Version 8 of Quark Xpress includes Flash tools, new bezier pen & Adobe drag-and-drop integration.

QuarkXpress 8 includes new interface, Flash design & publishing tools

Quark has released version 8 of it's flagship design, page layout and desktop publishing software tool. Quark 8 promises many new features, including a faster design experience, global publishing capabilities & built in Flash development.

According to Quark, the new version of QuarkXpress promises a new intuitive interface designed to help create high-end page designs and comprises many new features, including:

• The ability for graphic designers, without programming skills, to use built-in .swf Flash file creation, conversion and exporting tools, without the need to buy additional software.
• A new picture tool, which allows designers to grab, rotate and resize images in without having to type numbers or switch between different tool palettes.
• New bezier pen drawing tools, to allow illustration directly within QuarkXpress.
• Drag and Drop features allow users to drag in design elements from other programs such as Adobe Bridge and Apple's iPhoto.
• New to version 8 of QuarkXpress is the ability to import native Adobe Illustrator files.

There have also been many general user interface changes, including new buttons for accessing master pages and exporting different file formats. There are also new split-view buttons, contextual menus and the ability to customise active pasteboards. Keyboard shortcuts have also been rationalised to be common with Illustrator and Photoshop.

QuarkXPress 8 is on sale from Quark and Authorized Resellers. Upgrading from a previous version is US$299 and purchasing the full product form scratch costs US$799.

9 August 2008