Got a design project? Then try Quark (Quark Xpress 8)

Member Name: soutram

Product:	Quark Xpress 8
Date:	15/05/09 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple to use with loads of effects

Disadvantages: Its expensive

Quark is a leading DTP. If you want a simple business card or a 200 page booklet then this is by far the best software to use.

I have been a Graphic Designer now for 12 years and have used this application since the very start of my career; I started on Quark 3 and over the years have used every version which now leaves me on Quark 8.

When I first started using this application back in college it was very basic and easy to use but you had to rely on other applications (Photoshop etc) to get different effects (shadows etc) but over the years they have improved the application so much that you can now pretty much get all the effects you need with the click of a mouse button. Quark allows you to work with multiple page documents very easily, you can control colours, layers and transparency which enables you to create some very clever effects and this is why it's the preferred application for most designers.

When you open Quark you start a new blank document and you will see a set of tools on the left hand side, these are used for selecting the various elements you wish to include on your page and on the right hand side you can choose to view your colours and styles etc. At the bottom of the screen is the measurement palette, this is used to change your text style the size of you text, boxes, angles, alignment and more. Having the tools and measurements pallets makes it very quick and easy to select what you wish to do without having to search through lots of menus.

Quark also has a web design feature so instead of starting a new blank document you start a blank web page and use all of the tools, measurements and colours as you would if you where designing a leaflet. I'm not so sure of this part of the application; I think when it comes to web design you need to use the dedicated applications to do it.

The only downside to Quark is the cost of it, you are looking at £800 to purchase this application, which is why a lot of people are now buying Adobe In-Design instead, its only £450 but I think it's a lot harder to use & does not give you quite so many effects.

You can download a free 60 day trial of Quark at www.quark.com, so if you do have a design project on the go its worth downloading and having a look.

Summary: If you want to create something a bit different the give Quark a try

Variety of features:
Reliability:
User friendly:
Installation:
Update possibilites: