Page 19
QuarkXPress 8: A Suite Response

Working with text

When you choose a text file, QuarkXPress 8 uses the RTF filter and the formatting of the text will be retained. You may, however, drag and drop any text file format that QuarkXPress supports. (Check your XTensions folder for the appropriate filter if you are unsure about supported formats.)

You do not have to drag and drop an entire file; any portion — any selection — can be used. You may drag text to a box that already contains other text and even drag text and embed it within the text string. It does not have to be at the beginning of the text or at the end, it can be anywhere in the string that you choose. As you drag text over the box and receive the box-target feedback, you will also be able to view the text-insertion cursor. Mouse to the position where you wish to insert the text and release. See figure 39.

Figure 39 You can drag and drop text, and place it within text that is already in the box.

Dropping text onto an area of the page where no box is present will cause a text box to be drawn to the width of the margins, but the top of the text box will begin at approximately the point where you released the mouse. If you drag to a point between the margin and the page, QuarkXPress 8 draws a text box that takes up some of the space on the page and some of the space on the pasteboard. It begins the box at approximately the point where you released the mouse. If there is more text than can be accommodated in that text box, this will be indicated by an overflow marker. If, however, you drag and drop text into the automatic text box and your preferences are set to add pages, just as with text you import, QuarkXPress 8 will create enough additional pages (based on the current master page) to accommodate the entire text string.

Last, but hardly least, you can drag fully formatted text from one text box to another text box. Dragging and dropping text is not new to QuarkXPress 8, but from one text box to another is. To use this feature, you may choose to change the default preferences of QuarkXPress.

 

To change the preferences, enabling drag and drop as the default, go to QUARKXPRESS > PREFERENCES > INPUT SETTINGS > DRAG AND DROP TEXT (check box). If you prefer, and if you are a Mac user, there are modifier keys for temporarily overriding the default preference status (off). To drag text from one box to another, even when your preference for drag and drop text is disabled, do this.

Draw a text box to contain the text you wish to drag.

 

Go to the text box with the original text.

 

Select the text to drag and drop (it can be any portion of the text).

 

Hold down COMMAND + CONTROL and click and hold down
on your mouse button.

Drag to the new box. (If you try to drag to a portion of the page where no box exists, you will see the icon shown in figure 40.)

Release the mouse button and then release the modifier keys to drop the text into the new box.

Figure 40 If you try to drag and drop text from a text box to a place in the document where there is not a box to contain the content, your mouse icon displays a no symbol.

Working with pictures

If you drag and drop a picture (and this applies to all picture formats that QuarkXPress supports), QuarkXPress 8 will start the picture box at approximately the point where you released the mouse. It then draws the picture box width and height no larger than your page size — or in short, the same behavior as importing without a box. Of course, it goes without saying that you can drag and drop into a box that already exists. If the box has content already, this content will be replaced with the content that you just dropped and it will do so without an alert. You can use undo to reverse this task.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29

If you enjoy our articles, click here to subscribe.
Free JavaScripts provided by The JavaScript Source