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An Introduction to the Quark Tool Palette.

This is the first in a series of articles on basic Quark Xpress tools and techniques.
We begin with an overview of the Tools palette.

1 Item Tool
With this tool you can select an item or items, move them around, delete them or group and ungroup them using the 'Group' and 'Ungroup' commands from the 'Item' menu. Groups can be moved around, scaled and deleted, just as can single objects.

2 Content Tool
This tool allows you to type and select text within text boxes, and place graphics within picture boxes. Once selected text can be edited in many ways: You can change the type size, font, kerning (the space between the letters), leading (the space between the lines), horizontal and vertical scales, paragraph formats and tabs, and colour and shade, all from the 'Style' menu. Note: When selecting fonts, please use only the fonts listed in your Fonts menu and not the 'Bold' and 'Italic' selections from the 'Typestyle' sub-menu as these can cause irregular printing when processed through a professional printer. Graphics placed in Picture boxes can be scaled, rotated, moved within the box, cut-out, flipped, and in the case of mono .tif and .bmp files, coloured and shaded by using the 'Modify' command in the 'Item' menu.

3 Rotation Tool
By clicking and dragging with this tool you can rotate any object or group to any required orientation.

4 Zoom Tool
The Zoom tool allows you to zoom in for greater accuracy or zoom out for an overall view of your document, to a minimum of 10% and maximum of 800% document size.

5 Text Box Tools
Allows you to draw a box which can contain text, either imported from an external document using the 'Get Text' command from the 'File' menu, by cutting and pasting from another document, or by typing directly into the box. The box can contain multiple columns, coloured backgrounds and borders and have 'Runarounds' applied (allowing text to flow around graphics), all by selecting the 'Modify' command from the 'Item' menu.
Clicking and holding on the Tool will bring up the sub-menu, from which you can select different shapes of text box.

6 Picture Box Tools
Allows you to draw a box which can contain graphics such as .tif and .eps files. As with a Text box, a picture box can have a coloured background and border, but the border must be white if a CMYK or Greyscale tiff file is placed within the box or irregular imaging will occur. Monotone tiffs and bmp's can have any foreground and background colours applied to them that you like.
Clicking and holding on the Picture Box Tool will bring up a sub menu of different shaped picture boxes.

7 Radius Picture Box Tool
This draws a picture box with rounded corners. The radius can be changed by selecting the 'Modify' command from the 'Item' menu.
The box can contain graphics such as .tif and .eps files. As with a Text box, a picture box can have a coloured background and border, but the border must be white if a CMYK or Greyscale tiff file is placed within the box or irregular imaging will occur. Monotone tiffs and bmp's can have any foreground and background colours applied to them that you like.

8 Circular Picture Box Tool
This draws a circular or elliptical picture box. The radius can be changed by selecting the 'Modify' command from the 'Item' menu.
The box can contain graphics such as .tif and .eps files. As with a Text box, a picture box can have a coloured background and border, but the border must be white if a CMYK or Greyscale tiff file is placed within the box or irregular imaging will occur. Monotone tiffs and bmp's can have any foreground and background colours applied to them that you like.

9 Bezier Picture Box Tool
With this tool you can create a picture box of your own design. Click on your page and the first point is drawn, click again and a straight line connects the points, click and drag and a curved line is created, click over your original point and the box is closed and ready for use.
The box can contain graphics such as .tif and .eps files. As with a Text box, a picture box can have a coloured background and border, but the border must be white if a CMYK or Greyscale tiff file is placed within the box or irregular imaging will occur. Monotone tiffs and bmp's can have any foreground and background colours applied to them that you like.

10 Line Tools
This tool allows you to draw straight lines in any direction. Line thickness, style, colour and shade can all be changed by selecting the 'Modify' command from the 'Item' menu.
Clicking and holding will bring up a sub-menu containing a freehand drawing tool and a Bezier drawing tool for more control over your lines - click on your page and the first point is drawn, click again and a straight line connects the points, click and drag and a curved line is created making complex drawings possible.

11 Constrained Line Tool
This tool allows you to draw straight lines constrained to horizontal and vertical directions only. Line thickness, style, colour and shade can all be changed by selecting the 'Modify' command from the 'Item' menu.

12 Text Path Tools
These tools allow you to draw lines in any direction, and include freehand and Bezier Tools as in the standard line tools. Line thickness, style, colour and shade can all be changed by selecting the 'Modify' command from the 'Item' menu, but unlike the standard line tools, these allow type to be applied to them as well, just as in a normal text box.

13 Link Text Box Tool
With this tool you can connect two or more individual text boxes, allowing the text from the first to flow into the second and all subsequent boxes. Just click on the first box (it will highlight with a moving border), then click on the second and so on. An arrow will be seen briefly highlighting which way they link. When the first box is full, your text will automatically flow to the second.

14 Break Text Link Tool
This tool has the reverse effect of the Link tool. To break a text box link, just click on the bottom end of a link arrow (not the pointed end!) and the link will break. All text will flow into the first box in the chain, leaving previously linked text boxes empty.

15 Scissors Tool
The scissors tool is just that - it cuts a line or shape in two by clicking on the line or box boundary where you want the break.

16 Starburst Tool
This final tool allows you to create starbursts picture boxes. Like ordinary picture boxes, Starburst can contain graphics such as .tif and .eps files. As with a Text box, a picture box can have a coloured background and border, but the border must be white if a CMYK or Greyscale tiff file is placed within the box or irregular imaging will occur. Monotone tiffs and bmp's can have any foreground and background colours applied to them that you like. By double clicking on the tool, a dialogue box will appear allowing you to change the length and number of the spikes.

Double clicking on many of the tools will bring up the Document Preferences dialogue box, where you can change the default setting on many of the tools, and also on the document on which you are currently working, such as document measurement units (inches, mm etc), basic paragraphing and trapping (for setting colours to overprint or knockout - this will be covered in detail in a later article).