Last week, to answer a question from a reader, I wrote a short tutorial on how to build a new, reusable Quark Job Jackets file by extracting assets from an existing QuarkXPress document, How To Create A New Job Jackets File From An Existing Project.

Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of browsing some back issues of the excellent X-Ray magazine and I found a few valuable articles on Job Jackets.

First, in “QuarkXPress 7 and JDF”, David Allen builds the foundation for understanding Job Jackets by explaining what the industry-standard JDF specification is, and how it forms the basis of Quark Job Jackets.

Download: QuarkXPress 7 and JDF (881kb)

Then, in “Quark Job Jackets: JDF Swims Upstream”, Thomas Allen explains how Job Jackets reflect the reality of our current workflows. His clearly stated real-world explanation of Job Jackets makes it easier to get your head around why you’d want to use them, and where to access them in QuarkXPress.

Download: Quark Job Jackets: JDF Swims Upstream (2.36mb)

And finally, in “How to Stitch a Jacket, parts 1 & 2”, Joe Root provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to create and use Job Jackets. Part 1 explains in detail how to build one, and Part 2 shows how a designer might use a Job Jackets file provided by a project manager or vendor.

Download: How to Stitch a Jacket, part 1 (4.6mb)
Download: How to Stitch a Jacket, part 2 (3.05mb)

I plan to keep these articles handy to refer to when working with Job Jackets — I hope you will, too.

Jay Nelson

Jay Nelson is the editorial director of PlanetQuark.com, and the editor and publisher of Design Tools Monthly. He’s also the author of the QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress 7 training titles at Lynda.com, as well as the training videos Quark includes in the box with QuarkXPress 7 . In addition, Jay writes regularly for Macworld and Photoshop User magazines and speaks at industry events.