The software, the successor to QuarkXpress 10, will begin shipping in early 2015. Its biggest new feature is a new 64-bit architecture. This allows the application to use the entire available RAM on a host computer to significantly boost performance, particularly when dealing with large documents with a lot of high resolution images.
“This version is focused on features that customers have been asking for. We asked users what the most important features were for any application and 74% of respondents worldwide said that performance is the most important factor with stability second. So we’ve reacted to that,” said Matthias Guenther, Quark Desktop Business Unit director.
Other new user-requested features that will boost the print and cross-media capabilities of the software include the ability to design interactive eBooks with fixed layout and page sizes, a dedicated orthogonal line tool, larger page sizes and custom paper sizes.
Other new features are primarily aimed at designers working with long documents. They include automatic creation of footnotes and endnotes, a faster table tool for superior Excel importing and text variables for automatically populating reoccurring fields, such as running headers.
“We always strive to ensure the new features we develop are the ones that will make a real difference to customers’ workflows,” said Guenther.
“QuarkXPress 2015 is a version for all designers, from those who love print to the more digitally-inclined who will benefit from tools for producing apps and fixed layout interactive eBooks.”
System requirements for QuarkXPress 2015 are Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), OS X 10.9 (Maverick) and OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) as well as 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. The software will also feature tool palette, measurement palette and palette group docking on Windows.
Pricing for QuarkXpress 2015, which will continue to be sold as a perpetual license with no subscription lock-in, is as yet unconfirmed.
However, Quark has said that, in a deal that has been backdated to 1 October, anyone who purchases a new license or upgrades to QuarkXPress 10 from now until 31 December will receive QuarkXPress 2015 free when it becomes available.
Furthermore, customers who already have QuarkXPress 10 can pre-order QuarkXPress 2015 for £199, which Quark has said is ‘significantly lower’ than the standard upgrade price.
