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> InDesign is coming on strong, but lacks the third-party
>support of Quark and (last I heard) is still a bit shaky.
InDesign 2.0 is reputedly quite stable and the people who have both Quark and ID are doing more and more work in ID. That said, it still have very little market penetration compared to Quark. If the workflow is PDF to the service bureau, I'd recommend InDesign over Quark. If the workflow is native files to the service bureau, Quark is probably the way to go, with the understanding that a few years down the road, you may be kicking yourself about maintaining all those damn Quark legacy files after finally making the switch to InDesign.
I'm told the new Ventura Publisher is pretty sharp, but I think
>it's in much the same position as PageMaker--good, but fallen behind the
>others in the hearts and minds of designers.
Ventura is more in the Frame category than the PageMaker category, as I understand it; but, as you say, not many people care.
>3. Illustration software: Illustrator is still the one to beat, though
>CorelDraw and Freehand are close enough behind that it may come down to a
>matter of which software best suits your working style.
Here I've got to disagree with you, Geoff. There are a lot of compatibility issues between Illustrator and the other two. This is a case where it definitely pays to talk to the service bureau first. If they want you to send them EPS files from Illustrator, don't try sending EPS files from Draw or Freehand instead. Go with whichever package the service bureau recommends--and whatever compatibility level, too. This will save a LOT of grief in the end. If it means there are features in the software you can't use, it's best to learn that before you spend a lot of time on the artwork.
Dick
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