To input or import text in QuarkXPress, you first have to create a box to put it. You can also flow text along a path or enter it in table cells. QuarkXPress has five tools that are expressly used for creating different-shaped text boxes, as well as two Bézier Text Box tools, four Text-Path tools, and a Tables tool. In addition, you can convert any item into a text box or text path.
In QuarkXPress 7.0, new text boxes are transparent by default—that is, they are created with a background color of None. To learn about adding color to a text box or path, see pages 267–271.
Note: If you check Automatic Text Box in the New Project dialog box when you create a project, every page in the default layout will contain a text box within the margin guides. This box is used to flow text from page to page, and you’ll learn about it in the next chapter. For now, you can delete the automatic text box if it gets in the way: click it, then press Cmd-K/Ctrl-K (or, if you’re in a lousy mood, Cmd-Option-Shift-K/Ctrl-Alt-Shift-K might cheer you up—no, it’s not a virus, it’s a feature).
Every box in QuarkXPress, no matter its shape, is contained within a rectangular, non-printing bounding box which has handles at each corner and in the middle of each side . When you resize a text box, you are manipulating its bounding box.
or
To resize the box proportionally, hold down Option-Shift/Alt-Shift while dragging. (Hold down Shift without Option/Alt to turn the bounding box into a square.) Release the modifier keys after you release the mouse.
Make sure the point of the cursor arrow is directly over one of the box handles before pressing the mouse. The cursor will change into a pointing-hand icon.
To see your changes in real time, pause after clicking a handle of a text box but before dragging. The text wrap will update continuously as you drag (the pointer will turn into a cluster of arrows). The length of the pause required before dragging can be adjusted in Preferences (see page 364).
Hold down Shift as you drag to constrain the movement to a horizontal or vertical axis. Release the mouse before releasing Shift. To use ruler guides to position an item, see page 203.
Use the Measurements palette to move the upper-left corner of an item to a precise X/Y location, relative to the ruler origin.
To use arithmetic in the X, Y, W, or H field—for example, to make a box 4p taller—enter “+” after the current number, then the amount you want to add. To subtract, enter “-”; to multiply, enter “*”; or to divide, enter “/”.
Make sure View > Invisibles is checked (Cmd-I/Ctrl-I) to reveal paragraph returns, spaces, and other non-printing characters.
To move text inward from the sides of its box, select the box, use the Text tab of the Measurements palette or the Item < Modify dialog box to adjust Text Inset (see page 71). And remember, you can always move the text box downward on the page!
If a text box is too small to display all the text that it contains, a text overflow symbol appears in the lower-right corner of the box . The text overflow symbol will disappear if the text box is enlarged enough to display all the type that it contains or if the box is linked to another box for the text to spill into.
The text overflow symbol doesn’t print; it’s merely an indicator that there’s hidden text in the buffer. Only text that’s visible in a box will print.
If pages are mysteriously added to your layout when a text box becomes full, it means Auto Page Insertion is on in QuarkXPress (Edit, in Windows) > Preferences > Print Layout > General.
or
Use one of these fast-clicking methods –:
or
To select a whole story, click in a text box, then choose Edit > Select All (Cmd-A/Ctrl-A). Hidden overflow text, if any, will be included in the selection. A story is all the text in a box, plus any boxes that it’s linked to.
Note: If the Item tool is active when you choose Select All, all items on the currently displayed page or spread and surrounding pasteboard will become selected instead!
or
Click in a text box at the beginning of a text string, then Shift-click at the end of the text string.
or
To select from the current cursor position to the end of a story: Cmd-Option-Shift-down arrow/Ctrl-Alt-Shift-down arrow. (See page 424 for more shortcuts.)
or
To select a series of words, double-click the first word, keep the mouse button down on the second click, then drag. Or triple-click, then drag downward to select a series of lines.
or
First select the text you want to delete (see the previous page) . Then in Mac OS X, press Delete or choose Edit > Clear. In Windows, press Backspace or Delete or choose Edit > Delete.
To delete the character to the right of the cursor, press the del/Delete key on an extended keyboard or press Shift-Delete on a nonextended keyboard.
The Line Text-Path tool and Orthogonal Text-Path tool are discussed below. The Bézier Text-Path and Freehand Text-Path tools are discussed in Chapter 18.
or
To draw a straight-line path at any angle, choose the Line Text-Path tool .
If you want to draw several text paths in quick succession, hold down Option/Alt when choosing the text-path tool. The tool will remain active after you draw the path.
Choose the Item or Content tool, click the item you want to delete, then choose Item > Delete (Cmd-K/Ctrl-K).
or
Choose the Item tool, and click the item you want to delete. Then in Mac OS X, press Delete or choose Edit > Clear. In Windows, press Delete or Backspace or choose Edit > Delete.
The Clipboard is a holding area that stores one cut or copied selection at a time. The current contents of the Clipboard can be retrieved an unlimited number of times via the Paste command. The current Clipboard contents will be replaced if you invoke the Copy or Cut command in any application, and will be deleted if you turn off your computer.
or
Choose Edit > Copy (Cmd-C/Ctrl-C) to place a copy of the selected text on the Clipboard and leave the selected text in its current location.
The Clipboard can also be used to cut or copy any type of box, line, or group when the Item tool is selected, or a picture if the Content tool is chosen. Paste using the same tool that was used to Cut or Copy—unless you want the item to be anchored (see page 199)!
You can use the Drag and Drop Text feature to move or copy text quickly without having to use the Cut, Copy, or Paste command. You can drag and drop text within the same box or between linked boxes or table cells (a story), but not between unlinked boxes or cells. This is a very handy feature for making quick copyedits.
Note: To enable the drag-and-drop feature, go to QuarkXPress (Edit, in Windows) > Preferences > Application > Input Settings, then check Drag and Drop Text .
In Mac OS X only, if the Drag and Drop Text option is off, you can still perform the command: Cmd-Control-drag the text to move it or Cmd-Control-Shift-drag to move a copy of it.
or
To move a copy of the text, hold down Shift while dragging the blinking insertion point to a new location (a hollow box and a plus sign will also display as you drag).
Text that is dragged and dropped is also placed on the Clipboard, but you won’t be aware of it unless you use the Paste command or choose Edit > Show Clipboard.
The text inset is the blank space between text and the four edges of the box that contains it. A Text Inset value greater than zero should be applied to any box that has a frame in order to create breathing space between the text and the frame. You used to have to open the Modify dialog box to change the values, but in QuarkXPress 7 you can use the Text tab of the Measurements palette.
or
To enter a different Text Inset value for each edge of a rectangular text box, check Multiple Insets –, then enter Top, Left, Bottom, and Right values.
Even though we’re showing you how to adjust text using (for the most part) the new and improved Measurements palette in QuarkXPress 7.0, our old friend, the Modify dialog box, is still available for the same adjustments. We just think the Measurements palette is more convenient.
These instructions apply to text boxes, picture boxes, and contentless boxes.
To remove a frame, select the box, choose Item > Frame again, then enter 0 in the Width field.
You can also use the Frame tab of the Measurements palette to design a frame. Make sure to choose a width first, so the results of your other changes will appear instantly.
To move the first line of text down from the top of its box, select the box, click the Text tab on the Measurements palette, then enter a First Baseline Offset value greater than 0 and press Return/Enter . This value will be added to the current Text Inset value. From the First Baseline Minimum menu, choose whether, at minimum, the first line of text will be offset from the top of the box as measured from the line’s largest Cap Height, Cap + Accent [mark], or Ascent (top of the tallest character, as in an “l”or a “T”) –.
or
Display the Text tab of the Measurements palette, check Multiple Insets, then enter a higher Top Text Inset value and press Return/Enter.
or
This may feel like cheating, but sometimes simplest is best: Just yank the whole box downward on the page with the Item tool. This works as long as the box isn’t framed.
The flip commands flip all the text in a box, but not the box itself. Text can be modified in its flipped position.
or
Click the Flip Horizontal and/or Flip Vertical button on the Classic tab or Text tab of the Measurements palette –.
To rotate all the text in a box—without rotating its box—follow these instructions. To rotate text and its box, see the following page.
Skewing a text box slants the text as well . The effect is sometimes referred to as “false italic.” To skew text, follow either set of instructions above, except on the Text tab of the Measurements palette enter a value between –75 and 75 in the Text Skew field, then press Return/Enter. Or in the Modify dialog box, click the Box tab and enter a Text Skew value between –75 and 75.
You can rotate a text box a specific angle by entering a number into the Measurements palette (or in the Item > Modify dialog box). If you use this method, the center of the box will always be the axis of rotation. Using the Rotation tool to rotate a box, on the other hand, allows you to choose the axis.
The Vertical Alignment options affect all the text contained in a rectangular box. Leading (line spacing) and interparagraph spacing, which affect one or more paragraphs, are discussed in Chapter 6.
Vertical justification won’t work if the justified text box is behind another box that has a Runaround setting other than None. To make justification work, click the Runaround tab and change the Type to None for the top box.
If you’ve chosen Centered alignment and your text happens not to have any descenders (characters that extend below the baseline), you may need to Baseline Shift the type down slightly to make it look more centered (see page 129).
Follow either set of instructions on this page to change the number of columns and/or the gutter width in an individual box. To change the non-printing margin and column guides or to change the number of columns in a box originating from a master page, follow the instructions on page 247.
and/or
Change the Gutter value for the blank space between the columns (Text tab only).
and/or
Change the Gutter Width value for the blank space between the columns.
You can save text from a QuarkXPress file as a separate file into any of these formats: Plain Text, XPress Tags, Rich Text, WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, or HTML. You can save all the text in a story, or just a selected portion.
or
Click in a story.
or
Control-click/Right-click and choose Save Text from the context menu.
To learn more about XPress Tags, see the QuarkXPress documentation or Real World QuarkXPress 7 by David Blatner (Peachpit Press).
Keep in mind that fonts are not managed by QuarkXPress and they are activated (installed) or de-activated by your operating system or by third-party font management software. QuarkXPress does not come with fonts and it does not control which ones are available on your computer. That’s all up to you. Some fonts do come with your system software and with other applications, and you can buy more from sources such as www.adobe.com, www.linotype.com, and www.myfonts.com.
When you’re working on any type of professional publishing, you absolutely need a font management utility. A font manager shows you which fonts are active on your computer, which fonts you have available, and what they look like. In addition, many font managers let you create sets of fonts to activate manually for specific projects, and sets of fonts that are activated when you launch specific applications. Font managers may also provide automatic font activation as you open documents (thereby preventing the dreaded “missing fonts” alert) and means for exporting fonts.
Mac OS X comes with a basic font manager, FontBook. For more power, we recommend Suitcase Fusion (www.extensis.com) or FontAgent Pro (www.insidersoftware.com). For Windows, try Suitcase (www.extensis.com) or FontExpert 2006 (www.proximasoftware.com). Or, to save money, you can consult your system’s Help file to learn about managing fonts.
In professional publishing it’s importantto use the exact same fonts throughout an entire workflow—from design to output. And when we say “exact same fonts,” we don’t mean any old font named “Helvetica” or “Times” or “Garamond.” Fonts come in many flavors, from OpenType to TrueType to PostScript, and from different vendors in bewilderingly different versions. It’s not at all uncommon to have the same font in three slightly different versions: Adobe Garamond 1.000, 1.001, 1.002. But should you care? Yes! Using different versions of the same font, particularly in different formats or from different foundries and possibly in different versions, can cause your text to reflow and ruin a layout. If you are working crossplatform, passing files back and forth between Mac OS and Windows, we suggest you use OpenType fonts, which flow the same on both platforms.