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OTTO opts for an upgrade to QuarkXPress 7

All OTTO catalogues will soon be produced using the latest upgrade of the professional layout and design software

HAMBURG, GERMANY - 3/17/2008 -

Quark Inc. announced today that the international mail-order retailer OTTO has chosen to upgrade to QuarkXPress 7. OTTO will transfer the production of its catalogues to the latest version of the professional layout and design software during the first half of 2008. The first items to be produced using QuarkXPress 7 will be the main OTTO mail-order catalogue, and the Refashion, Wohntrend (home furnishings) and Colours for Life catalogues.

Since spring 2005, the main OTTO catalogue has been published three times a year, with a total print-run of some 20 million copies. In addition, OTTO publishes numerous specialist catalogues. All in all OTTO, with a staff of about 4,100, sends out 60 or so different catalogues per season, with a total print-run of 109 million copies.

OTTO is a pioneer among German mail-order companies in implementing a shorter production time for its 'Big Book', their main catalogue. The rapid production cycles of the catalogue, more than 1,000 pages long, poses particular challenges for OTTO: “Besides the necessity of presenting the items on offer attractively, economic viability and security of catalogue production are also key factors. This is where the new and inspirational functions of QuarkXPress 7 — such as drop-shadows, colour-based transparencies, Job Jackets and Composition Zones — offer broader options for optimization to our graphic designers and for technical implementation at the printing stage”, says Achim Rieper, head of the Department for Production and Technology.

As early as 1995 OTTO was presenting its catalogue selection online and in parallel on CD-ROM. As a forward-looking company, OTTO backed multichannel selling early on. Therefore graphic designers at OTTO greatly appreciate the opportunity to use Quark Interactive Designer for creating Flash (SWF) animations for the Internet or preparing them conceptually straight from QuarkXPress 7 without any kind of programming knowledge. “This gives us optimum cooperation between printed and online communications channels“, comments Matthias Wickel, technical production director at OTTO. “We think that Quark Interactive Designer for cross media publishing and Quark Job Jackets for ensuring production specifications are met are the most compelling advantages, compared with InDesign. Furthermore we are testing whether Composition Zones could be an alternative to our present workflow, regarding our text production and correction process.”

Axel R. Paesike, director sales and services Central Europe at Quark, says: "With the decision to upgrade to QuarkXPress 7, OTTO will be able to make the best possible use of the existing expertise of its staff using our layout and design software. There will be no need for lengthy, expensive training courses. Furthermore QuarkXPress 7 offers all of the necessary tools for a business that is an expert in multichannel publishing: printed, online, and interactive layouts from a single application — particularly intuitive and users don’t need any programming knowledge.”

To learn more about how well known brands and designers are harnassing the power of QuarkXPress 7 to create inspiring designs please visit www.ilovedesign.com.

About OTTO
OTTO was founded by Werner Otto as 'Otto Versand' on 17 August, 1949. Since then the Hamburg-based Otto mail-order business has grown into a globally active retail and services group now trading as the OTTO Group. The main emphasis of the OTTO range, numbering 130,000 items, lies in fashion and textiles. The successful multichannel seller is also represented in over-the-counter retailing by 800 OTTO shops. OTTO is a company within the OTTO Group, an international retail and services group with more than 55,000 employees on three continents — currently the largest mail-order group in the world.

About Quark
Quark Inc. (euro.quark.com/en) provides both desktop publishing and dynamic publishing software that helps customers design and publish richly designed communications across a broad spectrum of media. Two decades ago, our flagship product - QuarkXPress - changed the course of traditional publishing. Today, not only does QuarkXPress continue to innovate in the desktop publishing market, but now Quark is revolutionizing publishing again with Quark Dynamic Publishing Solution, helping customers cost-effectively meet enterprise-scale publishing challenges by extending the benefits of advanced technologies across the publishing process. Denver-based Quark Inc. is privately held.

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