QuarkXpress 7 is, "the biggest rewrite we've ever done, and the most significant upgrade we've ever done", according to Gavin Drake, Quark Director of Marketing in the UK. Quark has been in the shadow of its main market rival, Adobe, for some time, but QuarkXpress 7 goes a long way to redressing the balance between the two companies. QuarkXpress 7 includes over 150 new, or enhanced, features, which are intended to allow users to work faster and more intelligently. Indeed, independent findings have shown that, of the software products most commonly used by professional publishers, QuarkXpress 7 offers the highest level of productivity.
QuarkXpress 7 Features
One of the strengths of QuarkXpress 7 is the ease with which it allows so-called "job jackets" to be created. A job jacket is made up of individual "job tickets", and each ticket allows more attributes to be defined than the standard Xpress template. A job ticket contains standards, and rules, that are to be applied to a specific print layout. Using the industry standard "Job Definition Format", all the information that is required for, say, a sales brochure, to be printed can be defined. This information may include a standard number of pages, page dimensions, approved colours and other rules, such as the avoidance of TrueType fonts. Any subsequent document designed using the same job jacket will abide by the same rules and standards as the first, meaning that output is consistent and reliable.
The ability to share layouts, and, moreover to "synchronise" layouts, between or amongst users is another powerful feature of QuarkXpress 7. It is possible to create a "composition zone" from an existing layout, or a section of a layout, and add this to the "Shared Content" palette, where it is accessible to other members of a project team. This can be useful for sharing information that needs to be replicated throughout a publication, a logo, and/or contact details, for example, with the advantage that any changes to the original information are reflected, automatically, to any instances of it throughout the project. Shared composition zones can also be made more widely available, to an enterprise as a whole, if need be. This means that users involved in different sections of the same publication, or even different publications, can continue to work concurrently, safe in the knowledge that the publication, as a whole, is being updated.
QuarkXpress 7 implements full support for Unicode, and OpenType. As a result, its core text engine has been extensively rewritten, and restructured, to allow the incorporation of new features in the current release, and in the future. Unicode support includes a new feature, known as "Font Fallback". If a chosen font does not have a complete set of glyphs, or symbols, for non-Roman characters (such as those used in Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, for example), the user has the option of "falling back" to an alternative font.
Conclusion
The sharing options, and other new features, in QuarkXpress 7 are likely to provide benefits to professional users, working collectively on complex publications. A simpler pricing structure, a return to printed manuals, plus a new video tutorial system, included with every copy, and continuing free technical support ? Quark is one of the few companies that offer free support ? are all good indications that Quark has heard, and acted upon, the wishes of it users. Those new to QuarkXpress 7 may find that its learning curve is a little steeper than for other applications of the same type, but this extra time and effort is more than compensated for by the power and flexibility of the product.
Quark Incorporated has more than 20 years' experience in the delivery of innovative solutions for design, page layout and publishing, and now boasts a customer base of over 3 million, in more than 100 countries worldwide. QuarkXPress 7 has been hailed throughout the publishing industry as one of the most significant upgrades ever released by Quark. The software incorporates over 160 new, and enhanced, features, allowing freedom of design and unparalleled collaboration between users in the design, layout and production processes.
QuarkXPress 7 Features
Sharing and "synchronisation" of whole, or partial, page layouts are central to QuarkXPress 7. The software allows existing elements to be designated a "composition zone", which can be added to the "Shared Content" palette. The composition zone so created can be retrieved, and modified, simultaneously, by multiple users, and any changes made are reflected in all other instances of that content throughout a project. Indeed, content ? perhaps, such as an advertisement that appears in a number of different brochures, or magazines ? can also be shared between projects, in this way. Users can therefore have confidence that they are always working on the latest version of a document, and the need for transferring large files from place to place is greatly reduced.
Another major feature of QuarkXPress 7 is the introduction of a concept known as a "job jacket". A job jacket contains all the information that a printing house, or shop, requires to successfully print a brochure, or any other document, so the consistency and reliability of output can be guaranteed. A job jacket is composed of job tickets, and each job ticket allows a large number of attributes to be specified, many more, in fact than the standard Xpress template. Using the industry standard "Job Definition Format", a company can impose rules, such as a standard number of pages, or page dimensions, for its publications, along with a whole host of other attributes, including approved colours, font styles, etc. Any document that is subsequently produced with the same job jacket will automatically comply with the standards already set.
QuarkXPress 7 also includes full support for Unicode and OpenType fonts. Indeed, Unicode support now includes a new feature, called "Font Fallback"; in the eventuality of a font having an incomplete set of symbols, or "glyphs", for non-Roman fonts ? Arabic, Chinese, Greek, etc ? a user can specify that a "fall back" font is substituted, rather than displaying incomplete text. OpenType font support, too, has been extended, and is no longer limited to the first 256 glyphs of any given font, as it was in QuarkXPress 6. Many OpenType features are applied by a style sheet, or by per character styling.
Conclusion
QuarkXPress 7 goes a long way towards reaffirming the position of Quark, alongside its rival Adobe, at the head of the professional publishing software market. Quark has clearly taken note of any criticisms levelled against it, and acted upon them. QuarkXPress 7 is considered by many in the industry to be an essential upgrade, which is, nevertheless, very good value for money. Quark has adopted a simpler pricing structure for the software, itself, which now includes a printed manual, and a computer based video tutorial. In addition, Quark is one of the few companies that continue to provide technical support free of charge to their customers.
Both Christina R Mendick & Hugo R Brin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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