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QuarkXPress 8: A suite response

Who needs a suite?

Many features that users have requested as enhancements to the pen tool are, in fact, features that already existed. The problem was not that the features were not present; it was that they were not exposed very well in the interface and you either had to be a world-class sleuth or an avid reader of the manuals to discover the secrets. In response, Quark has completely retooled the Bézier path-editing tools.

While it seems that the tool palette became more simple you may think the tool preferences dialogue box has become more complex — and here's why. When using the pen tool, if you complete the drawing at the point of origin, the pen tool will draw a closed box (to hold content or as none content). If you complete the line at a place other than the point of origin (by double clicking), the pen tool will draw an open path. In preferences, you can set the default for the pen tool when used to create a closed box or open path for text, a closed box for a picture, or a closed box or open path for none content.

There are a number of great shortcuts for working with the pen tool, and we covered  most of them under the tools section of this article, but here's one more: When working with paths, press the COMMAND modifier key to select a point. When a point is selected, the measurements palette is updated with information about that point.

QuarkXPress 8 now supports native Adobe Illustrator file import (as early as version 8 and up to and including CS3), and along with the newly improved pen tools you can work easier with or without Illustrator.

If you use Illustrator regularly, the message here is not that QuarkXPress pen tools are adequate substitutes, only that if you are comfortable with the pen tool  the redesign here will make you feel right at home. If you're not an illustrator, you will probably find that the pen-tool features more than meet the limited requirements you have for illustration capabilities in your desktop-publishing application.

WHAT'S YOUR PREFERENCE?

The behavior of your tools, as we've already touched on, is controlled by the preferences. Go to QUARKXPRESS > PREFERENCES > TOOLS to set the default properties of each.

Figure 11 Also known as the item tool, the move tool has preferences for nudge distance, what happens when you double click on a box without content, and display options.

 

Stick to the grid

I have a friend who is the most nitpicky critic you'll ever meet when it comes to layout. He couldn't care less what the document is or the intended audience — he'll critique it — often to the dismay of a designer who is preening like a mother cat over her new litter. A proper critiquing session always begins with the grid. Thankfully, with QuarkXPress 8's new design grid feature, there will never be another document created without consideration for the grid. [My friend is at this moment rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically. Professional help may be required.]

Figure 12 Design grids, like baseline grids before them, enable you to quickly layout items on the page that align neatly. Now with design grids, you can have different grid spacing at the master page level.

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