Innovative classic

Publishing The Quark fan community can look forward to
2006 can look forward to XPress 7. More features and new design workflows are
the answer to InDesign CS2. "Will old master QuarkXPress still get the
Curve?", we asked in May (WW 19). There is still no
Beta application ready for download. But even now, as more
features of version 7 have become known, we can answer the question of
The answer is "yes" from a technical point of view. Because compared to
Adobe InDesign will feature the most extensive innovations in the
history of QuarkXPress, some creative deficits have been compensated for and
own unique selling points. And with the
organization of the design workflow, completely new ideas come into play.

Creative highlights
The new XDraw engine makes it possible to display all the fine details
such as antialiasing (optimized font display) with rotated
text, fine curve representation and supports a faster
Graphic structure. The FullResPreviewXT program extension enables
Another striking feature is that placed images can now be displayed in zoomable
fine resolution appear - without negative effects on
speed or file volume. This is particularly useful for
Image processing in the Quark document (without touching the original data)
the options known from version 6.5 of the
QuarkVista-XTension. Secondly, it is responsible for the
Transparency functions with which the color level instead of the object level can be
Opacity levels for each colored element of an object individually
can be defined. This makes them applicable to images, texts,
Gradients, frames, borders, lines and tables; even gradients of opaque
to transparent are no problem. As drop shadows are also ultimately
are transparent elements, they are dynamically displayed via these functions.
generated. Using alpha channels or native
Photoshop transparency, images can even be created with soft edges.
mask.
The handling of color is commendable. Defined shades of gray are now
effective up to the spot color palette. The ICC color management is
better supported by standard settings, the consideration of
individual options - including HiFi color profiles for the first time,
among others for Hexachrome - as well as the document preview in
Softproof quality is possible.
Thanks to the support of Unicode and OpenType as well as a
user interface, special characters, ligatures and special characters are
foreign-language characters in an uncomplicated way, which makes it easier to work on
multilingual publications. Great attention
the developers dedicated themselves to table design with new functions for the
Grouping, rotating, coloring and multi-page continuation as well as for
automatic size optimization of the cells, including the head and
foot when importing from Microsoft Excel. And thanks to the program extension
MathsXT can automatically convert mathematical expressions into fractions and
convert other terms correctly.

Productive highlights
A dream come true: simultaneous editing of one and the same
Quark document on different workstations under identical
Conditions - ideal for multilingual Switzerland! Possible
this form
collaboration thanks to two new functions in particular: "Shared Content" and "Job Jackets".
The "Composition Zones" in the shared content are the action platform.
You show all changes made in the layouter document
as soon as the employees involved have saved their changes.
have. For example, layout designers and creatives can use the
page design, while internal or even external
editors write the text in different languages in the layout,
Correcting text, inserting captions, or getting an employee
takes care of the placement of advertisements. Irrespective of this, anyone can
users can open the document in any number of windows and
compile individual tool pallets.
In the job jackets, the working group defines the following at the start of a project
Specifications according to which the document must be structured (or
and which apply to this document at all workplaces. In
In addition to the page size and number of pages, the synchronization palette
consistent design is maintained for all objects:
Text formatting/style templates, image effects, colors, shadows, lines,
Paths. During the session, anyone can create new paths in the Job Jacket Manager.
Add objects to the synchronization palette and specify what
is to be synchronized: Object and content attributes or only
Contents. Changes to a synchronized object are transferred to all
instances, even on sample pages.
A job jacket is therefore a combination of a JDF job ticket and a
Preflight tool. This is because the specifications are stored in JDF (Job
Definition Format of the CIP4 initiative). Each
Rule violations are reported during a "layout evaluation" so that
errors can be eliminated immediately. Interventions are possible up to the
Distiller settings possible in order to also create PDF-X/3 and -X/1-compliant
output parameters.

Dieter Kleeberg