QuarkXPress™ is the industry standard page layout program. Although it is a professional level application with features that will handle virtually any pre-press circumstance that may occur, it is has a user-friendly, intuitive interface and is surprisingly easy to use.
QuarkXPress is designed for printed output. It is used for brochures, ads, newsletters and anything else that appears in print. Although Quark™ is not specifically made for web pages, there are utilities available such as Extensis® Beyond Press™ which can convert Quark pages into web pages.
A page layout program is like a word processor in that a document is built on a page. However, that is where the similarity ends because page layout programs, unlike word processors, allow the precise arrangement of text and images on the page. The first step in making a new document is the creation of the page itself. You determine the page size and dimensions and, like a graphic artist’s drawing board, Quark opens up a work area that looks like a blank page with a pasteboard on either side.
Basic Objects - Boxes and Lines
Quark is box-oriented so layouts are built by placing boxes on the page. They are drawn onto the page with the mouse. The type of box is determined by its content. A box can contain either text or an image, or it can contain nothing at all. Thus a box is either a "text box", a "picture box" or an empty box.
Boxes and line objects can be precisely positioned on the page. There are 72 points to an inch and objects can be positioned to within 1/1000th of a point. That's more than enough precision required for any job. The user selects the measurement system. Measurements can be set up in inches (standard or decimal), picas, points, millimetres, centimetres, Cicero’s or Agates.
Object Shape, Outline and Color Properties
A box can be rectangular (or square), oval (or round), or polygonal (any number of sides). Previous versions of Quark limited the shapes of lines, boxes and polygons to straight line segments but the latest version allows curved line segments using Bezier curves more on Bezier curves.
An assortment of dashed and solid lines and preset frames are provided to vary the appearance an object's outline (or frame). Thus, shadow boxes can be made as well as a number of other effects. Anything that can't be done along this line directly in Quark can be drawn using Adobe® Illustrator® or another illustration program, then imported into Quark in a box and placed on the page.
Colors can be defined using any of the established color models - RGB, CMYK, HSB and LAB. Swatches from standard spot color systems are also supplied (PANTONE®, TOYO, DIC, TRUMATCH and FOCOLTONE). Each document contains is its own user-defined color palette. Colors can be created from scratch or copied from other documents and the supplied color swatches. Stroke (outline) and fill properties are applied to objects just like in illustration programs so the concepts learned in these applications apply here as well. Tools
The Tools palette
The Tools palette includes the following controls:
Use the Item tool to select, move, resize, and reshape items (boxes, lines, text paths, and groups). When the Item tool is not selected, you can press Command/Ctrl to temporarily access the Item tool. Use the Text Content tool to draw text boxes and work with text in boxes. Use the Picture Content tool to draw picture boxes and work with pictures in boxes.
Use the Linking tool to link text boxes.
Use the Unlinking tool to unlink text boxes.
Use the Rectangle Box tool to create a rectangular box. To draw a square box, press and hold Shift while drawing.
Use the Oval Box tool to create an oval box. To create a circular box, press and hold Shift while drawing. Use the Composition Zones tool to create a Composition Zones box. Use the Star Box tool to create a star-shaped box.
Use the Line tool to create straight diagonal lines of any angle. To constrain a line angle to 45 degrees, press and hold Shift while drawing. Use the Bézier Pen tool to create Bézier lines and boxes. To constrain a line angle to 45 degrees, press and hold Shift while drawing. Use the Add Point tool to add a point to any type of path. Adding a point to a content box automatically turns the content box into a Bézier item. Use the Remove Point tool to remove a point from any type of path.
Use the Convert Point tool to automatically convert corner points to curve points, and curve points to corner points. Click and drag to change the position of a point, the curve of a curved line segment, or the position of a straight line segment. Select this tool and click a rectangular box or straight line to convert the item to a Bézier box or line.
Use the Scissors tool to cut an item into distinct paths.
Use the Select Point tool to select curves or points so that you can move them or delete them. Press Shift and click to select multiple points. Option-click/Alt-click a point to make it symmetrical.
Use the Freehand Line tool to draw any shape line or box you want. If you don’t close a freehand box, it remains a line. To automatically close a freehand box, press Option/Alt. Use the Tables tool to create a table.
Use the Zoom tool to enlarge or reduce the document view.
Use the Pan tool to reposition the active layout.
Note: After you draw a box, select the Text Content tool or the Picture Content tool , depending what you want in the box. You can also use key commands to declare the box content type: Press T while drawing to declare Picture content or press R while drawing to declare Text content. Note: For more information about Bézier boxes and lines, see “Creating Bézier boxes” and “Creating Bézier lines.” Note: To add text to a line or path, select the Text Content tool and double-click the line or path. Note: For more information about Composition Zones, see “Creating a Composition Zones item.” Note: Windows users can display the Tools palette (Windows menu) horizontally, as well as vertically. To display the palette horizontally, Ctrl+double-click the title bar.
Tool key commands
When no text box or text path is active, you can switch tools quickly using the following key commands:
Item tool: V Text Content tool: T (press Escape to deselect the active text box so you can switch to another tool) Text Linking tool: T Text Unlinking tool: T Picture Content tool: R Rectangle Box tool: B Oval Box tool: B Starburst tool: B Composition Zones tool: B Line tool: L Bézier Pen tool: P Add Point tool: P Remove Point tool: P Convert Angle tool: P Scissors tool: P Select Point tool: P Freehand Line tool: P Tables tool: G Zoom tool: Z Pan tool: X
