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*** DesignGeek ***
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Tips and techniques for the digital designer
In this issue:
-- Quark 6.1? Not Yet, But Other News
-- Printing Fix for InDesign Spool-itis
-- Cool Color Pickers for Mac/Windows
-- Photoshop Pasting Without a New Layer
Issue 15, 2/11/04
Written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion
... for her clients, colleagues, random contacts and interested subscribers
© 2004 Seneca Design & Training, Inc.
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Quark 6.1? Not Yet, But Other News
A trusted Quark source (inspired by all those West Wing reruns on Bravo I assume) "leaked" to everyone on the QuarkXPress listserv yesterday that 6.1 "will be released very, very soon...I'm talking pronto here."
I've mentioned this list two or three times in past issues of DesignGeek. If you use Quark, you owe it to yourself and your sanity to subscribe:
<http://www.xpressobar.com/tips/quarkxpr.web.shtml>
...note that the list is not affiliated with Quark, the company. It's an independent, sometimes eccentric community populated by jaded Quark users, printers, XTension developers, authors, trainers and hapless newbies.
So of course this a.m. I scooted over to Quark.com to see if anything had been announced during the wee hours -- no, dang! no scoop for DesignGeek today -- then I reminded myself that rumors are rumors. So I'm just doing my part in the gossipfest, take it for what it's worth.
[2/12/04 UPDATE: Two hours after I sent this issue out, Quark posted their 6.1 update --AM]
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Quark 6 Upgrade prices
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An earlier post on the list was from a user trying to figure out how much it would cost to upgrade from Quark 4 to Quark 6. He said the information wasn't publicly available on the Quark site ... you had to have a valid serial number before they'd tell you.
"Can't possibly be true," I thought. Went to Quark's site. It was true. Sigh.
The closest they come is on this page:
<http://www.quark.com/products/xpress/purchase/>
... where they say that upgrade prices "range from $199 to $499 (U.S. Dollars) depending on the version you have."
Then they give you the number for Customer Service, with instructions to have your serial number ready.
See, how it's supposed to work is like this: The seller tells you the price breakdown and the requirements. You make the decision to buy (or not) based on that info. If you decide to buy, then they sell it to you, but only if you meet the requirements (i.e., you tell them your valid serial number).
Detailed pricing for QuarkXPress upgrades is available at any number of reseller web sites (clubmac.com, pcmall.com, etc.) without having to input your serial number first. Why not on Quark's own site?
Wait! I know ... I'll bet their webmaster didn't have a valid serial number.
Here's the skinny: For Mac/Windows users in the U.S. and Canada, Quark 3 to Quark 6 is $499, Quark 4 to Quark 6 is $299, and Quark 5 to Quark 6 is $199. Prices are higher for other countries.
Was that so hard?
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Toll-Free Quark Support
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I *did* notice on Quark's home page this morning that they've made their tech support phone number into a toll-free one for all users: 1-800-676-4575 (press option 7, ignoring the instructions saying you have to have a Service Plan.)
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Printing Fix for InDesign Spoolitis
Having problems with your InDesign documents getting stuck in print spooler limbo whenever you try to print them?
Try this: In the Print dialog, click the Graphics category on the left, and then in the Graphics settings panel on the right, change the default method of downloading your fonts to your printer from "Complete" to "Subset."
That one little maneuver fixes many a "low printer memory" problem that causes the endless spooling. If it fixes your problem, you should edit the Default setting for your Printer Styles (in ID 2) or Printer Presets (in ID CS) -- access either under the program's File menu -- so the Subset option is the new default from then on.
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Cool Color Pickers for Mac and Windows
Designers, are you tired of the same old color combinations in your projects? Would you like some help?
I've recently come across two neat, elegant utilities -- one for Mac users, one for Windows users -- that help you out here. Each has a free, fully-enabled demo you can download, so there's no harm in giving them a shot.
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Color Consultant Pro 1.1 (Mac OS 9 and OS X)
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Using an interactive color wheel for its main interface, Color Consultant Pro automatically targets the analogous, complementary, split complementary, tetradic, and triadic colors from your chosen starting color. (Don't worry, you don't have to know the color theory behind these terms to use the product. Just play with the purty colors.)
You can retrieve and/or input color specs as CMYK, RGB, Lab, Hex (for web sites) and more, and export the palettes you create on the fly as a PDF file, HTML file, or a PICT graphic.
It's really fun playing with this thing, and it's helped me out in coming up with a variety of good-looking color schemes for web sites especially. The demo comes with a clearly-written, well-illustrated little PDF manual.
Color Consultant Pro
<http://www.code-line.com/software/colorconsultantpro.html>
Free demo, $35.99 after it expires
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Color Wheel Pro 2.0 (Wiindows 98 through XP)
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Color Wheel Pro offers the same functionality -- "creates harmonious color schemes based on color theory" -- as its Mac cousin described above, but with a slightly different interface. (They're so close in look and feel, though, that I first thought they were from the same developer. They're not.)
But Color Wheel Pro has a very cool feature that Color Consultant does not: You can preview the color scheme on real-world examples like web sites, logos and packaging. These preview files come with the product as Flash files, and their web site has instructions on how to make your own Flash previews too.
Color Wheel Pro
<http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/>
Free demo, $39.99 after it expires
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Photoshop Pasting Without a New Layer
Is it possible to copy and paste something in Photoshop without creating a pain in the butt new layer every dang time you do so? Why yes, Virginia, it is, in a way.
Say you're editing an image, and you just want to move or clone a portion of it to another place in the image.
If you make a selection, then do a Copy/Paste, your selection appears on a new layer automatically. If you're not paying attention to your Layers palette (you might not even have it open), you'll end up with a new layer each time you paste something, making it difficult to edit without some additional steps.
Of course, you could just get in the habit of pressing Command/Control-E (for Merge Down) after you've positioned what you've pasted, but why tax your brain.
Instead, you could just "float" your selections into place. This was how old-school Photoshop users moved pixels around before the Layers feature was added. A lot of users forget they can still float stuff in Photoshop. (And the online help file doesn't mention it at all.)
Here's how:
Make a selection of what you want to Cut/Paste or Copy/Paste. With the selection tool still active, hover over the selection area.
To Copy/Paste it, press Command-Option (Control-Alt on PC), then the mouse button. Keep everything pressed while dragging the copy of your selection to where you want to "paste" it to in a different place of your image. You don't have to position it perfectly at this point, just drag it a little bit if you want.
If you want to "move" (cut) pixels from one place to another on the same layer, rather than clone (copy) them, just use the Command/Control modifier alone, no Option/Alt key.
Either way, after you've dragged a bit, release the keys and mouse button. Your selection is now floating above the layer, still selected. You can move it around some more by dragging without having to switch tools or press modifier keys. (The cursor looks like the Layer Move tool when a floating selection is active.) You can even use the arrow keys to nudge it around.
When you're happy with its position, Deselect (Command/Control-D) and the floating selection merges into the same layer.
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IS 2004 YOUR YEAR TO MASTER YOUR DOMAIN?
You can fully master the latest versions of OS X, Photoshop, InDesign, QuarkXPress, Illustrator, Acrobat, GoLive, and the rest of the designer's toolbox in far less time than you think! Just call in HerGeekness for an enjoyable session or two of targeted training (Mac or Windows) for you or your staff in the program of your choice -- starting at the level you're at, going to the level you want to attain, using the files you actually work with.
All clients receive three years of 24/7 follow-up support by phone or e-mail, too -- it's like having your own personal consultant at your beck and call, and can save you hundreds of dollars in per-incident support calls direct to the software companies.
Anne-Marie provides authorized Quark and Adobe training at your workplace for groups of one to ten or more, in the Chicago area and throughout the country. Out-of-the-office training in Seneca's bi-platform studio or Mac classroom is also available. Recent clients include the Chicago Cubs (that was cool!), McDonalds Corporation, the Chicago Tribune, and World Book Publishing.
Detailed information including pricing, student pix and unsolicited feedback are here:
http://www.senecadesign.com/training/
... or contact her directly to talk about your training needs and get a friendly, no-obligation quote:
mailto:amarie@senecadesign.com
Phone: 312-946-1100
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DesignGeek is a free bimonthly publication written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion, a cross-media designer and authorized Adobe and Quark training provider. She owns Seneca Design & Training, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois (http://www.senecadesign.com/).
To subscribe to DesignGeek or read archived issues, go to its home on Seneca's site: http://www.senecadesign.com/designgeek/subscribe.html
To unsubscribe, follow the link at the bottom of this page.
Contact Seneca by phone at 312-946-1100 or e-mail at info@senecadesign.com
Copyright 2004 by Seneca Design & Training, Inc.
Please forward without cutting. Please contact Seneca for reprint permissions. We don't guarantee accuracy of articles. Company or product names mentioned in DesignGeek may be registered trademarks, we use the names in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringement.
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