Quark 7 closes the InDesign gap

By Michael Apuan, Knoxville News-Sentinel

Monday, August 21, 2006

At first glance, Quark 7 looks a lot like the page design software's earlier version. But dig a little deeper and users come to realize fairly quickly that there's more to this upgrade than previous versions.

Earlier this summer, Denver-based Quark released its first upgrade in about three years. During those years - and some say even before then - Quark lost some of its once-faithful following to Adobe's InDesign.

There are blogs and Web sites dedicated to the Quark vs. InDesign debate, many of which favor the Adobe product that seamlessly incorporates Adobe products.

But with 7.0, Quark addresses some issues that allow it to better go head-to-head with InDesign. Among them: the integration of the OpenType font format; the ability to manipulate the opacity of objects and type; the capability to add drop shadows without the use of Photoshop; improved palette control; the use of tab functions; and the ability for multiple users to access already-opened pages.

• Function tabs and palettes: Creating a project brings no real surprises. The screen looks similar to Quark 6. But create a text or object box and you now have the ability to control what to do with that box with function tabs that pop up from the measurement box (it can be preferenced, however, not to do that).

It takes a little getting used to, but once users get comfortable with them, they'll use quick-key functions or the menu-driven commands less often.

New among the command features: the ability to add a drop shadow on text or objects. For those used to using Photoshop to do these, this is a nice feature. It's intuitive and, since it's done in real time (when using the tab commands from the measurement box), there's no more having to return to Photoshop to redo the shadow if it isn't just right. Also, designers can synchronize the shadows so they're consistent on the page - as if there is a single light source.

Quark also has added the ability to control the opacity - or transparency - of objects. As opposed to controlling the "shade" of a color of an object, this actually allows users to control the amount of light that comes through one. With both of those commands, users aren't manipulating original files.

Also in Quark 7, palette management gets a serious upgrade. Palettes now can be grouped, customized and hot-keyed just like in many Adobe products.

• Typographical improvements: Among the most visible improvements is Quark's ability to render type on a page. Before, at full-page view, type looked jagged, spacing looked off and some letters appeared cut off. With Quark 7, the type is much sharper.

Another Adobe-inspired feature that Quark incorporates: support of the most commonly used features of so-called OpenType.

Some users could care less about this feature, but for those who work in ad agencies and newspaper production, this should have come sooner.

The feature allows easier typographical access to fractions, ligatures, true small caps and special characters that previous Quark users had to use work-arounds to obtain.

• Sharing: Quark 7's "composition zone" feature allows any number of users to work on pieces of a project. For instance, in newspaper production, one person can design a page, while another can work on a headline, while another works with the photos and writes captions. Access to these "zones" can be distributed over the network and administered so it's not a free-for-all.

There are limits to these zones. For instance, if users want to increase the size of an object within a zone, they cannot work beyond the given area of that zone.

For those working on projects that pass through many hands during the production process, Quark 7's Job Jacket allows for each project to have consistency.

The feature allows users to apply rules - color, type styles, bleed, for instance - to each project that need to be adhered to as it passes to other people in the production process. It's touted as a preflight-type feature, but it can't really replace that type of software. For instance, it may be able to tell users a certain rule was violated, but they won't get details why.

For those who are really into controlling the style and consistent look of a project - and have the time to create those style rules - this has potential to be your best Quark friend.

• Retail specs: Quark 7 comes with a lower price than its predecessor: about $750 retail. Compared with its Adobe InDesign rival, that's still more than $50 higher.

• Conclusion: Quark has lagged Adobe's InDesign for some time. Quark's latest version addresses many of the features InDesign users have bragged about for years. There are other limits that I wish Quark 7 addressed - such as the limits on undos (30), page magnification (800 percent) and object-reduction minimum (10 percent). But overall, the features that Quark incorporated into its latest version have been worth the wait.

Other features

• Retains picture attributes when replacing an object

• Features multiple output formats, including PDF and HTML

• Embeds fonts when saving as an EPS

• Features improved color management

• Allows multiple layout views using split windows for the same pages

Michael Apuan is a former assistant design director at the Rocky Mountain News.