A brand new update to QuarkXPress 10 is now available. In the new release, which is QuarkXPress 10.2, Quark has addressed customer-reported issues regarding performance and image display quality. You can get the update through the Auto Updater in QuarkXPress 10 or by downloading it here. Quark has reset the QuarkXPress 10 Test Drive, so everyone can trial QuarkXPress 10.2. Download the trial here.

The update, which is free to current QuarkXPress 10 users, delivers on the advanced functionality promised with the new Xenon Graphics Engine Quark introduced with version 10. According to extensive pre-release testing, QuarkXPress 10.2 is now the fastest version of QuarkXPress, beating out QuarkXPress 9 and 10.1.

The 10.2 update also adds new features, including the following:

• Redlining: Track changes within QuarkXPress documents so writers, editors, project managers and other users can see what changes have been made. Using the Redline feature, teams can view the inserted and deleted text content made in a project and decide whether to accept or reject the changes.
• Notes: Store comments in a project without affecting the actual content of the project by adding reminders and comments on the text content. A note in QuarkXPress now looks like the “sticky” notes designers and reviewers might stick to hard copy versions. Notes can also be exported as PDF notes when creating a PDF from the QuarkXPress project.
• Superior output, ready for PDF/X-4: QuarkXPress 10.2 output passes all version 4 Ghent Workgroup Output Tests (http://www.gwg.org/download/test-suites/ghent-output-suite/), which is especially important for PDF/X-4 based workflows.
• Anchored boxes without limit: In version 10.2 there are no limitations on nesting anchored boxes. Previous versions of QuarkXPress have a limit of two levels.
• Import/export hyphenation exceptions: Export and import hyphenation exceptions created for a document and share the exceptions across projects to maintain uniformity. Keep track of all hyphenation exceptions by merging the exceptions into one set that can be shared across workstations. Hyphenation exceptions can be created for all 30+ languages supported by QuarkXPress and can be automatically synchronized when using Quark Job Jackets. This allows designers to edit exceptions either in QuarkXPress or in an external hyphenation exceptions file (XML). Either way, when saving or opening a connected project, hyphenation exceptions are automatically synchronized.

More on QuarkXPress 10.2 can be found here: www.quark.com/10.

Sarah Rector