David Blatner’s Post

Saw the cover of the book and it took me right back to my time spent in the B. Dalton and Waldenbooks at the mall (just before hitting Aladdin's Castle with my pile of quarters). This was around the time I first got into graphic design, with QuarkXPress, Photoshop 3.0 and Illustrator 88. Those were the best of times! Ah, you could throw a penny in any direction and get a job if you only knew those 3. You were considered a magician, a pioneer of the new digital realms. The number of times I heard people say "how did you do that?!" with glee in their eyes. Now, there's less enthusiasm, more of just the expected. You're required to know the entire Adobe Creative cloud, Figma, Blender, 3D animation, Video Editing, everything that is Social Media, UX/UI design – just to land an entry-level position. And now, shortly AI will displace us all (darker, ominous vibes these days). Thanks for this reminder of better times in our industry. I raise a glass to the fond memories of learning from your early books, and to the advice you offered so many of us lucky enough to have been in the field for so long. It's only right to say "thank you". ...To the golden years!!!

Don’t call it closure; call it “collect for output.” 😎😎

Congrats on that success. I remember using Quark, back before InDesign was invented. I recognize a few of those Peachpit names. They were fun to work with and I always enjoyed their author parties at Mac World, at House Of Shields if I recall.

I'm pretty sure we were referencing that book regularly when we were learning Quark at my print shop production job.

Gawd I sure loved working with you, David Blatner! 💚 I must giggle a bit, though, recalling all the excitement leading up to the first release of InDesign, touted as the "Quark Killer," met with surprise as it didn't live up to all the hype. But then InDesign 2 hit the market, you co-wrote with Christopher Smith and Steve Werner "InDesign for QuarkXPress Users" and "Moving to InDesign," and nearly every designer I knew switched over to ID. But I'm glad it wasn't a total Quark Killer — I quite fancied Quark.

I remember those days way back when you help my father up his game and using a computer for printing.

Was Quark the first Open House book?

Must say, QuarkXpress version 3 changed a LOT of things for many of us. From then on we could handle complex publications, from A to Z, and be confident in our work. Before, it was PageMaker - no Color separations, and moreover, not so robust as Xpress.

David, your books and expertise in Publishing Software world made you both then and know the most valued opinion in the community. Quark Versus InDesign was the question few even asked when InDesign launched in 1999. Now its the opposite InDesign versus who? At launch time few had heard of InDesign. less would even try it! Your books and reviews of InDesign fueled confidence and drove change. Now a whole generation has not heard of Quark, but do know InDesign We live in interesting times. Your opinion carries weight with industry leaders and pagination specialists. You are as Morty said a Legend. I might add, a "Trusted Legend". Thank you! This book by you fuel momentum: https://www.amazon.com/Moving-InDesign-About-QuarkXPress-PageMaker/dp/0321294114/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2Z9HI5WSP5XND&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.4TalKuEeBnfc16YoT1JgZiTnL1aMTto2j220rnnVHAiLBuLPwlbi6Y4rD_TWyfspm2oq5pAw8rcW3RFSNhJPKuDyIG__GQvunxUhitD4le-LTetQds4V20jxAn_NzcXZVIZ-PPy1BeBqLY2AtwncfPe2iFGgsTVKXz-uNHz2v27ieHW5aGJtTDYAs07Lm8x31KQdlRNRpFeR4O2k6Y30J2JFk93iSmhR-imaVhiBB5k.XwPHsaxV5j7fDF-37q_fbBRVR8fIUYN08x3hwn4uXks&dib_tag=se&keywords=David+Blatner+Indesign&qid=1749684783&s=books&sprefix=david+blatner+indesign%2Cstripbooks%2C154&sr=1-2

I think there should be some kind of hall of fame that I would like to induct you into .