Good Birth Guide for The Sunday Times Magazine - huge success." --Simon Regan-Edwards, Sunday Times, London, Aug, 2001, re: Xdata

"I must say that despite the delay, you (saleswoman) have been an excellent representative for Em Software; you have been most courteous and very professional, and I appreciate the time and effort you spared to keep me informed of what was happening." --J., February, 1999, re: sales

"Overall, the documentation and samples are excellent, and I am very impressed with the power of the product. Nice work." --D. C., November, 2000

"By the way, Xdata is wonderful for a large portion of our business. We do automated production of lodging directories for several major hotel chains -- ranging from simple name & phone number versions to ones with photos and maps, all pulling from the same datasource. It's a great tool!" --M. L., March, 2000, re: Xdata

"Thanks for the super-prompt support. Just want you to know that I appreciate your style of doing business. I wish everyone was so accommodating!" --I. G., November, 2000, re: support

"We have been using Xdata/Xcatalog for a couple of years now and never have any serious problems. Fantastic products." --Jason S., April, 2002, re: Xdata Xcatalog

"By the way, I think Xtags is a great product." --P. G., Sep, 2001, re: Xtags

"The fact is, your products are saving our company unbelievable amounts of time and money every day, and I've been delighted with your response to the feature requests (we've) made to date." --O. L., August, 1999

"N., the chief of our development department, likes very much the way Xdata works, and in my opinion it is THE tool for database publishing. ... So we are very glad seeing your collaboration." --D. P., December, 1998, re: Xdata

"Thanks again for your continued support. You guys have never let me down. " --R. T., April, 2001, re: support

"I'd also like to take a moment to let you know how much I appreciate the responsiveness of your company. It's very refreshing to deal with someone (and the programmer, even) who has enough concern about serving the customer's needs to take time out of his busy day to address questions from even a potential customer. Very refreshing indeed." --D. P., July, 1999

"That was quick. Our company couldn't function without your software." --B B., Dec, 2001, re: Xdata

"And I promise to send you a copy of our College Guide book that will have all those tables and tables and tables done in the magnificent Xdata." --J. M., June, 2001, re: Xdata

"I tried it and it works beatifully! Thanks very much. I want you to know that you provide the best tech support I have yet to come across. And I've been at this since 1989. You solved 100% of my problem, and in a reasonable time frame." --J.H., Jul, 2001, re: Xdata

"I have tried the software and linked it with Filemaker and I am very impressed. It is one of the best pieces of software I have bought." --Stephen Gill, UK, March, 2001, re: Xcatalog

"It used to take us a day or more just to import our data (26,000 records, about 350 pages when done), and then a week to clean it up. When Xdata imported it in about 10 minutes with almost no cleanup needed, my boss and I nearly fell on the floor! We are so glad we went with Xdata rather than a custom software solution costing tens of thousands more." --Andrew MacBride, Mallinckrodt Baker, May, 2001, re: Xdata

"Thanks again for remarkable support." --M. R., February, 2000, re: support

"Thanks for these responses and ideas. On the whole, I think the Xtags and Xcatalog tools are great, as in quite powerful." --J. N., Nov, 2001, re: Xtags

"Thanks and compliments to you and your staff for prompt and worthy assistance. It is a pleasure dealing with your company." --M. R., March, 2000, re: support

"Thanks so much for your help on an issue that wasn't your problem!" --K. L., February 2001, re: support

"BTW, you all are great!! (Although I am a support provider myself, I have encountered (much too often) less than satisfactory support from other various vendors, etc.)" --J. H., January, 2000, re: support

"I have been using your plugin (InData) very very happily. It does the most of what I need." --Nelson R., April, 2002, re: InData

"The problem has been resolved with C's help. She's very good. I really like the Xcatalog software, too. As I e-mailed her, it's saved days of effort. Very nice application and easy to use. ... I do want to compliment you on customer service--it's outstanding. Thank you very much!" --D. M., July, 2000, re: Xcatalog

"great... and by the way your support for the product (from C.) has been exemplary..." --D. F., Jun, 2001, re: support

"I purchased XData a year or so ago, and have been really happy using it for producing medium sized directories, importing specific fields from Excel." --P. G., Oct, 2001, re: Xdata

"You guys are super...Best service I've ever received." --A. L., April, 2000, re: support

"... you're brilliant! ... Your record of wins is still unbroken. Many thanks." --N. D., March, 2000, re: support

"Love the program. Have been using it for years. Well done and thank you!" --S. P., Nov, 2001, re: Xtags

"I would like to express my personal satisfaction with the Xdata product. IT WORKS! In these days of hacks and slack code in the software industry, it's really nice to work with software that does what it says it does. Thank you for making such an excellent product!" --Max Dearing, March, 2002, re: Xdata

"I used Xdata here, one of the first QuarkXPress XTensions, and now, one of the first InDesign plug-ins. Along with FileMaker Pro, I was able to reduce this 800+ page catalogue to a four-minute import. That's the kind of production cycle we all like." --Cyndie Shaffstall, The PowerXChange, June, 2001, re: Xdata

"Woo-hoo! Appears to work perfectly. I'll let you know if anything else shows up. Wish all our software suppliers were as responsive and competent! " --Roy O'R., April, 2002, re: Xcatalog Support

"And again, thank you so much! Did I tell (you) Xdata is my ultimate resource for, well, everything?" --A. B., August, 1999, re: Xdata

"Have just used your product to help assemble a catalog with over 34,000 prices in it. Thank you! Price updates which would take a week were reduced to less than an hour." --G. P., April, 1999, re: Xcatalog

"Just a note to say I really love Xdata - it's been a real time-saver for me. Keep going!!" --J. O'M., August, 2000, re: Xdata

"PS - Your tech support has always been excellent. Nice to know that an excellent product is backed up with excellent tech support. Thanks, again." --R. B., January, 2000, re: support

"On a completely different subject, I am curious why Xdata isn't reviewed by the people who are writing articles about variable data printing software. I have used two other applications and have demoed some others and Xdata is my choice by quite a margin. I guess the lack of a slick GUI makes these people think Xdata isn't up to the others but the fact that I can code what I want is what makes Xdata so attractive, and useful, to me. When I read these articles that don't even mention Xdata in passing (!) I feel al ittle smug that someone looking at getting into competition with me may not know about the best application for creating variable data and will spend more time and money than I do working with something other than Xdata." --John Roberds, Oddessy Print, Aug, 2001, re: Xdata

"... Yes thanks - will be purchasing this afternoon - excellent product! " --Andrew P., April, 2002, re: Xdata

"I don't know where to begin with the thanks. The information you sent on the corrupt file and the solution to that problem helped in ways I cannot mention. With this solution, I have been able to import the XPress Tagged data with a new prototype and mass produce the pages for the project in a matter of minutes and that is exactly why we purchased your software. Many thanks to everyone who helped and went above and beyond common support to this problem and others." --R. P., March, 2000, re: support

"Once again, we're printing our giant, annual Eating & Drinking Guide, and we wouldn't be able to do it so efficiently without your products. " --S. P., Jul, 2001, re: Xcatalog

"Your software has been literally the ''glue'' to this entire project and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for producing such a fine product." --C. N., October, 2000

"You guys' support and response time are truly appreciated. Thanks so much." --Bob A., May, 2002, re: Xdata

"Thanks again--I hope this project goes through because if your products are as good as your tech support, they rock!" --J. W., March, 2001, re: support

"... On the other hand we got your answer. Congratulation for your quick and helpful service! Even on Saturday!" --S. W., June, 2000, re: support

"BTW... I've been using Xdata since its inception... it's a great product... keep up the good work..." --C. K., May, 2001, re: Xdata

"I have downloaded Xdata 4.x. It works exactly as I hoped. I just wanted to tell (you) that I found excellent the service your company has provided." --D. Z., March, 1999, re: Xdata

"I wanted to say thanks for the support that you have given. Big thanks to C. This is my first project and I sorely needed the help." --A. S., April, 2000, re: support

"That was it, thanks a lot. FYI our company is regularly using Xdata to publish (magazine 1) and (magazine 2) and are very happy with it." --G. Y., April, 2000, re: Xdata

"Thank you so much! Your solution worked great. You guys rock!" --R. H., April, 1999, re: support

"One of the best product introduction manuals I've had the pleasure of using. Looks like Xtags will do everything we need." --J. F., June, 1999, re: Xtags

"Just a quick note to tell you how much I appreciate the wonderful simplicity of Xcatalog. I'm so happy with it, (and) life is much easier. So, thanks. You did a spectacular job on this product." --M. L., March, 1999, re: Xcatalog

"Actually, we're planning to use it for a lot of things, we wanted one tool that could perform multiple tasks across multiple divisions. Xcatalog fits the bill in many places. In our (first) magazine and (second) magazine divisions, we plan on connecting Quark to a SQL database so we can have a one time entry point for data that gets used in both print and electronic media. Xcatalog is perfect for what we need and it's very easy to use and train people on. And we really like the fact that we can communicate both ways, from database to Quark and Quark to database. At least that's my opinion. And you can quote me." --Brian Hebert, United Ad, May, 2000, re: Xcatalog

"I really appreciate your help and your product which has improved workflow tremendously for our company." --D. H., March, 2000

"We LOVE your program. Thank you for creating it. We design yearbooks and this has tremendously sped up our layout time." --L. M., March, 2001, re: Xdata

"This is probably a "sad" thing to email, but I have to tell you how much I love Xdata. Anything that arrives at our office in Excel to be formatted, I jump on. Everyone thinks I'm mad, but the feeling of watching all that cruddy data flowing in, in the correct case, with headings, lots of fiddly ifs and loops working, is wonderful!" --E. G., July, 2000, re: Xdata

"Thanks for all your effort and jet response. " --E. K., December, 1999

"Now I find that Em Software, a company I must admit I had forgotten for a number of years proves that there are still some people and organisations out there that will listen. You and ALAP help to make this profession worthwhile.

This is not b.s. This is a genuine heartfelt response. I wish you all well and will keep an eye open for other products that we might need." --Richard Gardner, Colourtone, Oct, 2001, re: Xdata

"How delighted I was to get your two emails so quickly. I have a full weekend of work ahead of me. ... Although it has been a couple of years since last using Xdata, I have recommended it to a number of my clients. Now my faith in you guys is higher than ever." --A. K., July, 1999

"Six years ago I stumbled across XData, which was then in version 2.5. Since then I've sold over a million dollars in products using XData to make them. In the last six years I've made tens of thousands of pages of documents using XData, and no matter how complicated I make them, it runs flawlessly, every time. "This is never going to work," I say to myself. Then I click on the buttons, and XData runs so fast it's amazing. Best of all, it's not that hard to do. I'm no techie, just a liberal arts major from a state university. If I can use this software, anyone can use it. At $400 XData is one of the world's great bargains. " --William Spencer, Apr, 2002, re: Xdata

"Thanks for a great product." --J. S., Sep, 2001, re: Xdata

"I have worked with all of these softwares for about 5 years now and I can honestly say, there is no way that I would even consider having Quark without Xtags. I work for a composition house that specializes in typesetting books and journals and also specializes in the most up-to-date electronic needs of our customers. ...

I have used your software to its fullest extent (except the macro thing--haven't quite gotten my hands around that one yet), and it is truly a revolutionary software for serious book composition Quark users.

Thanks for being there! And PLEASE be there for a LONG time!" --John Ferguson, Jun, 2001, re: Xtags

"Thank you very much for your support, I'll wait for upgrades. Xdata still reamains the brightest jewel in my Xtension folder." --A. del G., May, 2000, re: Xdata

"Thanks for your response. I got two responses from tech support via email in just a couple hours. You guys must really be good! Thanks. ... We use Xdata extensively. Great product." --F. U., June, 2000, re: support

"First I would like to thank you and your peers for your support over the past two months. We have had great success with Xdata and will have continued success in the future." --P. F., October, 2000, re: Xdata

"Many, many thanks. ... As before, these products are real life savers for us." --S. P., July, 2000

"Thank you for your help. You have a wonderful support staff and make a great product." --M. J., Jun, 2001, re: support

"Thank you guys so much for the swap! Your tech support and sales people are tops! Very helpful and not just courteous--friendly! Great product too." --D. A., January, 2001

"Our projects usually run anywhere from several hundred to several thousand pages, and we’ve been using Em Software’s InData plug-in to produce our documents for over a year. Last year, InFlow enabled us to produce over 100,000 pages for print. InFlow is rock-solid dependable for us at the production end of our work. Em Software’s support of their products is the best we’ve ever seen." --David Earls, benefitstatement.com, March, 2003, re: InFlow

"And it all works beautifully! Thanks very much for your support." --S. S., May, 2000, re: support

"Thank you for your excellent help last, updating to the 4.11 beta helped. ... I love my Xdata." --F. S. von B., June, 2000, re: support

"Hey! I'm impressed, InCatalog works great! I figured it out in about 30 minutes and got it doing exactly what we wanted... the flexibility is great and its very easy to use, great work! ... Well, according to the raw data here it's working like a charm! this is really, really cool, your plugin has taken a job that once took 6+ days and now takes 6 minutes! You have temporarily restored my faith in technology. :) This plugin really is going to revolutionize our catalog production process and save me from endless hours of torturous monotony. Thank you again." --Matthew Richards, Lark in the Morning, Jan, 2002, re: InCatalog

"I own your Xcatalog product and have been thoroughly delighted with it." --Cherie K., March, 2002, re: Xcatalog

"Thanks, once again, for a terrific product, and to you and C. for your prompt, friendly, and thorough responses! Both were selling points in us purchasing, and we're telling others about it, too." --D. L., Jul, 2001, re: support

"Thanks again, but the beta version fixed what I needed. On support you have no rival!" --A. N., June, 1999, re: support

"Your advice was spot on. ... Problem solved and we can't thank you enough. ... It is also great to know that your promise on your web site of standing behind your products is very real. Thanks again." --J. L., February, 1999, re: support

"Thank you very much for the quick response. It worked! Xdata has saved us a lot of hard work in the past." --L. S., January, 2001, re: Xdata

"Thanks again for the help. [...]. I love Xdata!! It has helped me on several big catalog or directory projects. " --Jeff Jones, April, 2002, re: Xdata

"...Anyway, we do want to keep integrating Xtags into our solution because we think it's a good product and it brings a lot of value to our customers." --Josef K.-J., March, 2002, re: Xtags

"Thank you for your fast response. ... Let me say that we are VERY pleased with your product." --J. B., May, 2000, re: support

"Thank you so much! I think you've given me great solutions to all my problems and I can't thank you enough. You all have been very helpful and I can't believe how quickly you got back to me! ... This really says a lot for your company, and even though I always thought Xdata was a great product, I now think it comes from a great company and group of people. Hats off to you and thanks for saving oodles of my time by coming up with these solutions!" --A. M., March, 1999, re: Xdata

"Xdata is a marvellous product and one I wouldn't be without. " --Peter W., March, 2002, re: Xdata

"WE LOVE YOUR PROGRAM. Thanks for your help!" --J. H., March, 2000

"This works great! Thank you. My customer will be thrilled. ... They already think Xdata is a great product." --D. N., January, 2001, re: Xdata

"Thanks for a great software product. It continues to deliver issue after directory issue." --D. D., November, 1999, re: Xdata

"I still think you have a great product. And actually you have the best support I've seen in quite a while!!" --P. S., Aug, 2001, re: Xdata

"Boy, talk about great customer service/tech support! Thank you." --G. S., September, 2000, re: support

"Thanks again for your help. It is gratifying to work with someone dedicated to doing a good job. Your efforts are sincerely appreciated." --J. W., Oct, 2001, re: support

"Xdata has been a life saver for me and my employer, Con-Way Central Express. Shortly after the attacks on September 11, 2001, Con-Way instituted a policy that required photo IDs for every permanent and supplemental employee, regardless of whether they called on customers. With roughly 9.000 employees (scattered across 25 states and 9 provinces), coming up with an economical and timely solution was a must. We eventually developed a plan that involved using preprinted and perforated blanks for the cards, scanned and digital images, QuarkXPress, Xdata and our Ricoh color copier.

"Had it been necessary for me to key the preliminary data in as well as manually import the images, I don't doubt that the project would have failed miserably. As it was, however, Xdata allowed us to process as many cards a day as we could. This solution ultimately saved CCX at least $100,000 in rollout costs compared to using a traditional badge system and has saved countless hours of work due to automation.

"I can't stress enough that Xdata has paid for itself time and again in the last two and a half years." --Tara Keezer, Con-Way Central Express, May, 2004, re: Xdata

"First I want to say I love your product. I am ridiculously excited and happy! I have sweated for hours over Applescripts to format text in Quark, and you have solved my problems!" --E. G., May, 2000, re: Xdata

"I just wanna thank you for a fast and precise answer. It was exactly the solution I was looking for. You've got an excellent product and what's more, you've apparently got an excellent support for it too." --M. W., December, 1999

"I have to say that for the money this is so far an amazing application. Having done documentation and packaging design for a start-up company, I have to say I am totally impressed with the software and documentation. Also, people I have talked to (even (Em Software competitor) people) have mentioned your name and spoken very highly of you." --J. V., July, 1999, re: Xdata

"Thank you both for your immediate response, and I continue to be very impressed with the Xtags power." --P. T., Sep, 2001, re: Xtags

"I still love Xtags, it's a great tool!" --Will L., May, 2002, re: Xtags

"Thank you. You have made my life a lot easier. I've got a client breathing down my neck wanting to see a proof yesterday and with {company} dissolving I was a little nervous on how to solve this." --D. B., Sep, 2001, re: Xdata

News
•	InDesign CS 2 plug-in betas continuing, now with Mac OS versions
•	Mailing lists are back
•	Xtags for InDesign 3.0.1 beta 2 available
•	InCatalog 2/3.2.2 beta 3 released
•	Xtags for QuarkXPress 4/6.2.2 beta 2 available
•	Xcatalog and Xcatalog Pro 4/6.2.2 beta 1 available
	(more...)