Renee Dustman

InDesign Transparency: No Longer the Forbidden Fruit

With this advice, you can reap the rewards of transparency and never hear those dreaded words, "It won't print!"

InDesign How-To: Take Control of Text Wrap

Flowing text around all kinds of objects and shapes is easy once you know how.

Design Projects: Making Multiple-Version Ads

Making ads that can be changed at any time is good business sense. Let's say you need to modify the price of an item: instead of redoing the entire ad you can just change the price. Here's how to use InDesign's layers feature to design quick-change ads.

Design Projects: Preparing Postcard Promotions

Sending postcards directly to prospective clients is a cost-efficient way to market services and advertise wares. But before you place that first order, it pays to know a few tricks of the trade, such as postal requirements, display alternatives, and impactful design. Here's what you need to know.

PageMaker How-To: Opening QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign Files

Die-hard PageMaker users are happy with what they have, thank you very much, but many designers have moved on to QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign. But what if you're a PageMaker user on the receiving end of an XPress or InDesign file? Here's what to do.

QuarkXPress How-To: Making Web Pages

When choosing an application to make pages for the World Wide Web, QuarkXPress may not leap to mind. But Web features added in QuarkXPress 5 make this page-layout program a good choice for designers looking for a painless transition to Web design.

InDesign How-To: Creating and Printing Transparencies

In this transparency two-fer, learn how to create transparent effects in InDesign using the Transparency Palette. Then learn how to use InDesign's transparency flattener styles to make good-looking output, whether in print or onscreen.

Design Projects: Creating Invitations, Envelopes, and Place Cards

Parties are fun, but they're also an opportunity to make a persuasive statement about your talents as a designer. It may be enough to call your friends to invite them over, but for more upscale events you'll want printed invitations. And while you're at it, make an impact with coordinated envelopes and place cards.

InDesign How-To: Creating Sophisticated Drop Shadows

Once a hallmark of Desktop Publishing 101, drop shadows have gained respectability, thanks to today's sophisticated shadow effects. But the process of applying them was clunky at best. See how InDesign 2.0 simplifies incorporating drop shadows into your layout.

QuarkXPress How-To: Step up to Super Step and Repeat

Step and Repeat is one of the great time-saving features of QuarkXPress, but have you tried Super Step and Repeat? This free XTension lets you modify objects as you duplicate them. Here's where to find it and how to use it.

QuarkXPress How-To: Transform Text into Art

The powerful text and type controls in QuarkXPress have always been impressive. Now combine those with XPress's expanded graphics capabilities, and you can make sophisticated word art right in your page layout. Here's how.

QuarkXPress How-To: Working with the Bézier and Freehand Tools

Although QuarkXPress isn't technically a drawing program, the engineering of Bézier and Freehand tools in version 4 certainly opened a world of opportunity and creativity for many users. As with all tools, though, you probably won't be able to just select one and create a masterpiece. They require a little practice, patience and understanding.

The Creative Type: Making Headline Graphics in InDesign

Laying out a feature article gives you the opportunity to really get creative with the headline. Rather than just formatting it with an ordinary typeface and sticking it on the page, you can incorporate the headline into the story...

Thinking Outside the (Picture) Box in QuarkXPress

Although it's true that graphics are contained within picture boxes in QuarkXPress, you have the ability to release them. All graphics can be liberated from their confines with the help of the Clipping feature. To be more specific, the Restrict To Box option holds the key that can set your graphics free.

QuarkXPress How-To: Importing Spot Colors with Adobe Photoshop Images

It's a bit trickier to import spot colors from Photoshop files into QuarkXPress than it is to do the same with Illustrator EPS files. But here's a workaround that doesn't require Xtensions of other additional software.

Inside QuarkXPress: Working with Embedded Paths

It isn't really a big deal that QuarkXPress can read the embedded paths of imported images--most design applications are capable of that. Not so common, though, is a desktop publishing application having the ability to create and edit simple paths. QuarkXPress' Clipping feature makes this possible.

Inside QuarkXPress: Producing a CD Jewel Sleeve Insert

Whether designing a CD jewel sleeve insert for personal or professional use, the document setup is the same. The way in which an insert is produced also changes little--the difference being whether you're printing the insert to a desktop printer or high-end press.

Inside QuarkXPress: Using Contrast to Fake Transparent Text

The technique of applying transparent (or screened) text over an image is a useful design approach to enhance a page layout. QuarkXPress can't actually create transparency, but in this article, we'll show you how to create the illusion of it.

Inside QuarkXPress: The Building Blocks Behind Effective Business Card Design

There are two important aspects to desktop publishing: design and production. You can design until the cows come home, but if you don't produce a printable document, what good is it? Similarly, you can follow print guidelines to the letter, but without a good design, who'll care?

Inside QuarkXPress: Getting Creative in a Page Layout Application

In this feature, Element K's Rene Dustman steps us through some of the graphics capabilities of QuarkXPress, especially when utilizing the help of the XTension Super Step & Repeat.