QuarkXPress Text, Image, and Productivity Tips

Jay Nelson

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Reproduced with permission of Planet Quark
Shortcuts for Kerning, Tracking, and Leading
Adjusting the space between letters or words goes much faster if you know the keyboard shortcuts. That way, you can look at your text and use your fingers to adjust it! So, cut this out and stick it on your desk:

To adjust kerning (spacing between two letters), or tracking (spacing between a range of letters):
Press Command-Shift-[ to reduce kerning or tracking.
Press Command-Shift-] to increase kerning or tracking.
To adjust leading:
Press Command-Shift-; to increase leading
Press Command-Shift-’ to decrease leading
To adjust word spacing:
Hold down all the modifier keys (Shift-Option-Command-Control) and press the [ key (to tighten) or ] (to loosen).
To remove all manual kerning, tracking and word spacing, choose Utilities > Remove Manual Kerning.
Live, Embossed Text in QuarkXPress
I’ve showed you how to create “Mystery Shadows” — a shadow without an object seeming to cast it — in QuarkXPress 7 and above.
A similar technique can be used to simulate embossing with live text. Here’s how:
* Type your text and color it white.
* Set the opacity of the text to 0%.
* Apply a drop shadow to the text.
* In the Drop Shadows tab of the Measurements palette, uncheck the Inherit Opacity option.
* In the Drop Shadows tab of the Measurements palette, check Item Knocks Out Drop Shadow.

Fade a Photo with a Gradient from None to White
In QuarkXPress 7 and above, it’s really easy to make the edge of a photo fade into the paper.
Just put an empty box over the area you want to fade, then fill it with a gradient that goes from 100% white to None.

Easy Credit Card Number Boxes
It’s easy to create a row of boxes for inputting credit card numbers on a form:

Just use the ballot box glyph from the Webdings font, and then apply negative tracking to the boxes, so that their left and right edges overlap without doubling up. In QuarkXPress, use -12 in the tracking field in the Measurements palette. Be sure not to justify the line though, because that will spread the boxes out.