Based on an article originally published in the DesignGeek e-zine.
Assume that the good folks at Quark have written up a number of free PDF white papers for QuarkXPress 7 users. Let’s say that each white paper covers a complex topic specific to the new version, such as transparency or Job Jackets or color management. Primary source information available nowhere else. In-depth how-to’s and workarounds written by Quark insiders, information that everyone working with QuarkXPress 7 files — from a newbie production freelancer to a prepress manager — would give their eye-teeth to get their hands on.
Where should Quark post these PDFs for downloading? Go to Quark.com and see if you can find them. They’re not on the home page. They’re not in the Desktop Support pages, nor any other sections in Support. They don’t show up in the Technical Support Database. Missing from the Downloads pages. Maybe in Training> Tips and Tricks? Nope.
But I did see them, once. Searching the site recently, kicking myself for not bookmarking the page way back when, I felt like Captain Ahab in search of the White Whale. “Aye, matey, the PDFs be near, but they be shy, like a new bride. You scoff, but I tell ye, ’twas naught but two months ago that I first laid mine eyes on them, fair to bulging with screenshots they were. Aye, they be wily creatures, but I can smell them, circling about … Drink, ye harpooners! Drink and swear, ye users that surf this scurvy site. The white papers will be ours! Arrrr!”
Harpooned At Last
As a current QuarkXPress 7 user, I didn’t even think to click on the Products link. I already own the product, I already paid for it, why would I look at the Products section. And of course, that’s where the white papers are! They’re listed in a sidebar called Resource center, which only appears when you click on the QuarkXPress link in the Products section (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Look! In the left-hand nav bar! Thar she blows!
Methinks their web team forgot to include Resource center in their Support and Training areas. Arrrr.
At the Resource center you’ll find five valuable white papers on special QuarkXPress 7 topics: color management, creating EPS files, creating PDF files, Quark Job Jackets, and transparency.
If you click the sixth link in the sidebar, Documentation, another page appears listing three more PDFs: QuarkXPress 7 Best Practices: Transparency (a duplicate of the other Transparency white paper, so don’t bother), QuarkXPress 7 online glossary (a 23-page PDF of Quark jargon and prepress terms and their definitions), and a seven-page QuarkXPress 7 Best Practices for Migration (useful info for upgraders).
I was going to discuss the contents of the five white papers in more detail here, pointing you to the “must-read” pages in each, but the search for them wore me out. Just download them and read them yourselves, okay?
I need a drink… Whar’s me rum…
Back at that Tips & Tricks Page
Despite this one missed opportunity, there actually are many useful tutorials and tips in the Training section at Quark.com:
Training Demos
Ten Flash videos covering various QuarkXPress 7 topics, like Job Jackets and Composition Zones. Registration (free) required.
Insider’s Guide to QuarkXPress 7
A compilation of 250 tips for QuarkXPress 7. (Many tips apply to earlier versions, as well.) This PDF is available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. For each language you can download either a high-res (more than 40 MB because of chapter opener artwork) or a low-res (700K, lower-res art) version. Don’t bother with the high-res PDF: there are no screen shots for any of the tips in either PDF.
QuarkXPress Tips
Just below the links to download the previously mentioned Insider’s Guide are sixteen links to Web-based how-to’s, such as “Apply Split-Screen View” and “Apply an Embossed Effect to Text” (Figure 2). Each technique has step-by-step instructions and a color screenshot or two.
Figure 2. In-depth? No. But quick? Yes! Click on the Show Me link below the screenshot to open a video tutorial with
details.
Quark Interactive Designer Movies
A series of eighteen QuickTime video tutorials on Quark Interactive Designer, presented by Ted LoCascio and produced by lynda.com.
And Free XTensions
QuarkXPress 7 users can download the full set of ALAP’s XPert Tools Pro XTensions from Quark.com and use them free of charge. (It appears that QuarkXPress 6 users still have to pay for these XTensions. Get the message?) The XPert Tools Pro package includes XPert Guides, XPert Item Styles, XPert Scale, and nine more useful add-ons. You’ll find details at https://www.quark.com/products/xpress/xtensions/products/xptpro7/.
Quark 7 users may also download three XTensions for XML workflows for free: Avenue.quark, XML Import, and Item Sequence.
Quark 6 users still have a few freebies, such as the Output Enhancements XTensions that help streamline output to printers, imagesetters, and PDF: https://www.quark.com/products/xpress/xtensions/output_enhancements.html.
Also, the venerable QuarkVista is still available as a freeby. That’s the QuarkXPress 6 XTension that lets you manipulate images inside XPress: https://www.quark.com/products/xpress/xtensions/quarkvista.cfm.
If you’ve installed the free upgrade to 6.5, you can also snag the free PSD Import XTension and import native Photoshop (.psd) images complete with layers, channels and paths: https://www.quark.com/products/xpress/xtensions/psd_import.html
With these links, ye can navigate Quark’s site safely. Fair winds t’ye!
This article was last modified on January 10, 2022
This article was first published on June 25, 2007
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