QuarkXPress 4.0 widens gap

With more than 75 new features, multiple-language version, QuarkXPress Passport, redefines layout functionality

June 4, 1997  Düsseldorf, Germany  Quark Inc. (www.quark.com), asserting its strong market position, took the wraps off the multiple-language version of QuarkXPress(TM) 4.0 for Macintosh OS and Windows-based systems, unveiling a slate of potent tools and capabilities designed to enhance users' creativity and productivity. 
"We have taken a great program and made it even better," said Quark(TM) Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Tim Gill. "With these new features and major enhancements, QuarkXPress 4.0 represents our customers' vision of what page layout software can accomplish and sets new standards for performance and functionality. Our goal has always been to make sure QuarkXPress allows our users to become more productive and profitable. I believe QuarkXPress 4.0 meets that goal."

The multiple-language version of QuarkXPress, distributed internationally as QuarkXPress Passport(TM), has more than 75 significant new features  paced by powerful Bezier-based drawing, layout, and design tools for additional versatility; a suite of features geared to long document producers and networked corporate workgroups; and a redefined interface boasting pop-out tools and tabbed dialog boxes for easier navigation. The new features are capped by enhancements designed to make QuarkXPress the most efficient page layout application available.

Fred Ebrahimi, Quark president and CEO, noted that QuarkXPress 4.0 for Windows is a true 32-bit application. "QuarkXPress for Windows was designed from the ground up for the Windows 95 and NT operating systems. As users increasingly adopt 32-bit operating systems as a key standard, our support of NT will significantly increase the number of prospective customers who will use our software," he said.

To help meet the unique demands faced by multilingual publishers, QuarkXPress Passport 4.0 will support 11 languages, according to Lori Mercier, QuarkXPress international product manager. "QuarkXPress offers our international customers many key advantages," said Mercier. "The global market demands that international publishers be multilingual. Passport, with its support of language-specific spell-checking, language-specific hyphenation and justification; and support of unique typographic characteristics such as smart quotes and special characters, lets those publishers satisfy that demand."

The languages QuarkXPress Passport 4.0 will support are Danish, Dutch, French, German, International English, U.S. English, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, and Swiss-German. Supplements supporting additional languages are under development and will be released at a later date, Mercier said. QuarkXPress 4.0 will also be available in a single-language version for U.S. English and International English customers. Beefed up graphics support
QuarkXPress 4.0 supports Bezier shapes and lines; Bezier points and curve handles will let users create the same type of complex drawings that once required separate graphics software. In addition, QuarkXPress 4.0 creates and edits clipping paths, and reads existing clipping paths in TIFF and EPS files. Clipping paths created in QuarkXPress can be edited in the same way as any Bezier-type object. Users will also have the ability to create an almost unlimited variety of text paths, including the ability to place text along curved Bezier lines. Finally, QuarkXPress 4.0 will enable users to place portions of a picture outside of its box.

"These features  all brand new  will help our customers realize a more efficient workflow," said Mercier. "They won't have to switch as often between separate applications in order to get their work done."

Said noted Swiss author Samuel Heugli, chief executive officer of Schule fuer Medienintegration AG in Zofingen, Switzerland, "On the first look, QuarkXPress 4.0 is intriguing  but when you really start working with it, it turns out to be great. It saves so much time to draw Bezier curves within QuarkXPress and the new multilingual publishing features are phenomenal, particularly for someone in a country like Switzerland where we write and speak three different languages."

Long Document support
QuarkXPress 4.0 is ideally suited for long-document production and multiple document management. Features such as comprehensive indexing, as well as list and table-of-contents generation, will now be part of QuarkXPress. Networked corporate workgroups will be able to tap QuarkXPress 4.0's enterprise-wide capabilities to create a new type of file called a Book, which is a collection of QuarkXPress documents that share the same style sheets, colors, H&Js, lists, and other attributes. Page numbering can be controlled across multiple documents, and users can access documents in a book over a network.

"For the first time, QuarkXPress users will be able to take multiple QuarkXPress documents, arrange the files as they choose, and take advantage of such features as consistent style sheets, H&Js, and automatic page numbering to integrate those documents into a unified whole," said Mercier. "This capability will help multifile and long-document producers manage their workflow more efficiently and productively."

Redesigned interface
QuarkXPress 4.0 features beefed-up navigation and Preferences controls, triggered by tabbed dialog boxes and new pop-out tools. Dialog boxes will let users access related controls with a click of the tab, while combined Preference controls will let users specify a variety of specific settings in one window. A new XTensions manager permits users to choose which XTensions they want to run each time the program is launched. XTensions also can be saved into custom sets. The PPD manager lets users choose specific printer drivers.

"Tabbed dialog boxes will make navigation through the menu items far easier," said Giles Verity, product manager for BBC Worldwide Publishing in London, England. "Our Youth Titles division will benefit from the graphic elements built into the software. Time spend creating EPS files will be saved. Lastly, the new tools will allow a more flexible approach to the page design."

Major productivity enhancements
Almost every element of QuarkXPress 4.0 has been fine-tuned to boost users' productivity. Users can take advantage of character-based style sheets, rely on an enhanced Find/Change function to change style sheets, specify text to wrap around all sides of an object in a column, and zoom to 800 percent. In addition, QuarkXPress 4.0 allows users to selectively append their list of style sheets, colors, etc., from a single dialog box. QuarkXPress 4.0 also lets customers configure and save print specifications more efficiently. For the first time, QuarkXPress 4.0 has the ability to save files in the previous version's format, although 4.0-specific features won't be retained.

QuarkXPress has always been recognized for its sophisticated color management, and QuarkXPress 4.0 continues that tradition; QuarkXPress 4.0 supports hi-fi color through Pantone Inc.'s Pantone®Hexachrome(TM)color model, a six-color ultra high-fidelity process for enhanced color reproduction. It also supports cross-platform color management, using industry-standard ICC device profiles and the Kodak Digital Science Color Management System (CMS). For Macintosh OS users, color management will be available via a Kodak Color Matching Module (CMM) for Apple Computer Inc.'s ColorSync. For Windows-based system users, Kodak's CMS will replace EfiColor XTensions(TM) software.

QuarkXPress Passport 4.0  supporting 11 languages  will be released on both the Windows and Macintosh OS platforms simultaneously. QuarkXPress 4.0 for Windows will be a true 32-bit application and require Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT 3.51 to operate; it will not be compatible with earlier, 16-bit versions of the Windows OS. The Macintosh version will be fat binary, allowing customers to install QuarkXPress on either 68K or Power Macintosh-based computers. QuarkXPress Passport 4.0 will be shipped only on CD-ROM. Pricing and distribution dates will be announced at a later date. 
Based in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., Quark Inc. (www.quark.com or www.quark.com/immedia) develops and distributes publishing software for commercial publishing and graphic arts professionals using microcomputer-based systems. Quark's products include QuarkXPress; QuarkXPress Passport, the multiple language version of QuarkXPress; QuarkImmedia(TM), professional design software for multimedia and Internet publishing; and the Quark Publishing System(TM), a high-performance editorial management and document production system. Founded in 1981, Quark is privately held.

Quark, QuarkXPress, and Quark Publishing System are trademarks of Quark Inc., Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. QuarkImmedia, QuarkXPress Passport, and the Quark logo are trademarks of the Quark companies. Kodak and Digital Science are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company. Hexachrome Color System patent pending  Pantone, Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.