Format: QuarkXPress tips
Guide Manager XTension, version 1.4, the first QuarkXPress 5.0 XTension is available for downloading. Search from <http://www.quark.com/>. Mac and Windows versions are available. Guide Manager gives greater control over the placement of guides in documents and spreads, allowing you to create, lock, or remove a guide grid.
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An Arabic edition of QuarkXPress 4.1 was released this month. Users can specify that document text flows either right-to-left or left-to-right and create paragraphs that flow in opposite directions, all with appropriate support for rulers, tabs, and indents. Styles can be applied to both Arabic and Roman text, and users can check the spelling of Arabic, English, or mixed text simultaneously.
QuarkXPress Arabic Edition is available for Windows only from Layout Ltd of Beirut, Dubai, and Cairo. See <http://www.layoutltd.com>.
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Updated free XTensions for QXP5 (Mac and Windows) are:
Jabberwocky 1.1: to fill text boxes and paths with "greek" or "gobbledygook" text for layout purposes. You can choose from English, Esperanto, Klingon and Latin; or create your own "language".
Shape of Things 1.0: makes star-shaped boxes.
Super Step & Repeat 1.3: lets you scale, rotate, and skew duplicate items as you create them.
Type Tricks 1.5: combines features of the previously available Thing-a-ma-bob, Bobzilla, and Stars & Stripes XTensions for QXP3.3. These include Make Fraction; Make Price; Remove Manual Kerning; Word Space Tracking; and Line Check.
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Quark have released the International English edition QuarkXPress 5.0, and, for publishers with multiple-seat installations there is new license management software. Quark License Administrator is a server-based system that lets site administrators create customized user pools and assign customized access privileges to each group. The server can be configured to allow remote users to check out software for use off the network as well as to acquire additional licenses to meet the needs of changing workflows. No more domgles, at least for the top end of the international market.
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You can have too much memory for QuarkXPress 5.0 for Windows. More than 2GB in total of installed RAM and swap file under 2000, XP or NT can cause errors stating "Insufficient Memory" or "Insufficient Disk Space".
The workaround is to reduce the amount of Virtual Memory; by default, Windows uses a paging file equal to 1.5 times the total amount of installed RAM. Reducing the paging file will allow QXP 5.0 to function but don't cut it to zero or you'll have trouble with programs like Photoshop. The problem cannot occur in Win 95, 98 or ME because those OSs cannot use over 1 GB of RAM.
The Mac OS edition of QuarkXPress 5.0 will experience this problem only if you manually allocate 1 GB of memory or higher in its Get Info window and if you are running Mac OS X.
Quark say they have fixed the problem in the next update and the fix will be incorporated into the Passport and International English editions when they are released.
We've heard of similar problems in other programs on systems with lots of memory, so this solution may work in such cases.
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BigPicture XT, for managing picture links in QuarkXPress, is new from Badia Software. See <http://www.badiaxt.com/bigpicture.html>. US$59.99 with a 349kb demo available (Mac only).
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The QuarkCopyDesk Filter lets you import text from QuarkCopyDesk or QuarkCopyDesk Special Edition articles into QuarkXPress or QuarkXPress Passport documents. It also lets you save QuarkXPress or Passport text in QuarkCopyDesk format. This can be used with QuarkXPress 4.1 and later or QuarkXPress Passport 4.1 and later and can be downloaded from the same Quark site as above.
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Users of QuarkXPress Passport, which requires a hardware key (or dongle), and who upgrade from Windows 95, 98 or ME to Windows XP, will need to download a driver for the key. Windows NT and Windows 2000 already needed such a driver. See <http://www.quark.com/>
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If you are getting "out of memory" errors occasionally with QXP 3.3x, check the size of the partition XPress is operating from. It seems such problems can be caused by partitions of around 4GB or more.
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If you place a TIFF file in QuarkXPress with a background of none it will clip the file based on the low resolution preview that it has built when it imports the file. If any areas near the outside of the box are white, or close to white, QXP will clip these areas out, thinking that they are meant to be transparent. It doesn't happen with eps files. Setting the background to white or 0% black fixes the problem.
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You can combine pages from multiple QuarkXPress documents by drag and drop of thumbnail pages but there's also a script by David Lloyd in his Xpress script package at <http://www.kanzu.com> 160kb. It's free or costs US$10 if you want the editable set. The programs also include: XS Matrix (lay out a grid of picture boxes or text boxes), XS Slice (slice up a box - if it contains an image that gets sliced too), XS FontBook (catalog your font collection), and more.
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Adding the command key to any of QuarkXPress's various space options makes them non-breaking. An EN space (Option-Spacebar) becomes non-breaking as Command-Option-Spacebar, punctuation space (Shift-Space) becomes non-breaking as Command-Shift-Space, and flex space (the width for which is set in document preferences), Option-Shift-Space won't break when it is Command-Option-Shift-Space.
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QuarkXPress isn't the only program that puts potentially dangerous commands next to often used innocuous ones -- such as Go To Page (Command J) being next to Command K which is "Delete selected item" and you can remap the keys with something like QuicKeys. However you may also like to look at LiveKeys at <http://www.badiaxt.com/livekeys.html> which not only remaps the keys but updates the entries in the QXP menus. It is available for Mac or Windows and costs US$39.99 with a 280kb demo download available.
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If you downloaded Enhance Preview XT - Special Edition and have had problems with preferences in QuarkXPress, download the updater. Koyosha reposted this software after fixing this problem: <http://www.koyosha.com/xt/support/updater.html>
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ALAP has released ImageAdjuster 1.0, a new color correction XTension for QuarkXPress. This enables color corrections of CMYK, RGB, and Grayscale TIFF images from within QuarkXPress via color adjustment layers. Details were given in Format 52.
Product Information is at <http://www.alap.com>. A full functioning 15-day demo for Mac or Windows is available.
ALAP has also issued updaters to a couple of its XTensions for QuarkXPress for the Mac. XPert Layers 1.1.2 is said to fix intermittent issues with selecting view groups when using XPert Layers under QuarkXPress Passport.
There's also an XPert Scale 1.1.2 updater which incorporates fixes to Flexographic printing of OPI images.
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On the Mac, go to the File menu in QuarkXPress 4 and, when the menu pops down, run the mouse over it, but do not select any item. Now move the mouse back to the menu bar. Let go anywhere in the menu bar. Quark thinks you want a new document which may cause some confusion for those who do not want anything.
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Modulo Systems, the developer and distributor of QPS (the editorial workflow system based around QuarkXPress) has introduced "gadgets" a suite of products to automate many advertising publishing processes including: Order entry for classified and display advertising, Display Ad Layout, Classified Pagination, Ad Tracking, Ad Makeup, Ad Reporting Archive, and Ad Scanning Compression. Details: <http://www.modulosystems.com> (which avoids the annoying Flash opening at their main site).
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Callas Software has released an update of the MadeToPrint XT. it now gives precise PDF page sizes and TrimBox/BleedBox information when converting QuarkXPress files to PDF. Distiller Job Options are also available directly. For details see <http://www.callas.de>. It is a free update for existing users.
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A Lowly Apprentice Production (ALAP) are beta testing a new XTension for QuarkXPress 4.1, called ImageAdjuster which seems to add some remarkable image manipulation functions. It will provide users with the ability to make adjustments to TIFF images inside QuarkXPress, including adjustments to levels, curves, color balance, brightness/contrast, hue/saturation, selective color, channel mixer, invert, threshold, and posterize. The XTension will also be able to save "adjustment sets" to apply to any Grayscale, RGB or CMYK TIFF image. (Mac only, we believe, at this stage).
The difference between this and the existing ImagePort XTension is that ImagePort imports Photoshop PSD files and lets you make adjustments within QXP, while ImageAdjuster allows you to add Photoshop color adjustment layers to any TIFF or Scitex CT RGB, CMYK or greyscale file.
For example, in ImageAdjuster you can alter the levels or curves of a TIFF on the spread, save that as a style, and apply that style to other images on the spread. Images get saved out to the extended TIFF file format, which means that the original image is preserved... you can open up the image again in ImageAjuster, remove all the colour adjustments, add more, tweak them, etc. ImageAdjuster can also open up extended TIFF files that were generated by Photoshop 6.
You'll find details of ImagePort at <http://www.alap.com> but nothing yet about the new XTension.
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If you just need a filter to import of native Photoshop images into QuarkXPress, without the ability for extensive adjustments, then look at the Photoshop Import XTensions (for versions 3 to 5 of Photoshop), from Techno Design: <http://www.techno-design.com>
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There are general QXP hints at <http://www.tri-techcanada.com/quark1.htm> though many would apply to any DTP program, such as "When running with spot colors, remember to change your screen angles for each color. As default, each spot color will image with the screen angle of black (45degrees). By changing the Screen value to cyan it will give the angles at least a 30% difference. If left unchanged each color angle will remain as black resulting in a moire pattern.(a motley screening effect.)"
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This is XPRessoBar's current "Tip of the Millennium": Quark's XTensions Manager moves XTensions into a folder called XTensions Disabled but doesn't completely prevent them from loading. They still use memory and can still cause problems. Make a new folder call it XTensions NOT LOADED and drag the XTensions you're not using there.
There is always new QuarkXPress info at <http://www.xpressobar.com/>
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In both QuarkXPress and PageMaker, if you double-click tools in the Toolbox palette you will open the preferences dialog for that tool if such a dialog exists.
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To switch between any tool and the Pointer tool in PageMaker, use F9. In QXP switch between the Content and Item tools, with Shift F8.
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To change the rulers' zero point in PageMaker or QXP, click in the ruler origin box (the point where both rulers meet) and drag to any point in your document. This will also determine where you begin printing when you use Manual Tiling in both programs. To reset the zero point to the default, simply click in the ruler origin box in QXP and double-click in PageMaker.
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In both QXP and PageMaker, holding down the Option key (Mac) or ALT (Win) will give you a Page Grabber Hand as your mouse pointer, that you can use to slide the page around on your screen.
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But one nice point only in QXP: To apply the style sheet of one paragraph to another paragraph, place the text insertion cursor in the destination paragraph and then Option-Shift Click (Mac) or ALT-Shift Click (Win) in the paragraph whose style you wish to copy. Local formatting is preserved.
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QUARKXPRESS GETS A TEXT EDITOR
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QuarkCopyDesk Special Edition is a standalone text editor which contains most of the expected word processing features for writing, editing, formatting, and outputting copy for publication. But it uses the same text processing engine as QuarkXPress, so layouts created in QuarkXPress can be exported to QuarkCopyDesk with a click of the mouse, and all typographic attributes -- such as style sheets, article geometry, and hyphenation and justification rules -- are maintained in the export process.
Writers and editors open an exported article in QuarkCopyDesk SE and view the layout exactly as designed in QXP. Although they can view all the graphic elements (which are exported as page pictures), only the text is editable. This ensures the design will not be inadvertently altered as the article is passed among reviewers. See: <http://www.quark.com/products/copydesk/>
Because the article's typographic attributes and geometry are exported verbatim from QuarkXPress, writers and editors using QuarkCopyDesk SE know the exact article length, down to the line and word count. When they return the article to the designer, who imports it back into the master QuarkXPress layout, it should fit perfectly, with text reflow virtually eliminated.
QuarkCopyDesk was originally created as part of Quark Publishing System, but is now available as a standalone product. Requiring "modest amounts of RAM and disk space", QuarkCopyDesk SE was "designed to run on many older computers and operating systems." It is priced at US$299 and will work on Mac OS7.6.1 and a PowerPC, or, for Windows, a 486 with 12MB RAM.
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One of the problems with OS X is that the drivers needed to make the QuarkXPress hardware keys ("dongles") function don't work. These dongles are mostly unknown to US users but are a part of using the program for many in the rest of the world. Strangely Quark say to watch the web sites of the firms which make the dongles for news of updates.
The Rainbow Sentinel Eve3 driver, which allows the USB hardware keys to function, is not compatible with Mac OS X and will not function in the "Classic" mode (which emulates OS 9.1 within OS X). Rainbow Technologies expect to have an updated, fully-tested Eve3 driver within a few weeks (check their web site at <http://www.rainbow.com/> for updates.
The same problem seems to apply to the iMate Adapter driver (needed to connect an older ADB hardware key to the USB ports on a newer Macintosh computer). In this case watch Griffin Technology's site at <http://www.griffintechnology.com/>
Quark recommend that anyone who uses any version of QuarkXPress that requires a hardware key (including QuarkXPress Passport, the International English version and all East Asian versions of the program) may want to delay upgrading to Mac OS X until updated drivers have been released.
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Free XTensions on the Quark Web Site include:
NotesXT v4.0 which includes notes in a form which are invisible characters within text, but which can be opened to look like adhesive notes you might stick to hard copy. (Mac and Win) Can be used with QuarkXPress 4.04 and later, or QuarkXPress Passport 4.04 and later.
Type Tricks v1.4 features Custom Underline, Make Fraction, Make Price, Remove Manual Kerning, Word Space Tracking and Line Check. Can be used with QuarkXPress 4.0 and later, or QuarkXPress Passport 4.0 and later. This is a new version of TypeTricks version 1.3 that has been available for some time.
QuarkCopyDesk Filter v2.09 lets you import text from QuarkCopyDesk or QuarkCopyDesk Special Edition articles into QuarkXPress or QuarkXPress Passport documents. It also lets you save QuarkXPress or QuarkXPress Passport text in QuarkCopyDesk format. This module can be used with QuarkXPress 4.1 and later, or QuarkXPress Passport 4.1 and later.
All are for Mac or Windows.
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Badia Software have released a QuarkXPress XTension that is a powerful replacement for the Quark's colors palette. Mac or PC. <http://www.badiaxt.com/fullcolor.html> US$59.99, and there's a demo to download.
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In the QuarkXPress' Place dialog box, if you import an EPS file while holding the Command key, all the spot colors of this EPS file are converted to process.
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Gluon makes a Quark XTension called XPressImage that can output each page of a file as an EPS but with the fonts embedded, which doesn't happen straight from QXP. XPressImage can also export from Quark in many other file formats. There's a demo <http://www.gluon.com>
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In QuarkXPress, choose File > Open and select the document. Hold down the Command key, and click Open. QuarkXPress will reimport every imported (not pasted) picture in the document, thus re-creating any PICT previews that may be damaged and reimporting new EPS previews from the original EPS files.
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We were asked about a QuarkXPress email list. Details are at: <http://www.xpressobar.com>. We warn that the regular members, while good and quick at solving QXP problems, are also quick to throw insults at each other. It takes a little time to get used to this (and even to understand some of the posts), but it is perhaps the best source of answers on QXP.
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In QuarkXPress, Get Picture, when the picture in question is a PDF file, and when a library is open, causes XPress to freeze. Closing any libraries before clicking on Get Picture solves the problem.
"MODIFIED" PICS THAT AREN'T
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QuarkXPress maintains a link to imported pictures, so the program can alert you if they are modified, moved, or renamed. If you store your pictures on a machine other than the one you are working on, pictures may appear as "modified" if the system clocks on the two computers are not synchronized.
If you store your pictures on a machine other than the one you are working on, this occurs most often after Daylight Saving Time changes if the clocks on some but not all networked machines are not updated. Your pictures may also show as "modified" if your network or server software alters the date and time of stored files during the course of automatic clock adjustments, as in the case of Windows NT.
Quark state that in some cases, such as with Novell server software, synchronization must be precise to the second.
For Windows NT servers, you may want to uncheck "Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes" on the time zone tab of the clock dialog and make the adjustment to the system clock manually. Unmodified graphics will then be listed with a status of OK in Usage > Pictures.
Turn Auto Picture Import on (Edit > Preferences > Document) to get the option to automatically update all missing or modified pictures when the document is first opened.
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There is a new version of QXP, called QuarkXPress Mudra, which supports the Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi, and Nepali languages. It is currently available for Windows only, but Quark India is developing a Mac OS version of QuarkXPress Mudra.
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Quark's TechNews reports problems with the new version 8.5 Keyboard control panel (used for the new Apple Pro keyboard) on a Mac operating under the Multi-User environment, which can cause crashing in any application when using F-keys if you are not using the "owner profile". The only way to avoid this crash, they state, is to have the 'owner' log on, display the alert, and click "Do not show this dialog again."
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In QXP4, to import a color TIFF as black and white, press Control-Shift (Win) or Command-Shift (Mac) while clicking 'Open' in the Get Picture dialog box. You can then use selections from the Style menu such as Color, Shade, and Contrast, to apply style changes to the picture.
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It seems that what should be a harmless addition to the PhotoShop clipping path format in Photoshop 6 which QuarkXPress should ignore may actually be causing QXP to choke. Photoshop 5 will open Photoshop 6 files and read the clipping paths correctly, as does InDesign. So reopening and saving the TIFFs should overcome the problem.
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We've mentioned this before, but it continues to be a source of contention: In System 9 Apple woke up to the benefit of function keys and started trapping them. Therefore, to get Quark's function key to work as they used to, go to the Keyboard control panel, click on "function keys" and uncheck "use f1 through f15 as function keys".
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If you use QuarkXPress, and have updated to 4.10 or 4.11, have you also looked at what XTensions may not have been automatically installed. For example, the Scissors XT which provides a tool can that convert a text box into a text-on-a-path Bezier line. The info on these is in "A Guide to QuarkXPress 4.1.pdf" on the QuarkXPress 4.10 and 4.11 CDs.
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The FixIt QuarkXTension now available on the Quark website fixes a problem in QuarkXPress and Passport 4.11 where moving picture files from their original location (after they have been placed in a QuarkXPress document) causes the images to be loaded into the operating system's memory multiple times. It also fixes a problem with the path to DCS 1.0 files being lost when you "Collect for Output" and move the folder containing the collected files. These problems occur in both Mac OS and Windows versions of QuarkXPress.
The problem is one cause of "Too Many Files Open" messages on a Mac where it can also cause error messages that a file cannot be deleted, or a disk put away, because it contains items that are in use.
On Windows the error can take the form of "Cannot delete [filename]: Access is denied..."
The 411FixIt XTension (44kb for Mac, 16kb Windows) can be downloaded from Quark's web site at: <http://www.quark.com/>
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Also new from Quark is the XML Import XTension allows you to import content from an XML file into QuarkXPress document by letting you insert "placeholders" into your document. These placeholders can be formatted as you would regular text. Then the XML arrives in the QuarkXPress document with the necessary formatting already applied.
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There are a swag of QuarkXPress Xtensions at Meadows Information Systems <http://www.meadowsinfo.com> including several free ones such as Font Collector (which collects fonts including those in EPS graphics -- Mac only), and Page Printer (which creates PS or EPS files from pages or spreads -- when used in conjunction with Font Collector XTension, this will embed Type 1 and True Type font information with the EPS files as they are created). Both these are Mac only.
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To combine two QuarkXPress files, go to the View menu and choose thumbnail view for both docs. Arrange the windows so that you can drag pages from one to the other. Select the pages you want in the first doc and drag them to where they belong in the other doc. Make a copy of the doc you want to drag pages into, so you don't have to worry about hitting Ctrl-S", by force of habit, and not having the original doc as well as the "new" one.
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