--- title: "QuarkXPress Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is QuarkXPress the right Graphic Design solution for you? Explore 201 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-21" --- QuarkXPress 4.4 (201) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/178598/QuarkXPress/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated October 21st, 2026 # Reviews of QuarkXPress Ease of use 4.3 Customer Service 4.0 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews MD Martin D ChairmanArts and Crafts, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I really like the way i can organise external resources (like the PDFs) in the fire system and keep them separate from the actual document which is practical for automating management of my projects (avoiding redundancy etc.).“ December 15, 2025 JG Jim G PresidentNewspapers, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I have the need to interface with some legacy systems that my customers are still using and having the old ones you bought meant you weren't looking at the updates. “ December 17, 2025 ME Melinda E Designer, ownerGraphic Design, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Its strengths lie in layout precision, book and flipbook export capabilities, and robust design tools — with generally positive customer support and a mature feature set.“ December 15, 2025 JA Jerry A Freelance Art DirectorMarketing and Advertising, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The only thing I do not like about Quark is that after exporting a pdf to my desktop for delivery to a client, the pdf icon does not render correctly in some cases.“ February 11, 2025 ME Melinda E Designer, ownerGraphic Design, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It offers strong layout and typography tools, flexible export options, and the ability to handle complex projects such as books and interactive publications with ease.“ December 15, 2025 MD Martin D ChairmanArts and Crafts, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Owning a perpetual license currently practically requires a maintenance plan which is substantionally more costly than the subscription model.“ December 15, 2025 RN Robin N Sole TraderGraphic Design, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It has the ability to move pages around which no other software is able to do , this means that if a page is in the wrong place then it is so easy to move it, plus having a list showing all the pages means it is possible to keep track on the overal size of the document.“ December 15, 2025 PC Pauline C PresidentDesign, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Sometimes I can't save a document - the alert says I do not have permission, so I just change the name of the document. “ December 15, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 201 available reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use R Reviewer Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "My favourite app for desktop publishing" May 13, 2026 4.0 It's still my favourite app to use for desktop publishing and any work that requires typography. It's my first choice. Pros It's the most logical app for professional desktop publishing. It's very clear and easy to use. I feel I have total control over typography. Cons I don't like the tiny buttons in the measurements panel. I preferred it when there were quick keys for almost everything. Review Source R Reviewer boss Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Good but have sono doubts" March 23, 2026 5.0 Good but there are some limits with the Perpetual version. That After 2 years look as Simply dont run Pros Non expensive , full Activity, product very smart and pratical.it help tonworks for book very well. For edit book also illustrated Cons The full versione witout the service Is very low. Need Always a internet connection. There are sono bugs Review Source R Reviewer Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "A fully comprehensive programme " January 12, 2026 5.0 I use it daily for my work in graphics and print. I rarely have issues and it handles complex projects. Pros Quark Xpress is a fully comprehensive piece of software used by industry professionals. It offers good value for businesses and has great customer service if you need any king of help. Cons Learning the new features after an update can take time but tutorials are available online. There’s always something new to learn! Review Source R Reviewer Owner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Happy with Quark" January 7, 2026 4.0 I’ve been using it for many years and haven’t been trained on how to utilize its many features. Quark has advanced into much more complexity than I use, but I’m happy that I can still navigate the program to use it for my projects. Pros I’m happy with the design tools and desktop layout. I especially appreciate the personalized customer support. Cons I would like to see more designer and calligraphic fonts. I use it for invitations and I’m wanting more unique script fonts. Review Source R Reviewer Owner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Quark 2026 Review" January 7, 2026 4.0 I have been with Quark Express since I guess it was version 4 or 5. I like the software. It is easy to manage. Pros Graphic Creation. Ease of saving as a PDF or JPEG/PNG files. Simplicity of the features. Nothing that complicated to learn. Cons It keeps "Not responding." Especially when selecting fonts. Then it takes a long time if you wait. I have to close Quark and reopen again to make sure it resets. Review Source R Reviewer Partner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Great Software" January 6, 2026 5.0 Very good, I'll never change using this, it's easy, great for all type of graphic design and the added picture features makes it a whole lot more. Pros I have used Quark Xpress since the beginning it's just got better and better, some of the new features picture editing, font changes etc.. make my job a lot easier. It's easy to use, good value for money and customer service is excellent, if I've ever had a problem it's been solved quickly - in an easy and friendly manner. Cons The colour dropper I cannot use, I'm probably doing it wrong and have never asked how to do it correctly but definitely baffles me. Review Source R Reviewer President Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Love Personalizing Holiday Cards" January 2, 2026 5.0 Have been a longstanding user of QuarkXPress over its many iterations. Very loyal to Quark as a result. Pros How I could personalize the message through graphic creation and image editing. Also love the various features offered. Cons Am a tried and true user. Have used Quark for years. Don't have any cons to share. Welcome new features with each updated release. Review Source R Reviewer Managing Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Quark Express - QED" December 26, 2025 5.0 I have always found Quark Express intuitive to work with plus great "personal" customer service available if needed. Pros Quark Express has always been the standard design software in my view and always has been, it really works well for designers that want to think for themselves rather than being lead by increasing AI tech. Cons The save button being to close to the don't save button as with one slight misjudgement all can go wrong embarrassingly quickly! Review Source R Reviewer owner designer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "QuarkXPress fan" December 23, 2025 5.0 Have happily used it for long years. My works requires that I also have the Adobe package, but I'm always defaulting to Quark when I don't have to use the other. Pros Works smoothly creating multi-page documents with lots of text, images. Very intuitive. Always quick and easy to set material up and make changes. Much happier cropping images in this program. Cons Not a fan of the subscription service. I never found a need to upgrade constantly and would prefer to use it as is for at least a couple years Review Source R Reviewer Typografiker Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Die richtige Software für Gestaltungs-Profis!" December 18, 2025 5.0 Sehr gute Performance. Als ehemals professioneller Typografiker bin ich es gewohnt, eine Gestaltung für eine Drucksorte nach einem gewissen Schema durchzuführen. Mit QXP kann ich dies mühelos umsetzen. Pros Das ist die richtige Software für gelernte Grafiker. Als gelernter Typografiker kann ich hier meine Gestaltungen so umsetzen, wie ich möchte. Cons Da das Programm sehr umfangreich ist, wäre es gut, die am öftesten verwendeten Funktionen noch besser zusammenzufassen. Auch ein angeschlossenes, besseres Hilfecenter wäre von Vorteil. Review Source Benjamin L. Marketing Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "I wish it were like it used to be, simple...reliable...the best." January 20, 2018 4.0 Good sleep, less stress, a peaceful work week..... Oh I thought you said benefits from using this software. Pros First, their customer support for this product is incredible. Hands down some of the best people working with this company, and knowledgable. There is also an online community behind this software that is wonderful and can usually get you where you want to go if you need help. Also the facebook group continues to grow and thrive and the company is pretty involved with keeping the quark world up to date on progress and resources. Ok the software is pretty wonderful and through the years we continue to choose Quark for book/media publishing over other products that we use more frequently day to day with other media because Quark just has always gotten the job done and done well. That still is the case for a couple specific purposes, like brochure and booklet printing, we use Quark for because most of the tools throughout the years have remained the same. And they make simple what other products cause hair-loss over. Quark not being a subscription based media creation software is the bee's knees!! And the ability and power of all the software can do for the price is pretty great!! Cons Over the years, they have tried to do too much in too little of time to compete but they have failed short. In the past Quark was an incredible software and the value was through the roof, but sadly that is not the case anymore. Focusing on becoming a software for producing cross-platform media and new media has taken away from their bread and butter of being the go to software for book and print media publishing over the years. The tools available, advancements and attention to their original staples of print publishing have lacked. PDFs are an area serious attention needs to be given, without having to purchase or use 3rd party integrations. Yearly updates should not have to be purchased or at least discounted much more significantly, especially considering the incompatibility of working between different years of Quark. Saving to a previous version is a must, that I which would come back, without expensive 3rd party software. Review Source R Reviewer Chief Designer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Quark: At Both Ends of the Spectrum" December 17, 2025 4.0 Positive experience with the software. I have over thirty years of documents to show for that experience. That keeps me kind of locked in. Negative experience with marketing and customer service (not tech support--haven't used it or needed it until a few years ago. Pros I have used QuarkXPress for over thirty years, and I appreciate the precision with which I can design documents and visually appealing designs and flyers. No guesswork. In the old days we used the acronym WYSIWYG, and with Quark in 1993 that was a dream come true: What I Saw Is What I Got! Cons Customer service has been pitiful. The experience of writing about a problem and getting no answer except "If you do not respond to this email within 24 hours this case will be closed" has become quite common in the past few years. No solutions, not even an attempt at a solution. Just thank you for your question and now the case is closed. Marketing and sales and customer service don't talk. Otherwise I wouldn't receive more announcements and sales pitches to get Quark 2026 NOW! when I just purchased it a few days ago. It sure would have been nice to have a steady stream of upgrades that allowed me to open previous versions. It's only in the past few years that the "Legacy Converter" has worked, and that intermittently. As another example: I live in Germany. My native language is English. I receive emails in both languages. Why?? I'd really prefer English. I even had a phone call a few weeks ago which I expected would be in English, but the representative (in India) wanted to speak German--well, OK. This invitation to write a review came to me in German, and when I clicked the link: Surprise! It's English. So here I am, writing in English. Review Source R Reviewer Polyvalent Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "One day, after too many errors, I will probably leave." December 16, 2025 3.0 I have been using Xpress since the very first versions, so this review comes from long-term, real-world use, not a short trial. Value for money The product works well, but it is clearly overpriced compared to competitors. Each year, I ask myself why I keep paying that much for features that are now widely available elsewhere for less. The value proposition has not improved at the same pace as the price. Customer support This is one of the weakest points. Support is slow, often unhelpful, and inefficient. When issues arise, especially billing-related ones, resolving them takes too much time and energy. Responses feel generic and disconnected from the actual problem. Security No major security issues on my side. The platform feels stable and reliable in daily use. Image editing Image editing is solid and has been one of the strengths since the early versions. It does what it promises and remains efficient for professional use. User interface The interface is generally good and familiar to long-time users. However, it has not evolved enough to justify the pricing strategy. It feels more maintained than truly improved. Marketing and branding This is where frustration grows. The commercial policy is poor, especially around subscriptions. I have experienced payment and billing errors, including an annual subscription not being renewed automatically, which created unnecessary disruptions. These issues seriously damage trust. Book and flipbook creation Still one of the best aspects of the product. Creation tools are effective and reliable, and this is the main reason I keep using Xpress. Overall opinion I am satisfied with the product itself and have been using it for years. However, it is too expensive, the support is weak, and the commercial and billing practices are frustrating. Every year, I seriously consider switching to a competitor. So far, inertia and habit have kept me here. One day, after too many errors, I will probably leave. Pros •Strong toolset for image editing. •Excellent book and flipbook creation. •Stable product overall (no major security concerns in my experience). •Familiar, efficient interface once you’re used to it. Cons •Very expensive compared to competitors. •Customer support is slow and ineffective. •Billing/payment issues (e.g., annual subscription not renewed automatically). •Poor commercial policy / pricing approach that hurts trust. Review Source JM Jeff M. Art Director-Photographer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "QuarkXPress is Solid Prepress Design and Production" December 17, 2025 5.0 QuarkXPess has remained our agency go to software for all things and we appreciate the minimal interface changes that keep us productive year after year and with various employees. Pros Interface has remained consistent since I started using it in 1993. Tools remain easy to find despite changes and advances to the software over time. Cons Being we have thousands of publishing fonts, the recent years of font interface has slowed to get through scroll and a large gap of space exists from left side of font names to the arrows many inches across to get to their styles. This seems clunky compared to past years having a snappy tight font scroll. Snap to Guides is not as precise as past years. Review Source R Reviewer President Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "QuarkXPress does the work I need it to do." December 18, 2025 5.0 I have used QuarkXPress since the early 90's and have seen it's services grow and change. I am a print and online publisher and appreciate the versatility it has for doing what I need to and for verifying image formats such as CMYK, font status and more. Pros Quark lets me do the work I need to do in fewer steps with less difficulties than Indesign. It lets me work with legacy fonts more easily than some other programs and ability to quickly and easily format text and move images to fit spaces is easy to do. The working palate selection lets me do these things more easily and with fewer clicks between palates compared to some other programs. Cons I liked having the option to buy it in the old days as compared to the subscription method. I have the need to interface with some legacy systems that my customers are still using and having the old ones you bought meant you weren't looking at the updates. We really could use a properly functioning document converter that would allow us to work with versions as far back as Quark 6 and or older versions of indesign. Then you'd know you could get things open. The current document converter just doesn't work. Review Source R Reviewer Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Quark remains superior for trained Art Directors/GD's, but there's catches." December 16, 2025 4.0 I have been using Quark since the very first versions. It remains the gold-standard in my book for those who actually learned graphics - points - picas - actual type design -- not just making stuff with software. It remains superior to the even-more bloatware of Adobe. That said, Quark has itself become bloated and has rearranged the menus and such - causing us to have to constantly re-learn how to do things that were once more straightforward. Despite the ways of the roving herds — I don't want to sit and give myself carpal tunnel click-clicking drop down menus when the old-style command-shift-F (e.g.) and a few tab keys to enter a value works with half the effort. At this stage, I am investigating whether all that re-learning would be better applied toward one of the freeware/open source options, which achieve essentially the same goals, but with a learning curve, put the user back in a driver's seat (albeit less attractive GUI) as opposed to navigating all these noisy interfaces. I \*wish\* Quark came with 2 modes: basic - for those who aren't trained graphics people and want to just make 'stuff' with software; and Pro - where the whole thing launches in a scaled-back mode, reinstating the quick keys and dialog-boxes, and is paired way down on all these menus and popups and tabbed toolbars. Pros Quark is still the only superior graphics software (Sorry not sorry Adobe) that allows typesetting for traditional graphic design. However, there are cons. Cons 1\. the interface has become unrecognizable and completely over-bloated in an effort to compete with Adobe. We used to KNOW all the quick keys for efficient working. I want to design my layouts, not have layers of unnecessary click-clicks and menu pull-downs to do what was once more straightforward. - 2. The CONSTANT "updates" are absolutely off-putting and NAGWARE to the point I had to find a way to disable the updater. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Sometimes multiple times per day this thing is auto-launching and driving you nuts. 3. Subscriptions are overpriced (as is with all software these days). You used to buy a version - it was yours. Features dictated whether you upgraded or not. Now, it's just an endless cycle of "upgrades" and fees. - 4. The registration is OVERKILL. Constant checks (via said updater) and seems like the purchase is through a third-party, while you can't launch the software without a user-password login. (Haven't tried but wonder what happens if you're offline in an airport, trying to work). 5. I don't ever want a notification from Quark, or any other work software. Ever. Review Source R Reviewer Graphic Designer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Long-time User" December 17, 2025 4.0 I have used QuarkXPress since its first iteration. Each upgrade has added more features. Over all, my experience with QuarkXPress has been positive. The software is powerful and kept up-to-date. However, using the software today, I need to often work around dozens of features that I don't need (and quite frankly don't understand) to complete my page layouts for print. It would be nice to see a more streamlined interface and feature set. But I use the software everyday and find it quite reliable, and it has definitely given me every tool I need to complete my work for over 30 years. Pros I like the ease-of-use and appreciate the many typographic tools available for precise copy fitting. Cons The licensing and activation of the product is cumbersome and confusing. There is one site where I purchase the product and can track my purchases, and then I need to go to another site and log in again to see my serials and activation information. Review Source R Reviewer Operations Manager Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Desktop publishing at it's finest" December 17, 2025 4.0 Quark is easy to understand and feature rich. Each years upgrades keep adding to it's list of advantages. Pros Easy to understand without long instructions. Features for all types of publishing work. Quick startup and document loading. Cons I've had crash problems up until recently. Seemed to happen when just scrolling or minor movements. Now about to upgrade and a little worried. Review Source R Reviewer Illustrator and Designer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Long Lasting Reliability" December 17, 2025 5.0 Quark Xpress is clearly excellence in product capabilities. For me, as a designer I had over 36 years of experience . They were there in the transition period from hand-cut Ruby Lift “Print Ready” boards. Each page numbered and laid out-with the little registration marks for multiple ink color separations. I remember stacks of boards to create simple newsletters and booklets to letterhead designs. Those were the days where typesetter’s-were crucial for a designers like me. Especially if you wanted the latest font options. Very memorable times, lol! Pros I’m a “Quark Lifer” since the late 80’s. It’s my go to create pages easily! The technology has always kept up with the best of the best tools to create amazing documents, posters, books and an array of marketing materials. Cons Only thing that comes to mind, is the common issue with any technology, not long enough support for older versions of their software. Review Source Aleksandar D. CEO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Old-timer in prepress industry with interactive make-up" April 11, 2022 4.0 In general I am satisfied. It works very stabile. Output - pdf output - is perfect for prepress, HTML5 site of publication is excellent and work as soon as you drop it on ftp server. Pros If you work on book, or you need HTML5 or android/iPhone version of your publication, without additional costs, choose QuarkXPress. In one program you can do everything you need to satisfy your publishing needs. But, if you need more "artistic" look of your publication, Adobe and Affinity suites, even Corel, are better solutions. Cons It is slow as slow as you hardisk, not your CPU or graphic card. QuarkXPress use too many time more hd than memory cache. Second "least" is price, and it cost too much, and there are no upgrade for 50% or more offs. Review Source R Reviewer CFO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "RT Review 251215" December 16, 2025 4.0 Excellent. I have been using it for 5 years. Our publication is always very well received by our readers (2200 copies distributed) Pros Quality of page structuring pages and resizing pictures. Facility to export tp pdf for publishing (required by our print shop) Cons Not enough flexibility to move boxes and restructure document. I am using QuarkXpress to publish our association newsletter and reviews require many changes that are somewhat difficult to organize Review Source Vivien L. Art director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "My all-time favorite" October 13, 2025 5.0 Pros Of all the desktop publishing software I have worked on this is absolutely my favorite, it is totally logical and I love all the features which make my work easy. Cons I’m disappointed that I can’t work on Photoshop files directly in this program, and it would be great if they’re in the future could integrate it. Review Source R Reviewer owner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Makes life run so much smoother" December 16, 2025 4.0 We've been using Quark for over 26 years and our company productivity has improved each year. It seems to be a good fit for our business. Pros Quark XPress has been user friendly and a great value for the production of our monthly publication. Cons Wish our graphics team had more time for additional training to learn all of the tools and short cuts. Wish the cost wasn't so expensive. Review Source R Reviewer Sole Trader Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "The Quark XPress Experiance" December 17, 2025 5.0 I have used Quark for the past forty plus years for all my document production needs and it the very best to use when creating documents. Pros Quark is the most important document production software that exists. Using it makes the production of documents have the correct style and presentation that shows that a professional job has been achieved. It has the ability to move pages around which no other software is able to do , this means that if a page is in the wrong place then it is so easy to move it, plus having a list showing all the pages means it is possible to keep track on the overal size of the document. Cons The new 2025 Version layout has been made more complicated to find the various features that are need to produce a document, previous access to facilities was far easier to find and use. Review Source Mick L. Owner Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "QuarkXpess User Friendy" December 16, 2025 5.0 Having used this gem since its inception it's always my first choice graphics package. The upgrades always add value and productivity enhancements to an already great package. I intend to use QuarkXpress for the forseable future on all my projects. Pros Ease of use and tasks made simple whatever the workload. Have created numerous projects and the conversion to .pdf for print is perfect. Cons Conversion of eps files sometime does not convert totally when I import from Adobe software and convert to line but if I leave as original I have no problems. Review Source Similar Products Featured