Quark says QuarkXPress 9, the newest release of Quark’s page-layout and design software, is now available to purchase directly from Quark (http://www.quark.com) and through authorized Quark resellers worldwide. QuarkXPress 9 is built to help designers create content that can be published to digital devices — e-readers, smartphones, and tablets — with one tool, and without coding. Features include:
° Export to ePUB: QuarkXPress 9 includes an option for exporting to ePUB, the free and open e-book standard developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). Designers can create traditional text-based e-books and publish to e-bookstores such as Apple’s iBookStore, Barnes & Noble NOOK, and Amazon Kindle.
° Design for the Blio eReader: The Blio eReader is a free, multi-platform, multi-device application that presents eBooks just like the printed versions, in full-color. The Blio eReader for Windows can be downloaded free from www.blio.com and is also being pre-installed on computers and devices running Windows and Android from Toshiba, HP, Dell, and T-Mobile. Support is expected soon for Mac OS X, additional devices that run the Android platform, as well as iOS devices.
° Publishing to the iPad: In the next 90 days Quark plans to release a free update for existing QuarkXPress 9 users that will include App Studio. With App Studio for QuarkXPress designers will have a dedicated design environment within QuarkXPress 9 for creating content for the iPad. Designers will be able to create customized apps for the iPad, distribute their apps through the Apple App Store, and then publish interactive content to the app. QuarkXPress 9 provides familiar tools to easily repurpose existing content or to design content specifically for the iPad that includes video/audio players, slideshows, scrollable regions, Web overlays, pop-up windows, buttons, and hyperlinks.
In addition to its innovative digital publishing capabilities, QuarkXPress 9 includes new features that help automate the design process. They include:
° Conditional styles: This allows multiple style attributes to be set based on the text content rather than “tagging” and allows designers to automate specific style elements that occur throughout a project
° Bullets, numbers, and outlines: You cna create dynamic ordered and un-ordered lists that are preserved and editable in QuarkXPress
° Callouts: Boxes and groups move automatically with text as determined by the designer; callouts can be positioned relative to the page, spread, text box, paragraph, or character
° Story editor: This provides a word-processor-like view within QuarkXPress, which is most helpful when text within a layout is difficult to read and when reviewing stories that span multiple pages.
° Cloner: This allows designers to copy items or pages to other pages or layouts and can be used to combine layouts or split them apart,
° Linkster: This enables designers to unlink and relink text boxes that already contain text, to unlink stories spanning multiple pages, and to link or unlink boxes without disrupting existing text.
° ShapeMaker: This is a wizard for creating or modifying hard-to-draw shapes such as waves, polygons, stars, and spirals. ShapeMaker also allows designers to create corner effects.
° ImageGrid: This allows designers to import and automatically build grids of images with a variety of layout options; also supports image captioning. For a complete list of new features go to http://www.quark.com/Products/QuarkXPress/ .
While QuarkXPress 9 is available for purchase now, Quark is also offering a free, fully functional, 30-day Test Drive version to users interested in experiencing the new features for digital publishing and design-driven automation. To download the QuarkXPress 9 30-day Test Drive visit http://www.quark.com/products/quarkxpress/test_drive.aspx . The cost of QuarkXPress 9 is the same as the previous upgrade and full product price of QuarkXPress 8. An upgrade costs $299 and new full product costs $799.