MDSinMI:Just bought 7.3.1 for Windows.
Now I went looking for a good reference book or manual; went I went to Amazon, surprisingly, nearly all the books they had for Quark/Windows were ancient. Like Mid-1990's?
Can someone make recommendations for either a good introductory book and or a reference manual?
I suppose I can if anybody can. I have recently reviewed four books about QXP7 for the DoubleClick publication.
May I suggest in NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
1 ----- Visual QuickStart Guide QUARKXPRESS 7
Elaine Weinmann
Page Count : 450 pages
Published by Peachpit Press
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2 ------ REALWORLD QuarkXpress 7
David Blattner
Page Count : 880 pages
Published byPeachpit Press
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3 ----- QuarkXPress 7: Creating Digital Documents
ISBN: 0-9764324-1-2
Page Count : 700 pages
Author: Erika Kendra
Published by Against The Clock
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4 ---- QuarkXPress 7 Course Workbook
ISBN: 0-9777017-0-0
Published by Noble Desktop
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Each of these books is excellent, but the first book is very short and very well illustrated with typical examples of what you need to know to get started.
The second book is all you would expect (and more) from David Blattner !!
The third book is very good. The QuarkXPress Certified Expert exam is based on the exercises in the Against The Clock book.
From the website:
""" This book is written for users at any level, from beginners to seasoned designers. Each chapter includes step-by-step exercises that offer you the opportunity to practice what you learn as you learn it. Regardless of your experience level, you will benefit from the introduction to the new project-based work environment. You will learn everything you need to develop layout files - from understanding the basic tools and palettes and creating pages to defining style sheets, building master pages, importing and manipulating images, designing with color, and more."""
The fourth book is the Course Book from the actual $975.00 training course on QuarkXPress 7 offered by Noble Desktop.
"""" These are the same workbooks we use in our classes. They are step-by-step workbooks that walk you through dozens of projects, each dealing with different aspects of the program. If you can’t come to Noble Desktop you can still get the benefit of teaching yourself through our materials. They also make excellent companions for trainers that don't have the time or money to create their own materials."""""
This fourth book is potentially heavy slogging but well worth the effort, especially if you are REALLY motivated and can drive yourself to do the exercises (files are provided) but MUCH better if you can get your employer to send you to New York on an expense account for a week to actually do the course with proper instruction at Noble Desktop.
Binky