QuarkXPress 8 review

It's not just the Interactive Palette that makes Flash-based repurposing so straightforward. Over the years Quark has added a whole host of power for working with multiple layout variations such as the ability to share updatable elements and to mark off composition zones; this allows different users to simultaneously work on the same project. The capabilities seemed serious overkill when the HTML results were so weak, but with Flash output they suddenly all come into their own. You can even use the composition zone feature to provide an HTML-based surround for your Flash extravaganza.

Put it all together and QuarkXPress 8 provides a very useful design-rich alternative to Adobe Flash CS3 Professional for SWF authoring. More importantly, QuarkXPress 8 users now have an excellent alternative screen delivery route for their existing print publications.

But the best is yet to come. With its recent launch of Acrobat 9, Adobe is merging the previously separate worlds of SWF and PDF. QuarkXPress 8's Flash authoring capabilities mean that it should be especially well placed to take advantage of this new offline delivery route for interactive publications. It looks like the time has finally come for Quark's long standing vision of integrated print and electronic publishing.

Conclusion

But let's not get carried away. QuarkXPress 8 isn't likely to persuade those users who deserted to InDesign to return - especially as the next InDesign is almost certain to add its own Flash-based power. It's important to remember that only certain projects are suited to such onscreen repurposing - QuarkXPress' print capabilities will dominate for some time to come. And, important to note, pushing the new features in the pre-release press code led to a number of crashes which would be unacceptable in a high-end production environment.

Assuming these bugs are fixed, and Flash/PDF support added, QuarkXpress 8.x will certainly prove a force to be reckoned with. Adobe InDesign remains more powerful and better value, especially as part of Adobe's Creative Suite. However InDesign increasingly feels like a lumbering dinosaur compared to the newly streamlined and adaptable QuarkXPress.

Author: Tom Arah