QuarkXPress 7 review

Have you ever considered what the world of desktop publishing would be without QuarkXpress? Probably the same as a nation without a ruler! Xpress has a reputation as a long-time master of DTP. For many years it was number one in all graphic design studios and publishing and printing houses. Of course it had its share of quirks but was still considered the best option available.

Xpress' history dates back to 1986, when it was introduced for the first time. In the intervening years it has become the most popular application for prepress work. Currently, we have the seventh generation of this amazing program. The number Seven is considered magic and lucky and it definitely is lucky for Quark. It's obvious the developers have taken the new Xpress to the highest level of its development yet.

Just after you launch it, Xpress' interface appears rather simple. The familiar GUI from previous versions underwent only minor revisions in this new release. Besides the toolbar there are only a few floating palletes on the desktop. But this simplicity is misleading–as soon as you start working, you will see that the real soul of Xpress is hidden under the hood.

Upon creating a new document you will notice that Xpress is not limited to DTP work. Xpress will ask you whether you want to create a prepress publication or a website. It was possible to create HTML documents in the previous release, but now there is much more functionality to make Xpress attractive to professional webmasters. Also included in version 7 is a new plug-in for Flash movies. While other applications support Flash, Xpress offers additional advantages and potential in this area of development.

Xpress 7 is equipped with new collaborative tools to appeal to workgroups, such as those found in publishing houses. Used for the first time in this version, Composition Zones Technology allows each of the users to contribute to a common document while having a real-time view of the document's changes and edits.

A second, very important feature of Xpress7 is the ability to save the files directly to .pdf format (a welcome addition to the previously supported .tiff and .eps formats). An easy to use, clear dialog will let you to generate .pdf files in the particular size you need for both for viewing and printing.

Previous versions of Xpress limited your options when it came to adding special effects. Doing so was only possible through purchasing and installing various extra functionality, called Xtensions. This seventh version of Xpress now natively incorporates industry-standard effects such as transparency, drop shadows and Alpha masks without the extra expense. These effects can be applied to photos, tables, text and frames. Each effect can be edited by adjusting its intensity, saturation and incidence angle. This feature will make your work easier and more effective.

Xpress' developers put strong emphasis on improved integration with Adobe Photoshop. No longer is it necessary to pull your photos into Photoshop to make effects adjustments. Simply import your photo into Xpress and make all changes you want, locally, revising as often as necessary until you are satisfied. Color editing tools are now integrated into Xpress, including Photoshop-inspired color correction tools (Picture Effects). Support for image filters is also included.

Table editing in past versions of Xpress was a bit rough to accomplish. Now there is much improved functionality–you can add, substract and divide both verses and columns. Color and special effects (transparency, for example) can be applied to each cell independently. Xpress 7 also supports all the functionality of Unicode and Open-type fonts (OpenType Support). This means you can access hidden symbols and create advanced typographic effects.

In addition to the improvement of the effects tools and export capabilities, Xpress' ergonomics received an overhaul. The user can now customize the layout of particular tools and palettes (Superior palette controls). The document can be displayed in high quality (Display Full Quality), not being limited to just a low-res preview as before. Of course, this option slows down the program, especially when a large number of photos are present. Despite this minor drawback, Xpress 7 offers a totally new way to view your work. To make corrections before printing, you can use theProof Outputfeature to preview the layout in a different color models (CMYK, RGB, Grayscale, CMYK, Spot, etc.).

A very useful function in Xpress 7 is the quick swapping of photos and text from different locations in your document (Shared Content). Thanks to this function you do not have to make corrections in each and every window, but only once–changes are applied and updated globally.

In comparison to competitive programs Xpress is a speed demon, and this was not impacted by the addition of the new advanced features in version 7. The technical requirements are relatively small, so it will be also suitable for older computers. Quark is available for both the Macintosh (now Intel native!) and Windows platforms.

As you can see, the newest version of Xpress is very advanced when compared to previous versions. It has number of advanced and convenient solutions for your publishing needs. Xpress is now a very universal tool, both in its traditional area of DTP as well as for web publishing. In spite of the growing competition, Quark is still at the forefront of applications used in professional printing. Years will pass before its legend will be forgotten. The king will always be king!