QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is desktop publishing software for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. It runs on macOS and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc. in 1987 and is still owned and published by them.
Developer(s)
The most recent version, QuarkXPress 2024 (internal version number 20.0.0), introduces two new palettes: Font Manager and Picture Links, and has compatibility with macOS Sonoma, as well as the option to export to IDML format.
QuarkXPress is used by designers, publishing houses and corporations to produce from printable to multimedia projects. Recent versions have added support for ebooks/flipbooks, Web and mobile apps.
History[edit]
Founded by Tim Gill in 1981 with a $2,000 loan from his parents, with the introduction of Fred Ebrahimi as CEO in 1986.
The first version of QuarkXPress was released in 1987 for the Macintosh. Five years passed before a Microsoft Windows version (3.1) followed in 1992. In the 1990s, QuarkXPress became widely used by professional page designers, the typesetting industry and printers. In particular, the Mac version of 3.3 (released in 1996) was seen as stable and trouble-free, working seamlessly with Adobe's PostScript fonts as well as with Apple's TrueType fonts. Quark's AppleScript support was a significant factor in both Quark's and AppleScript's success.[1]
In 1989, QuarkXPress incorporated an application programming interface called XTensions which allows third-party developers to create custom add-on features to the desktop application. Xtensions, along with Adobe's Photoshop plugins, was one of the first examples of a developer allowing others to create software add-ons for their application.
Although competitors like PageMaker existed, QuarkXPress was so dominant that it had an estimated 95% market share during the 1990s.[2] After QuarkXPress 3.3, QuarkXPress was seen as needing significant improvements and users criticized it for its overly long innovation cycles.
Gill sold his 50% stake in the company in 1999 for a reported $500 million.
The release of QuarkXPress version 5 in 2002 led to disappointment from Apple's user base, as QuarkXPress did not support Mac OS X, while Adobe InDesign 2.0—launched in the same week—did. QuarkXPress also lost marketshare due to an increasing price gap between it and InDesign. InDesign CS cost $699, while QuarkXPress 6 cost $945. The later Adobe Creative Suite (2003), which users purchased for access to Photoshop and Illustrator, included InDesign.[2]
In response to a shrinking user base, Quark started to lower its pricing levels in 2004. In December 2006, Quark licensed the Windows version of QuarkXPress 5 to be distributed for free on the cover of a UK computer magazine, Computer Shopper, with the idea of enticing consumers to upgrade to later versions.
Having arrived late with a Mac OS X version, Quark took a different approach to porting to Intel-native applications on Mac (Universal Binary), and released its Universal Binary version 7 months before Adobe ported InDesign.[3]
QuarkXPress 9 won Product of the Year in 2011 (MacWorld Awards 2011: Grand Prix Winner[4]).
From 2015 to 2022, QuarkXPress updated on an annual cycle. Since 2023, QuarkXPress releases on a bi-annual basis.[5]