First Look: QuarkXPress 8.0. Finally, the makeover designers have been waiting for
natobasso (3953 pencils) | Thu, 2008-05-29 17:36As much as the 7.0 revision of QuarkXPress was about complex, inter-related publishing workflows, the new version announced today is about a much-needed new look and a host of tools aimed squarely at graphic designers. Quark wasn’t necessarily wrong to focus on the hard-core production market in the last couple of versions, but neither were designers wrong to conclude the XPress interface was looking a little behind the times.
The success the Adobe Internet juggernaut hath wrought is testament that common interface design, predictable tool sets, and cross-application support is just as important as how well an application fits in to the daily demands of a production-heavy environment (where XPress has remained strong). And that publishing production is now a global business challenge needing a single-software solution, not a bunch of market-priced versions to support multi-lingual output.
So in some ways XPress 8 is an admission by Quark that Adobe is now setting the standards for how designers work. XPress 8 is much more “Creative-Suite like” in how it looks and works. But I’m glad to say Quark didn’t just copy a few interface ideas or settle on some standard keyboard shortcuts. By going back and re-focusing on the little stuff, they’ve actually made some giant strides forward.
Click the link to read the full article on creativepro.com
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Dirt and Rust
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
Will have to look into that since I use both Quark and InDesign, but...I'll only bite if they've fixed the GD PDF and Duotone issues! I really put a client through the hoops of frustration a while back. Thank god she's still with me and has awarded me another big project.
Hmm, reminds me, still owe her a night of wine drinking over that one. Ah, the sacrifices one must make. ;)
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
I'd say stick with ID if you do any exporting of pdf files. ID just does it better.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
Agree about the PDF export, but some of my clients' and their suppliers still demand Quark files.
Also, another bone about Quark--wonder if the 8.0 version allows a designer to lay out something larger than 48"? What gives with that?
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
Man, now laser issues tonight...with...a...Quark file.
Black is white.
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
To me its a lot of improvements a little too late.
They've closed the barn doors after the horses have bolted!
Adobe's just gonna ramp up inDesign. The war continues! lol
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
I used to be a Quark die-hard back in the day. I think the last version I ever used, though, was 4.something.
I lived and breathed Quark - thought it was the best thing around and really struggled when I was hired on at a place that used... prepare to shudder "PageMaker 6.5". I swear every day you'd hear me in my office griping. "WHAT? Why the hell do they do it this way? Ugh! Quark is so much EASIER!"
But then I just got used to PageMaker, and then when they launched InDesign with the CS suite and the LOADS of improvements, I stopped complaining.
I'm not sure Quark could win my business back voluntarily. I've definitely embraced InDesign and just really love how it works so seamlessly with Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, etc. Only makes sense - they're all Adobe products! Of course they're going to play nice with each other.
Hat's off to Quark for making improvements, though. If I'm ever forced to go back, I'm sure it'll make it more pleasant to work with.
That "new and improved" interface looks worse than the old one. Ick!!!
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Ha ha. Polishing a turd.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
5+ years ago i might have cared. but they put so much effort into alienating their client base, they've made it almost impossible to want to go back.
i have quark 7 loaded on my machine, but i'm pretty sure i haven't loaded it up in a year. not since i got the indesign plugin (Q2ID) that will open any version quark file.
Agreed. I haven't used Quark since 2004 and I certainly wouldn't use it to create web pages!
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust