I have been using Quark Xpress for almost two years now. At first, I was very skeptical of using it; I had been a Pagemaker queen for over four years and did not want to switch over to Quark Xpress.
Why did I want to switch from Pagemaker to Quark Xpress I needed to switch from Pagemaker to Quark Xpress because of the way that Quark Xpress handled screens. The dot patterns were much more visible in Quark Xpress than in Pagemaker. Over time, I would learn how to make a dot pattern in Pagemaker, but it still was nothing compared to the high quality dot pattern that I can produce in Pagemaker.
How long did it take to learn Quark Xpress? I already was an expert at Pagemaker at this point, so the transition was not that difficult. I took one beginner class in Quark Xpress, not owning the program at the time it very scare going into a class where I didn't even have the software to practice. We got the program, shortly after I took the class and I practiced at home and at work. Within a short time, I had picked up quite a bit about Quark Xpress, but with help of other graphic designers, I have begun to master the program.
What are some of the features of Quark Xpress that Pagemaker does not have? Besides the higher quality of the dot pattern, I have learned other features in Quark Xpress that Pagemaker does not have. One of them is the pen tool. The pen tool is useful when you need to trace around an object, create an object or want to type onto a path such as you can do in Illustrator or Corel Draw. Another feature that I have discovered is the gradient fill. With the gradient fill you can color objects with a gradient fill that is: rectangular, mid-linear, diamond, circle or full circular and put them at different screen and angle percentages. Making objects not have a white background behind them This use to bug me tremendously in Pagemaker, in Quark Xpress you can create your object box to have a fill of none. Creating shadows on text On the measurement tool bar, you can create your text to have a shadow, where as you have to create your own shadow in Pagemaker.
What are the disadvantages of Quark Xpress that Pagemaker has that Quark Xpress does not have? One of the disadvantage of Quark Xpress is not having the ability to create signatures for a book. In Pagemaker, when I set up a booklet that is 5.5 x 8.5 all I have to do is set up all my pages to 5.5 x 8.5 then I can use the booklet plug in to automatically create my signatures. This feature is very useful in Pagemaker, I have yet to figure out or discover whether Quark Xpress can do this. Another feature that is in Pagemaker is the Calendar Template. It is very simple to plug in the date and year that you want and Pagemaker will automatically create a calendar, whereas I have not discovered a feature that will do this in Quark Xpress. I have discovered templates online for Quark Xpress calendars, but those are templates that have been created by other Quark Xpress pros.
I am not saying that Quark Xpress is for everyone, nor is it easy to use. I am still learning how to use it. I am just saying, being a graphic designer, it has made my job ten times easier than Pagemaker has.
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