Quark announced the availability of the beta version of QuarkXPress 5.0 at Seybold San Francisco.

It is positioning the next version of its page make-up package as a tool for creating content for print, web and e-books regardless of output file format - something it claims rival Adobe isn't delivering.

"We are increasing the number of standards supported by QuarkXPress and we are not tied to any specific standards," said vice president of product management Jurgen Kurz (pictured). "This is our strength over Adobe."

As well as PDF, HTML and XML, the next version of QuarkXPress will support e-book formats from Adobe and Microsoft. Future versions will support the Scaled Vector Graphic (.svg) file format for web pages.

"Our customers have asked for a web design tool that works like QuarkXPress," said senior product manager Brett Mueller. "That's becoming increasingly important as more and more publishers try to cut costs by merging their print and web workflows."

New features include layers and tables. Layers allow users to manage multiple versions of the same document for print and web or to produce different versions of the same printed document, either for regional language variations or targeted marketing campaigns.

Other improvements include PDF import and export support and colour management.

Beta versions of Quark 5.0 can be downloaded from www.quark.com/products/xpress/beta.
Quark has yet to announce shipping dates and pricing for QuarkXPress 5.0.