DENVER -- February 11, 2004 -- Quark Inc. today announced the release of QuarkXPress 6.1, a software update that includes many performance enhancements including support for Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther." Registered customers of QuarkXPress 6 can obtain the update at no charge. Better integration with Microsoft Excel Featuring improved integration with Microsoft Excel, QuarkXPress 6.1 software allows users to import text, picture, and chart data directly into QuarkXPress 6.1 from an Excel workbook. QuarkXPress 6.1 will also import an entire spreadsheet or a range of cells while respecting hyperlink data contained in the spreadsheet. Convenience and ease of use Mac OS users will benefit from the Edit Original XTensions module, which gives users the ability to select a picture, then open and edit it in the user's preferred image editing application. Edit Original is available for Mac OS only. Additionally, users can create and manage rules to govern automatic font substitution with the new font mapping utility included in QuarkXPress 6.1. Font substitution rules can be imported and exported, so rules can be shared among multiple users, while font mapping rules can be applied to QuarkXPress projects and project templates as well as legacy documents and templates. QuarkXPress Passport 6.1 also provides an XDK framework for adding spell checking and hyphenation support for supplemental languages. Operating system requirements QuarkXPress 6.1 requires Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar" or later. On the Windows platform, it requires Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Pricing and availability The QuarkXPress 6.1 update will be available at no charge to registered users of QuarkXPress 6. The software is available for download from www.quark.com. Customers can also call customer service at 800.676.4575 to order the update on CD-ROM.