QuarkXPress 8.1 intros Native Transparency mode
updated 10:15 am EDT, Tue August 4, 2009
QuarkXPress 8.1 update
Quark is distributing a v8.1 update for QuarkXPress, its flagship publishing suite. The patch incorporates a new Native Transparency mode for generating PDFs, allowing items marked as transparent to remain unflattened during final output. The software has also been given a new key modifier, permitting more precise placement of images.
Other changes include integration of drop shadows into the Item Styles and Item Find/Change menus; styles can now also be updated with a single click, reflecting changes made in layout. The patch lastly implements a new spellchecking palette, which makes it possible to adjust text elements simultaneously. QuarkXPress 8 requires Mac OS X 10.4, and costs $799 new or $299 as an upgrade.
too late
08/04, 11:09am reply
Unless Adobe completely stops supporting Macs, Quark is too late to the party.
But never doubt Adobe's ability to ignore Macs. Look at Flash. c***!
George3
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2008
Quark?
08/04, 11:45am reply
You mean they are still around? I would think there could not be very many users of that junk left to piss off...
jvanart
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2004
Dead to Me
08/04, 12:31pm reply
Quark has been dead with designers and studios for a few years. Its last stranglehold is with large corporations who have libraries of Quark files and can't afford to switch. But one corporate studio manager I talked to recently said the upgrade to 8 was the straw that broke the camel's back, and they were switching to InDesign instead. Another sign of how dead Quark is can be seen on the bookshelves of your local Barnes & Nobel; just one Quark 8 how-to book vs scores of InDesign CS-4 how-to books.
edac2
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2006
I like it, a lot.
08/04, 12:59pm (1 reply) reply
Actually, I love it. I use InDesign and XPress, and I find XPress much easier, faster to use. I don't use it for every job though. Both have strengths and weaknesses and you just choose the right software for what's needed.
I agree, Quark has pissed off a lot of its users, but what... Adobe doesn't?
revco
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Joined: May 2005
Pissed Off at Adobe?
08/04, 06:12pm (1 reply) reply
Let's see. Did Adobe charge extra to upgrade to PowerPC versions of its software? Did Adobe wait two years to come out with OS X versions of its software? Did Adobe sell a program in a skinny CD case with no manual for $800? Did Adobe force an archaic activation system on its users that required several calls to make work? Did Adobe change the look of a few menus in a program that is basically unchanged since System 6 and call it an all new program? Did Adobe move all its development and tech support to India? Did Adobe cripple its support of Postscript fonts, then lay the blame on its users' printers? (Even if they were Adobe Postscript Level 3 certified.)
edac2
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Joined: Feb 2006