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.
