Industry-leading package for design and layout

10 years ago, if you’d asked anyone in the publishing world which software they use for DTP layout and design, chances are that the answer would have been QuarkXPress.

Nowadays, it is increasingly losing ground to Adobe’s InDesign but its continued use in the professional publishing industry is testament to the power and quality of QuarkXPress.

The reason for its longevity is simply because QuarkXPress is a very powerful design and page layout software package but at the same time, retains an intuitive and versatile interface that lets you combine elegant typography with color and pictures. The end result is highly professional web and print layouts.

However, those looking for major improvements in version 9 of QuarkXPress might be disappointed. The update adds a little more power to your elbow in the form of an App Studio for mobiles and iPads allowing you to create your own interactive publications. Beyond this, many of the modifications and updates are relatively subtle, such as the possibility to export to ePUB for the eBook Market, iPad, Sony Reader and NOOK format converters plus an image grid.

Getting content into QuarkXPress had previously been one of it’s major bugbears but the developers had already made it far more flexible in version 8, accepting content from products from rivals such as Adobe Bridge, iPhoto or Extensis Portfolio allowing you to drag content from QuarkXPress to Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Word or the desktop. Version 9 enhances this flexibility to take into account the rapidly expanding eBook and iPad market.

It’s hard top sum up all of QuarkXPress’s features in a few words but if you’ve never tried it and you’re into Desktop Publishing, it’s safe to say you won’t be disappointed although you should also check out Adobe InDesign too before making any decisions.

App Studio for QuarkXPress – Create the Ultimate Mobile Experience – Create your own iPad apps with App Studio for QuarkXPress, then publish and control your own interactive publications.Design for Blio eReader – Bring Rich, Interactive Design to the eBook Marketplace – Create interactive content for the Blio® eReader, the most accessible and versatile e-reader on the market. Then sell it through the Blio online bookstore.Export to ePUB – Tap Into the Exploding eBook Market – Convert your QuarkXPress layouts into standardized eBooks for the iPad, Sony® Reader, NOOK®, and more.Conditional Styles – Automatically style content based on powerful styling rulesCallout – Boxes and groups move automatically with textImageGrid™ – Import and automatically build grids of imagesStory Editor – Edit copy in a word-processor-like viewBullets and Numbering – Take command of lists and outlines with bullet, numbering, and outline stylesShapeMaker™ – Easily create unique shapesLinkster™ – Unlink and relink text boxes without overflowCloner™ – The smartest and most efficient way to clone design elementsXLSX Import Import XLSX filesStyle Sheets Apply style sheets without affecting local formattingTable Creation Break tables to flow across multiple pages with repeating headers and footers, even when they’re anchored in a story

Changes

• App Studio for QuarkXPress – Create the Ultimate Mobile Experience – Create your own iPad apps with App Studio for QuarkXPress, then publish and control your own interactive publications.Design for Blio eReader – Bring Rich, Interactive Design to the eBook Marketplace – Create interactive content for the Blio® eReader, the most accessible and versatile e-reader on the market. Then sell it through the Blio online bookstore.Export to ePUB – Tap Into the Exploding eBook Market – Convert your QuarkXPress layouts into standardized eBooks for the iPad, Sony® Reader, NOOK®, and more.Conditional Styles – Automatically style content based on powerful styling rulesCallout – Boxes and groups move automatically with textImageGrid™ – Import and automatically build grids of imagesStory Editor – Edit copy in a word-processor-like viewBullets and Numbering – Take command of lists and outlines with bullet, numbering, and outline stylesShapeMaker™ – Easily create unique shapesLinkster™ – Unlink and relink text boxes without overflowCloner™ – The smartest and most efficient way to clone design elementsXLSX Import Import XLSX filesStyle Sheets Apply style sheets without affecting local formattingTable Creation Break tables to flow across multiple pages with repeating headers and footers, even when they’re anchored in a story