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*** DesignGeek ***
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Tips and techniques for the digital designer
In this issue:
-- Lock QuarkXPress Master Pages
-- Dealing with Artwork in MS Word Files
-- DeGeekify Yourself with Letterpress
Issue 27, 8/31/04
Written by Anne-Marie "HerGeekness" Concepcion
... for her clients, colleagues, random contacts and interested subscribers
© 2004 Seneca Design & Training, Inc.
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Lock QuarkXPress Master Pages
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QuarkXPress 6.x, as in previous versions, allows you to edit Master Page items right on the document pages themselves. In fact, unless you've memorized the make-up of the Master that the page is based on, there's no easy way to tell which items on a page are from its Master and which are "local" items you added to it outside of the Master. If you're working on a document page and choose Edit -> Select All, all items on the page are selected, including Master Page items. Press Delete/Backspace and poof! they're gone.
Sometimes, though, it would be nice to make it a little harder to modify Master Page items. Perhaps you've developed a template for freelancers, for example, and you don't want them accidentally editing your fine-tuned Master Page artwork and folios. Or maybe you'd like to be able to "Select All" on a document page and have Quark select everything *except* Master Page items, automatically.
With the advent of layers that can truly lock in QuarkXPress 6.x, you can do just that. Here's how:
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Starting with a New, Blank Document
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1. As soon as you create a New Document, open the Layers palette (Window -> Show Layers) and note that there's a default layer called, um, Default.
2. Lock the Default layer by clicking just once in its Lock column. You should see a padlock appear next to the layer name. Items on a locked layer are visible but unselectable --this layer will contain all Master Page items.
3. Create a new layer by clicking the New Layer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the palette. (Hint: The icon looks like a pre-schooler's rendition of a flying rectangle.) You can double-click the layer to rename it if you want. This layer, and any other new ones you might add, will contain all document page items.
That's it, you're done. When you're working on a document page, just make sure that the new layer you added (or any layer other than Default) is active before you try to put anything on the page. If the locked Default layer is active, you'll only get a padlock cursor, reminding you the layer is locked and you can't put anything on it while it's locked.
If you do need to edit a Master Page item on a document page, just unlock the Default layer first by clicking its padlock icon to turn it off. Edit as necessary, then lock the layer again.
You don't need to worry about switching layers or unlocking anything when you're working on a Master Page, because Quark's Master Pages are oblivious to the entire concept of layers. When a Master Page is active the Layer palette is disabled, greyed out. Meanwhile, everything you put on a Master gets placed on the Default layer without you having to think about it. So what if it's locked, that's ignored as well -- interesting, and handy for our purposes.
This method offers a bunch of advantages. First, of course, is that with all Master Page items on a locked layer, it's impossible to accidentally edit or delete a Master Page item on a document page. (You have to think about it and explicitly *unlock* the Default layer first to get at it. Remember to lock it again!)
Now when you're on a document page, you can drag a selection marquee around a bunch of items and Master Page items are ignored (not selected). Similarly, Edit -> Select All selects only only document page items. A bonus is that you can easily hide Master Page items on a document page by clicking the Default layer's visibility icon, the eyeball (Icon courtesy of the same pre-schooler, I think) to turn it off. Click the visibility column again to show the items.
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Starting with an Existing Document
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So you're eager to use this tip to safeguard your Master Page items for some existing documents? Assuming you've got stuff on Master Pages as well as document pages, most likely everything is on the same Default layer. Before we can lock the layer, we have to move everything *except* Master Page items to a different layer, document page by document page.
You might think it'd be easier to do the reverse, especially if you've got only a few things on a Master Page. Why not just move those few Master Page items to their own new layer and lock *that* one? Well gosh darn, it would be easier, if only the Layers palette wasn't greyed out when you're on a Master Page! Can't even create a new layer, let alone move items to it. Ah well.
Back to Plan A. Depending on the complexity, this could take a minute or two, or sixty minutes or two. Not to worry, here's a way to speed things up.
1. Open the Layers palette and create a new layer, as above. Don't lock the Default layer yet.
2. Go to your Master Page, choose Edit -> Select All, and then group the Master Page items (Item -> Group). Do this for each Master Page/Spread, if you have more than one.
3. Go to the first document page and choose Edit -> Select All (Master Page items are selected as well, the default behavior). Hold down the Shift key and click on any item you *know* is from the Master Page (like a folio or a header). That deselects that item as well as all other Master Page items, since they were grouped. Now only document page items are selected.
4. Drag the selection proxy icon in the Layers palette (a dotted rectangle to the right of the layer name where the items currently reside) from the Default layer to the new one. That's how you move items from one layer to another. Since a bunch of things were selected, all selected items get moved to the new layer.
5. Go to the next document page/spread and repeat steps 3 and 4: Select all, deselect a Master item, drag the proxy. Do this for all remaining pages/spreads.
6. Lock the Default layer.
7. Go back to the Master Page(s), select the grouped items and ungroup them (Item -> Ungroup).
That's it, you're good to go.
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Quark 6 Layers Tiplet
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You may have noticed that Quark lacks a Layers menu. All you have to work with are the four weird palette icons. There are more features hiding in the Layers palette *context* menu -- right-click or Control-click (Mac) on a layer in the palette to reveal them. For example, one such feature is "Select Items on Layer."
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Dealing with Artwork in MS Word Files
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So many clients love to use Word's clip art and drawing tools in their Word documents. Then they give us the files and expect the same artwork to be reproduced in high-resolution, process-color glory. Such a shame.
If you've tried it, you know what I'm talking about.
When you import a Word file containing Microsoft artwork into QuarkXPress, the artwork is ignored, only the text makes it through. When you place a similar file in InDesign, clip art makes it in as inline graphics, but not anything created with the drawing tools.
And even that clip art that survives the journey -- what the heck is the format? InDesign hasn't a clue, according to the Info palette. The Links palette reveals it's an embedded graphic. You can select the link and choose Unembed from the palette menu, extracting it into its own file, but no program that I know of can open it, not Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Photoshop, not even OS X's Preview (which can open just about anything, even PostScript files). All report it's an "unrecognized format."
Luckily for your clients, you read DesignGeek, and you can deal with anything they throw at you.
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The Web Page Method
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Place or import the Word file into your layout just to get the text. Then open the document in Microsoft Word and choose File -> Save as Web Page (OS X) or File -> Save As -> Format: Web Page (OS X or Windows). Create and choose a folder to save the resulting HTML and image files into, and click OK. Quit Word.
Ignore the HTML file, what we're interested in is the artwork. Conveniently, when it converts a file to a web page, Word exports the art into subfolder. The art is converted to GIFs (for the illustration-type clip art and client-drawn artwork) and JPEGs (for the photo-type clip art).
Find the subfolder (it's at the same location as the new .html file), open the artwork in Photoshop and change the resolution, color mode and image format as necessary.
For example, open a GIF, change the color mode to RGB, increase the pixel resolution (in Image -> Image Size), sharpen as necessary, change color mode to CMYK, and save it as a TIFF (for Quark or InDesign) or PSD (InDesign).
Place or import those press-ready files into your layout program.
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The PDF Method
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If you've got Acrobat for Mac or Windows as well as Illustrator or Freehand, this is the preferred method. The majority of Word clip art and all of its drawing tools are vector-based, and using PDF and PostScript, you can maintain the vector format -- the files are much easier to edit and their edges are sharp at any resolution.
As above, place or import the Word file into your layout file to get the text. Next, open the document in Word and export it to PDF using any method available to you.
Open the PDF in Illustrator or Freehand, and you'll see the illustration-type artwork came through as fully editable vector graphics. Delete everything except for the artwork, edit the art as necessary (e.g., change the RGB colors to CMYK), and save it as an EPS or AI (InDesign only) file for placing into your layout document.
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DeGeekify Yourself with Letterpress
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Every once in a while it's good to step AWAY from the computer ma'am and remind yourself of the beauty of type and tradition.
One example that made me want to unplug my computer for good and start scouting flea markets for old printing equipment is this movie:
http://elsa.photo.net/video/firefly-small.mov
It's a visit to Firefly, a letterpress shop in Somerville, Massachusetts. The producer/narrator is Chuck Kraemer (WGBH Boston contributor). It's one of his "Chuck Kraemer at Large" segments.
After the movie ends, before you shut down the computer and have a midlife crisis, you may want to check out Elsa's home page (the http://elsa.photo.net part of the URL). Elsa Dorfman is a renowned portrait photographer whose site is huge and full of interesting surprises. I like the navigation too -- she's laid it out like a Boston subway map.
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BRING HERGEEKNESS ON-SITE
Do you like what you read in DesignGeek? Find anything useful? Why not bring me in for a session or two of hands-on software training for your workgroup. I don't charge an arm and a leg, and you'll find we usually go far beyond teaching which dialog does what. I pay attention to your particular projects and workflow, and teach how you can best use the software to get it done easily, accurately and efficiently.
Many of the stories I write in DesignGeek come from real-world situations my training clients are dealing with. They had a problem that wasn't on the syllabus, I helped them solve it. This level of commitment to your real-world concerns is just one of the benefits I offer to training clients. To learn more, or hear what other clients have to say, contact me or fill out the no-obligation "Request a Training Quote' form on Seneca's site:
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Recent training clients include Wells Manufacturing (InDesign, Version Cue); BCN Communications (InDesign); Ispat/Inland Steel (InDesign), Serta (Photoshop); Awana Clubs International (OS X, InDesign); BBDO Chicago (InDesign); and Emergency Nurses Association (Quark 6, Photoshop CS and Illustrator CS)
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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/).
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Copyright 2004 by Seneca Design & Training, Inc.
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