QuarkXPress Power Shortcuts
Book Review

QuarkXPress Power Shortcuts
David Blatner
PeachPit Press
ISBN: 0-7897-2433-2
Price: $21.99 US

Someone must think my last name is Nemorovski or something, what with all the book I have been getting via UPS the last few weeks. Fortunately, I am a fast reader, and I enjoy reading computer books, so writing reviews of free books is a small price to pay for to learn new things. And that is what this book, QuarkXPress Power Shortcuts, is all about. Learning new ways to use QuarkXPress, specifically many of the keyboard shortcuts to use while using QuarkXPress.

The book is 145 pages, not including the index. Each keyboard shortcut that is explained works with Mac and Windows, either platform specific or both computer platforms. Each is listed as either / or, so you can skip a shortcut if it does not apply to your computing environment.

The book is broke out into six main sections, each representing a different section of QuarkXPress. They are Palettes, Interface, Menus, Moving, Text, and Pictures and Lines. This is very handy, enabling you to quickly browse and find the keyboard shortcut you want to learn. As there are over 400 shortcuts listed in the book, you will find yourself going back to this book often. Other sections of the book cover Function Keys, Context-Sensitive Menus, Special Characters, The ANSI Character Set, and The Ten Best-Kept Secrets.

Like most books, this one also sports an index, though compared to many other books on the market today, QuarkXPress Power Shortcuts has an exceptional index. Bravo to PeachPit Press!

While this is a relatively thin book, it is packed with great content for any QuarkXPress user. The $21.99 price, however, seems a bit steep for a book I would not be willing to pay over fifteen bucks for. I would give this book a perfect five out of five rating if not for the larger price tag.

All in all, QuarkXPress Power Shortcuts makes a great reference for QuarkXPress users. This kind of documentation should be with a printed manual that ships with the product itself.

MacMice Rating: 4 out of 5