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Provides: Creative design and page layout

Format: Download or CD

Developer: Quark, Inc.

Minimum Requirements: G4 PowerPC-based or Mac Intel-based processor, Mac OS X v10.4, 128MB RAM, 350MB hard disk space, CD-ROM for installation

Processor Compatibility: Universal

Retail Price: $749.00 complete, $249.99 upgrade; multi-user site license, education license and non-profit pricing available

Availability: Out now

Version Reviewed: 7.1

It's a good thing I waited to review this. Back with the release of v7, things weren't looking so good with QuarkXPress. The features were there, but it was slow...so very slow. It made my Intel Mac feel like the old 604e. I was not a happy reviewer. So, I waited. I waited because Quark assured me they'd be addressing the speed issue, and because I know there's not a print shop or design firm worth its weight in 28lb. stock that's going to buy the initial release of a software product upon which they depend to make deadlines.

And to such firms, I can say you're safe. Feel free to get your upgrade to QuarkXPress v7.1.

The new version of Quark contains 160 new features, some of which will be put to use immediately (the drop shadow and transparency features come immediately to mind, as discussed below), while other will most likely go untouched. What's most impressive is that many of the changes were obviously made after conversing with Quark users. The tool palettes, for example, make much more sense; it's easier to get to the tools you want. In previous versions of Quark, I had to stop and think about how to reach certain functions even if I use them on a daily basis. With version 7, I quickly found myself instinctively heading towards some tools I wanted even before I began to consider where they were.

Many controls, both old and new, now pop up off the Measurements palette once you select an object and place your cursor near the palette. It's then just a simple click to access the classic, frame, runaround, clipping, space/align and drop shadow features that apply to the selected object. Very handy.

The new transparency features not only allow you to create stunning documents, but they're stunningly easy to use; any object to which you can assign a color, you can assign transparency (or opacity, to use Quark's preferred terminology). Opacity can be applied separately to an object's content, background, frame, etc. If you've assigned a drop shadow to the object, you can adjust the drop shadow opacity, as well, separate of the object. This allows you to be as subtle or obvious as you like with your text, table and photo/text object effects.

The best transparency feature, in my opinion, is the support for transparency in native Photoshop files. Reading a native, layered Photoshop file in QuarkXPress 7.1, you can switch amongst the image's alpha channel masks to get the transparency you want. Transparency flattening is handled with DPI resolution, which may take some getting used to, but which ultimately makes sense for those working in print. My fear with this was that QuarkXPress wouldn't know what to do with stacked objects when placed above or below an object with an opacity setting, but Quark was ahead of me. The transparencies behaved well, and even Photoshop vector items retained their crisp edges.

Drop shadows are similarly easy to use and control. Before QuarkXPress 7, I would never consider using anything other than Photoshop to create my drop shadow, then bring the image into the program. I don't care if we're talking Quark, InDesign, anything. But the drop shadow capabilities in QuarkXPress 7 actually trump those of Photoshop, offering some capabilities only obtainable there through third-party plug-ins. As mentioned above, drop shadows can contain transparencies which differ from that which they're shadowing, and you select whether you want to assign runaround to the drop shadow or just to the source item. The only drawback I could find is that drop shadows aren't adjusted in real time when using the slider, so you may find yourself going back and forth quite a bit before finding a setting you like.

Table making has also been improved, as you can apply effects to nearly any element. You can also layer your effects; adding a transparency to a gradient, for example. Such effects can be assigned all at once, row by row, cell by cell, etc. Some common selection types—such as all even or odd rows—are now supported, too, which is quite useful when handling large tables.

Another great new feature is that tables can be automatically split across pages and spreads with header and footer rows being automatically repeated. One less thing to worry about.

And speaking of one less thing to worry about, QuarkXPress 7's full support for OpenType includes a new Glyphs palette that affords users the ability to not only see all the special characters contained within a typeface, but also to add said characters to a "favorites" area for easy retrieval. Unfortunately, adding the character to favorites adds it in that typeface only, and if you double-click the character to add it to a text box in your layout that contains a different typeface, it instead adds it in the typeface used when it was originally selected in the Glyphs palette.

There's more I can talk about here, but it's time we move on the collaborative features of QuarkXPress 7, as this was certainly an area of focus this time around.

Quark has incorporated a technology called Job Jackets, which is designed to ensure your work sticks to the exact specifications assigned to it. For instance, if you're designing a postcard for a specific print company that takes Quark documents, they can send you a Job Packet with all the proper specifications built into it. Certain items can be forced, others can be suggestions, and you can run an evaluation to make sure you haven't strayed outside the parameters defined by the printer. Using Job Jackets is fairly simple, but creating them is another story. Most Quark users, I'm guessing, won't take the time necessary to learn.

The new Composition Zone feature allows users to mark individual areas of a project to be used in multiple documents, eliminating the need to pass around your projects. Oddly, you cannot track changes using the Composition Zone feature. So, if you have multiple users working on a project via Composition Zone, changes will have to be tracked manually or with additional software. It should be noted, as well, that Composition Zones allow for multiple users to make changes to a single document at the same time; each user working in his or own zone, with changes appearing in real time for those also working on the document. Very nice.

Unfortunately, QuarkXPress users who work alone will have no use for such features, and will therefore still wonder if the upgrade is warranted. I believe the OpenType, transparency, drop shadow and layered Photoshop file support do justify the upgrade, especially if you're still using a version prior to 6.5. Long-time Quark users and supporters will be pleased to see that Quark isn't forcing in new features just to combat InDesign, but is instead catering to their core crowd; giving them features they've been asking for for a while, even if not all at once. QuarkXPress 7.1 is stable, it's faster than v7 (although still not always as fast as I'd like it to be), and it's more intuitive than in the past, with both the new and old features.

There's still some room for QuarkXPress to improve, but v7.1 proves that Quark wants to work with its users to make that happen...even if it takes a few updates to get there.