Quark XPress 4

XPress train to nowhere

When the program first loads, it initially looks like nothing has changed, as the interface is virtually identical to that in version 3.3. To many users this will be reassuring, but it's also disappointing. In particular, the typical Mac reliance on floating palettes is beginning to look very dated and, with more than ten available, can severely cramp the available workspace. Moreover, while other programs at least allow palettes to be grouped or rolled up, XPress offers nothing to alleviate the problem.

Closer inspection, however, shows that there have been two introductions to the XPress interface which, although very simple, make a huge difference. The first is a context-sensitive menu accessed with the right mouse button. This offers clipboard and view commands and access to the ubiquitous Modify dialog box. In common with most other dialogs, this is now tabbed so that multiple settings, for controlling a box's position, formatting and runaround, for example, can all be made at the same time. Such features might not be leading edge, but they certainly boost productivity.

Closer inspection also reveals that there have been changes to the XPress toolbar. A number of the existing icons now offer access to fly-outs from which variations of the tool can be selected. Many of these variations are completely new and lie at the heart of XPress' new functionality. In particular, the BÚzier and Freehand box and line tools mean that any custom shape can be created either precisely, by setting points and manipulating curves, or more flexibly, by sketching on screen. Further creative options are available through the new ability to merge and combine boxes, and to convert selected text into editable BÚzier outlines.

Such power combined with existing formatting strengths like the ability to apply advanced two-coloured blends opens up a number of striking effects. To create an eye-catching headline, for example, it's possible to convert text to BÚzier boxes, edit the individual outlines, combine the letters and apply a radial fill. Even more impressive effects are possible when a text or image file is loaded into the boxes. This opens up a range of creative options with text and graphics fitted to any shape that the designer can imagine. Perhaps the most obvious effect, and one you can expect to see a lot more of, will be the ability to create graphical headlines made up of bitmaps.

With the ability to easily create graphical masks from shapes or from scratch, you might think that there was little more XPress could offer. It does, though, with its ability to create automatic masks. This is done through the clipping panel of the Picture Box Modify dialog. Using this it's possible to pick up any clipping boundaries, paths or alpha channels that have already been defined in the image with an external photo editor like Photoshop. If none have, however, you can still quickly create your own by automatically scanning for non-white areas of the image. There are options for setting thresholds and noise levels to fine-tune the results.

Once a clipping path has been established, it's possible to use it as the basis of a text-wrap runaround, with the addition of a user-specified offset and smoothness level. Another major advance for text-wrapping is the ability to flow text around all sides of an image. In the past, XPress took the purist line that this was undesirable as it affected legibility, and so it only allowed text to flow around one side of an image within a single column. This discipline has now gone completely out of the window, and it's even possible to flow text within the holes of an image, whether readable or not.