X-Ray Magazine v5n6 QuarkXPress 8: A Suite Response

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QuarkXPress 8: A Suite Response

To create a grid, you may use any of the four options. Using the baseline only, you would be working in the same manner as previous versions of QuarkXPress when invoking the baseline grids feature. Use any of the four types that provide you the type of visual aids you need for item and text alignment.

X-Ray Magazine v5n6 QuarkXPress 8 Accessibility Defined Figure 17

Figure 17 There are four types of gridlines available for either page grids or text box grids and each can be assigned a unique color. In my example, the topline is green, the centerline is pink, the baseline is yellow, and the bottomline is burgundy.

At a more granular level, Quark has provided text box grids. This type of grid enables you to define grids that are attributes of particular text boxes.

Once you have defined the settings for either the page grid or the text box grid, you are able to lock text to this grid through the paragraph attributes dialogue box, or if working with style sheets, through the paragraph attributes dialogue box embedded there.

X-Ray Magazine v5n6 QuarkXPress 8 Accessibility Defined Figure 18

Figure 18 Page grids, in the paragraph attributes dialogue box, is analogous to baseline grids of previous versions.

While you may have never used the baseline grids feature, you've probably bumped into it in the preferences dialogue, text format dialogue, or in the style sheets dialogue. In each of these places, baseline grid has been replaced with page grid and text box grid has been added.

When you format text to lock to gridlines that you have defined, you automatically ensure that you have consistently spaced leading across multiple columns and easily align other items placed in the layout with these same grids.

Even though your design calls for text box grids that differ from the grid settings of the page aground it, you may want the first line of the text box to align on one of the page grids. This is very easy. Click a grid line within the text box and drag to the page grid to which you want it to align and release.

Remember: Page grids are set up by going to the master page and choosing master guides and grid; Text box grids are set up by accessing the grid style, either through the edit menu or the grid styles palette. Text box grids can be applied to a text box in the same way as a color. Drag and drop onto a text box or select a text box and click on the grid style in the grid style palette.

Note: Grid styles can be appended through the standard append dialogue box and shared with other projects.

A trip to PREFERENCES > GUIDES & GRID, and you'll find that you can also set a default visibility setting. That means that when the page is less than the percentage you type here, the guides and grids will not be visible.

X-Ray Magazine v5n6 QuarkXPress 8 Accessibility Defined Figure 19