Jump to content

QuarkXPress

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Xevirus (talk | contribs) at 19:28, 6 September 2010. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

QuarkXPress
Developer(s)Quark, Inc.
Initial release1987
Stable release2024 (20.0.0) (November 14, 2023; 11 months ago (2023-11-14)) [±]
Operating systemMac OS X and Microsoft Windows
Available inmultilingual
TypeDesktop publishing
LicenseProprietary
WebsiteQuarkXPress

QuarkXPress ("Quark") is a computer application for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. It runs on Mac OS X and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc. in 1987 and is still owned and published by them.

The most recent version is QuarkXPress 8 and it allows publishing in English ("International and U.S."[1]) and 36 other languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, German, Korean, Russian, French, and Spanish.[1]

QuarkXPress is used by individual designers and large publishing houses to produce a variety of layouts, from single-page flyers to the multi-media projects required for magazines, newspapers, catalogs, and the like.

Along with Adobe InDesign, it dominates that market space.

History

The first version of QuarkXPress was released in 1987 for the Macintosh. A Microsoft Windows version followed in 1992. In the 1990s, QuarkXPress quickly became widely used by professional page designers, the typesetting industry and printers. In particular, the Mac version of 3.3 (released in 1996) was seen as stable and trouble-free, working seamlessly with Adobe's PostScript fonts as well as with Apple's TrueType fonts.

QuarkXPress early on incorporated an application programming interface called XTensions which allows third-party developers to create custom add-on features to the desktop application. Introduced in 1989, Xtensions, along with Apple Computer's HyperCard, were among the first examples of a developer allowing others to create software add-ons for their application.

Having gained a marketshare of approximately 90% in the 1990s, Quark attempted a hostile buyout of Adobe in 1998, which was rebuffed[2]. That action, as well as criticism that Quark had overly long innovation cycles and was too expensive, encouraged Adobe to launch Adobe InDesign in 1999.

The release of QuarkXPress version 5 in 2002 led to a conflict with Apple's user base, as Quark did not support Mac OS X, while InDesign 2.0, launched in the same week, did. At the same time the Quark CEO Fred Ebrahimi exclaimed that "the Macintosh platform is shrinking," and suggested that anyone dissatisfied with Quark's Mac commitment should "switch to something else."[3]

Because of the competition of InDesign, Quark started to lower its pricing levels in 2004. In December 2006, Quark licensed the Windows version of QuarkXPress 5 to be distributed free of charge on the cover of a UK computer magazine, Computer Shopper, with the idea of enticing consumers to upgrade to later versions.

Having arrived late with a Mac OS X version, Quark took a different approach to porting to Intel-native applications on Mac (Universal Binary), and released its Universal Binary version 10 months before Adobe ported InDesign.[4]

Use and features

A QuarkXPress document contains text and graphics boxes. The boxes can be reshaped, layered, and given varying levels of transparency and text alignment (runaround).[5]

In addition to the basic functionality of font, alignment, spacing, and color, the package also provides its users with professional typesetting options like kerning, curving text along a line, and ligatures.


The software allows both box positioning and graphic or text positioning within a box with an accuracy of one-thousandth of an inch. Color control allows the full-use of printing-press standard Pantone or Hexachrome inks, along with a variety of other color-space options. Draft output can be printed on conventional desktop printers. Process color (CMYK) separation films can be produced for printing-presses. QuarkXPress also offers the ability for composite work-flows, both with PostScript and PDF output.

Additionally QuarkXPress offers layout synchronization, multiple undo/redo functionality, XML and web page (HTML/XHTML) features, and support for direct PDF import and output.

Version 6.5, released at the end of 2004, added enhanced support for the Photoshop format (PSD). The PSD integration and picture manipulation features led to QuarkXPress receiving a number of awards, such as the Macworld Editor's Choice for 2004.

Version 7 added support for OpenType, Unicode, JDF and also PDF/X-export. QuarkXPress 7 also added unique features, such as native transparency at the color level.

QuarkXPress' composition zones feature makes it the only desktop application with multi-user capabilities by allowing multiple users to edit different zones on the same page. Composition Zones pushes collaboration a step further than just simultaneous text/picture (as possible with QuarkCopyDesk since 1991), as it allows layout and graphic elements to be edited outside the layout application.

QuarkXPress can verify (pre-flight) a document before printing. This high-level print preview automatically identifies conflicts and other printing problems. Since then Adobe has implemented a similar feature in InDesign CS4.

User-defined rules, output specs and layout specs can be used for intelligent templates and enable resource sharing (for example, server-based style sheet definitions).

The current version, QuarkXPress 8, has a completely new user interface, support for drag and drop, PDF 1.7 import, AI Import and a global file format. Design grids can be assigned to pages and boxes to allow unlimited baseline grids. Hanging characters can be applied and customized by character and amount to hang outside the box. This is the first version to include built-in Adobe Flash authoring. Designers can create Flash content including sound, video, animation and interactivity without programming.

QuarkXPress 8 is available for Mac OS X v10.4 ("Tiger"), Mac OS X v10.5 ("Leopard"), Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista, 32 and 64 Bit. The Mac version is a universal binary which runs natively on PPC- and Intel-based Macs.

In October 2008, QuarkXPress 8 won the MacUser Award for Print Publishing Software of the Year.[6]

Server version

In the beginning of 2003 Quark released a server version of QuarkXPress,[7] called QuarkDDS. This enables page editing and page layout in a web browser. QuarkXPress Server is often used for web-to-print in corporate intranets to enable customization and ordering of printed materials, advertising automation workflows in advertising agencies, catalog generation for retailers and variable digital printing for personalized marketing. It enables companies to print copies digitally when they need them, often with customized content. The system relies on XML. The server is often embedded in print on demand software.

In 2006 Quark renamed QuarkDDS to "QuarkXPress Server".[8]

Version history

  • QuarkXPress 1 (1987) - Mac OS only.
  • QuarkXPress 2 (1989) - First non-English versions (e.g. French, German).
    • QuarkXPress 2.1 (1989) - Enhanced typographic control, such as user-definable kerning tables.
  • QuarkXPress 3 (1990) - First version with measurement palette and support for libraries.
    • QuarkXPress 3.1 (1992) - First version to also support Windows.
    • QuarkXPress 3.2 (1993) - First version to support Applescript and color management.
    • QuarkXPress 3.3 (1996) - First version to support PPC natively. First Passport Version (optional).
    • QuarkXPress 3.32 (1996) - Support for QuarkImmedia. This is the last version which works on Windows 3.x (requires Win32s to be installed).
  • QuarkXPress 4 (1997) - First version with bezier curves. Notable interface improvements are pop-up tools and tabbed dialog boxes. Windows 3.x is no longer supported.
    • QuarkXPress 4.1 (1999) - First version to also support PDF and XML.
  • QuarkXPress 5 (2002) - First version to offer tables and export HTML.
  • QuarkXPress Server (QuarkDDS) released.
  • QuarkXPress 6 (2003) - First version to support Mac OS X.
    • QuarkXPress 6.1 (2004) - First version with Excel Import filter.
    • QuarkXPress 6.5 (2004) - First version to also support the Document Object Model and picture retouching features.
    • QuarkXPress 6.52 (2006) - Bug fix release, released after release of Quark 7.
  • QuarkXPress 7 (2006) - First version to support OpenType, Unicode, PDF/X, Shadows/Transparencies, Job Definition Format and Composition Zones.
    • QuarkXPress 7.01 (8 August 2006) - First native version for Intel Macs (Universal binary), plus PPML support.
    • QuarkXPress 7.02 (2006) - Additional language support in Passport.
    • QuarkXPress 7.1 (2007) - Performance update.
    • QuarkXPress 7.2 (2007) - First version to support Windows Vista, additional languages.
    • QuarkXPress 7.3 (2007) - Increased UI localization and PDF support, improved performance and stability.
    • QuarkXPress 7.31 (2007) - Certification on Windows Vista, support for Mac OS X v10.5 ("Leopard"), enhancements to spell checking.
    • QuarkXPress 7.4 (2008) - non public release, only for QPS customers.
    • QuarkXPress 7.5 (2008) - Bug fix release, released after release of Quark 8.
  • QuarkXPress 8 (2008) - New UI, drag & drop support, direct image manipulation, customizable optical margin alignment, multiple baseline grids, East Asian support, Flash authoring built-in.
    • QuarkXPress 8.01 (2008) - Spellchecker enhancements
    • QuarkXPress 8.02 (2009) - Five new languages and new Pantone libraries.
    • QuarkXPress 8.1 (2009) - Numerical scale, native transparency (PDF-X/4) and layers in PDF, improved spell checker and other feature improvements. Supports Snow Leopard and Windows 7.
    • QuarkXPress 8.12 (2009) - Bug fix release.
    • QuarkXPress 8.15 (2010) (Mac OS X only) - Fixes activation issues on certain Apple hardware.
    • QuarkXPress 8.1.6 (2010) - Speed optimizations
    • QuarkXPress 8.1.6.2 (2010) - Bug fix release.

See also

Newsletters:

Conversion tools with InDesign:

QuarkXPress Tutorials:

XTensions for QuarkXPress

References

  1. ^ http://8.quark.com/languages.html
  2. ^ "Adobe rebuff's Quark". cnet.com. Retrieved 1998-08-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Dissatisfied with Quark’s Mac commitment? Quark CEO says ‘switch to something else’
  4. ^ Quark 7 goes Universal
  5. ^ "Ia. State QuarkXpress Tutorial" (HTML). Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  6. ^ MacUser names 2008 Awards winners
  7. ^ Quark Dynamic Document Server Launched
  8. ^ Quark announces Print Collection and QuarkXPress Server 7
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=QuarkXPress&oldid=383305122"