A registered version of QuarkXpress for either Macintosh or Windows (although the screenshots in this 2torial are drawn from the Mac platform, the interface isn't significantly different).

A few hours to understand the basic tools.

The Document Layout is found under the "Views" menu, and allows you to view a simple schematic of your document. You can easily navigate through a multi-page document by double-clicking on the page that you would like to bring up on screen.

"Snap to Guides" is also found under the "Views" menu. By selecting or this option, your items will 'jump' to a guide when they get close enough. this can be very useful for quickly aligning several objects. It can also be very frustrating if you don't realize that it's turned on.

Another important "views" menu item is the ability to hide or show the guides. It can be much easier to visualize the page without all those blue lines visible.

There's a spellchecker that can be found under the "Utilities" menu.

Look under the "Item" menu, and you'll find the "Modify" command. When an object is active, this command will let you change many of it's important characteristics, such as color and how far the text insets from the edge of it's box.

When a text box is active, you'll find "Formats" under the "Style" menu. Here's where you can define paragraph characteristics.

2torial #0672: Learn2 Get Around in Quark Xpress Quark without cracking up QuarkXpress, one of the two dominant page layout programs on the market today, is an extremely powerful and versatile application useful for creating anything from a holiday card to a weekly magazine. While it takes time and experience to discover all that QuarkXpress can do, it takes just a short while to understand the basics of the program. Here are some key concepts you should understand before getting down to business:   A QuarkXpress document is made up of one or more pages. Text and graphics are placed on a page by creating "boxes" that are then filled with either words or images. Guides are generally created to assist you in placing these boxes in the proper positions.   A number of tools are available to help you create, and modify either type of box. Tools are also supplied to enable you to modify the contents of those boxes. The ability to use all these tools effectively makes a Quark pro. Create a document   When you launch the application, or create a new document, this dialog box will appear: Essentially, it's asking you to:   Choose one of several standard page sizes, or to define your own.   Decide whether you would like to create guides for a single, or multi column page, and how wide the space between columns should be.   Decide where the guides that indicate your margins will be, and if you would like additional pages to face each other, as in a magazine.   Decide if you would like a text box as large as the margin guides to be automatically created whenever a new page is called for. This option should always be checked if you expect to import a quantity of text that you would like to automatically "flow" from one page to the next. Create and fill a text box If you checked the automatic text box feature in the initial dialog box, you'll already have a text box available. If you did not check the option, you will now create a text box. Either text box will appear as a rectangle with a dotted outline.   To create a text box, click on the text box tool, and your cursor will change to a small crosshair symbol.   Click and drag to form a text box. The dimensions of the box are defined by the point at which the mouse button is released. When the box has been formed, the text tool is activated and a blinking text insertion bar appears within the text box.   To insert text in the box, simply begin typing. The text will continue until it reaches the limits of the box, and then automatically form a new line.   When the text box is active, you will have access to "handles" on each corner, and side of the box. You may change the dimensions of the box by tugging on any of those handles, and the text will automatically reflow within the box. Create and fill a picture box   When you want to import a graphic that has been created in another program, you'll need to create a box for it to reside in. There are four picture box tools, the first three create boxes (or ovals) of various useful shapes. The fourth tool will create allow you to create a polygon of any desired shape that becomes a picture box when completed.   Picture boxes are generally created in the same fashion as text boxes, that is by clicking and dragging. The exception is when the polygon tool is used, in that case a shape is "drawn" by clicking and dragging to the next point of the polygon. Click again, and a side of the polygon is formed. Finish the polygon by clicking on the point that you started from.   When the picture box is active, the move tool is activated. You may move the picture box by clicking on it, then dragging it to the desired location.   To import a graphic into the picture box, first select the text bar tool that you used to insert text into your text box. This is a bit confusing, until you think of that tool as a means of providing content within either type of box.   Next, click on the picture box to activate it, and look under your "file" menu to select "get picture". A dialog box will appear, allowing you to navigate to your desired graphic. If the graphic is of a type not supported by your version of Quark, you won't be able to select it. Use the tool palette You've already used some of the tools that Quark provides. Knowing what the other tools do will greatly assist you in creating your documents.   The Mover tool is the first tool in the bar, and will allow almost any selected item to be dragged to another location in the document. It may also be used to select items that will be affected by any other tool, such as the rotation tool.   The Text Bar tool has more than one use; When a text box is active, you may select a group of characters, or choose a text insertion point. When a picture box is active, you may select the contents, or import a graphic into the box.   Use the Rotation tool by clicking on, or near, any previously selected item and then dragging. The point at which you click will become the rotational axis. Additionally, once activated, you may gain more precise control over the rotation by moving your cursor farther away from the axis point.   The Magnifying tool will enable you to magnify any area that it's click on. By holding down the Option key on a Mac (or the Control key on a PC), while using this tool, you may decrease the magnification. One thing to note, is that the magnification value is reflected in the lower left corner of the Quark window. You may highlight, and change this value.   The Text Box tool will allow you to create a text box by clicking and dragging to the desired box dimensions.   The next four tools are all Picture Box tools. The first will draw a rectangle, the next will draw a rectangle with rounded corners, the third will draw an oval (or a circle if you hold down the shift key) and the last will create a multi-sided polygon. Each version has it's uses, and you'll appreciate the variety as you gain experience.   The first Line tool looks like a crosshair. It is used to quickly create either horizontal or vertical lines. The line thickness can be altered by using the measurements palette (see below).   The second line tool is used to create any other type of line. When the shift key is held down when using this tool, it will confine the drawn line to the vertical, horizontal and 45 degree planes.   The Linking tool allows you to flow text from one text box into another. First select the tool, then click on the text box that you would like to flow text from. The box will develop a "running border", which indicates that it has been chosen. Next click on the text box that you would like to flow text into, a stylized arrow will briefly appear, and the second box will become active. Be extremely careful when using this tool! it has the potential to really screw up a multi-page document.   The Unlinking tool allows you to interrupt and reroute the flow of text between text boxes. When this tool is selected, any linked text boxes visible on screen will indicate the current text flow by displaying a stylized arrow(s). To unlink a text box, place your cursor, which is now an arrow, over the tail end of the stylized arrow(s) that link the box(es) and click. The text will disappear from any boxes farther along the progression. You may now use the link tool to reestablish, or redefine the text links. Use the measurements palette Click to see measurements palette The measurements palette not only gives you important information about selected objects, such as text and picture boxes, but it allows you to change the characteristics of those objects, and what's inside them. The information in this palette will change, depending on the object selected and the tool that's active at the time. In general, the left half of the palette displays information about the object itself, while the right side provides information about the contents of that object. This information can be highlighted, and changed to your liking. The palette below is providing information about a text box, that's been selected while the Text Bar tool is active...   If you remember any high school algebra, you'll recognize the "X" and "Y" location indicators. These numbers reflect the position of the top left corner of the object, in relation to the top left corner of the page. They are very useful for insuring that objects on the page are in perfect alignment.   "W" and "H" refer to the width and height of the selected object. Again, they're useful for insuring that two objects are identical, or within specified values.   If you look carefully, you'll see that the next symbol is indicating a degree of angle for the selected object. You can rotate a selected object by typing in both positive and negative values.   The "cols" indicator tells you how many columns are in the selected text box.   By clicking on the two small black arrows that you see next, you can easily alter the text direction inside the text box. Text will read backwards, or upside down depending on which arrow you click.   The distance between text characters, and the distance between lines of text can be altered by clicking on the next two outline arrows. Specific "kerning" and "leading" values can be typed in next to them.   Text alignment can be altered by clicking on any of the five symbols that you see grouped together.   If you would like to change the font and size of any text, first highlight the desired character(s) and then pull down the small boxed arrows next to the font name and size. This will let you access any additional fonts that are open in your computer, and select from several common type sizes. You may also type in specific type sizes.   Underneath those text characteristics, you'll find a dozen small symbols. Those symbols are quick ways to apply various characteristics to any highlighted text. Experiment by clicking on each one to see what happens to that text.   -end- Learn More!