QuarkXPress 7 boosts collaboration

The new release improves workflow for page design and publishing

Quark has issued the first release of its flagship QuarkXPress package for two years, with a focus on document workflow and collaboration.

The company is pitching QuarkXPress 7 as the most significant upgrade to a layout package yet. New features include Composition Zones for collaboration, sophisticated transparency handling, and multi-pane views of individual projects.

However, users of Intel-based Macs will have to run under Rosetta emulation or wait a few months for a Universal Binary PowerPC/Intel native version to gain full performance benefits.

That could still stand Quark in good stead with Intel Mac users, as several observers noted that its old rival Adobe InDesign is not scheduled to have a Universal Binary version until the next version, scheduled for early 2007.

UK and Ireland customers can attend a launch event in London, next Friday, 2 June.