AdCreation Toolkit

The ACT Menu

AdCreation Toolkit adds a menu to the QuarkXPress menu bar. The ACT menu appears to the right of the QuarkXPress Utilities menu, and it con- tains menu options that allow the user to access many of the features of AdCreation Toolkit.

Introduction

AdCreation Toolkit is an XTension for QuarkXPress version 3.32 and later. AdCreation Toolkit is a collection of over a dozen utilities that help make advertising design tasks easier. Features include:

• Polygon Creator
• Create Matrix
• Setup Guides
• Flip Item/Layout
• Create Headline
• Auto Mask
• Text Inset
• Fit Text Block
• Track Total Time
• Print Job Information
• New Layout
• Format Prices
• Copy & Apply Style Attributes
• Auto Save EPS of Ad
• Character Level Style Sheets
• Insert Font Characters Visually
• Control Ad Layers

Polygon Creator

AdCreation toolkit adds the ability to automatically create various polygon shapes, such as stars and starbursts. These shapes can be created by hand in QuarkXPress, but only by taking a great deal of time and effort. The Polygon Creator makes it easy.

Random field — The value in this field indicates a variable length of spike is permitted in the starburst. Each spike is created using a random spike depth with a value somewhere between the value found in the Spike Depth field and the value in the Random field.

Alternate Spikes check box — If this box is checked, every other spike is roughly 50% of the size of the standard-length spikes.

Isometric Triangle radio button — Found at the bottom left of the Polygon Creator dialog, this control creates an isometric (two sides an even length) triangle.

Right Triangle radio button — Creates a triangle having a 90 degree angle at the bottom left corner of the shape.

Diamond radio button — Creates a diamond shaped polygon.

Trapezoid radio button — Found at the top right of the Polygon Creator dialog, this radio button creates a trapezoid (two sides parallel) polygon. The Fullness field, located below this radio button, is associated with this control and only activates when the Trapezoid or Star radio buttons are chosen.

Star radio button — Found next to the Trapezoid radio button, this control creates a five-sided star. The Fullness field is associated with this con- trol and only activates when the Trapezoid or Star radio buttons are chosen.

Fullness — The percentage value entered in this field determines the shape of the trapezoid or star being created. For trapezoids, the larger the value, the longer the “short side” of the trapezoid. When creating a star, a larger value causes the star to have shal- lower “arms”. An isometric (all sides the same length) star may be created using a value of 37.5%.

Arrow radio button — Found at the center right of the Polygon Creator dia- log, the arrow radio button creates arrow shaped polygons. The Head % and Shaft % fields are associated with this radio button and are only active when the Arrow radio button is selected.

Head % field — The value entered in this field determines the length of the arrow head. The head is created as being a certain percent- age of the total length of the arrow itself.

The Polygon Creator Dialog

There are two ways to activate the Polygon Creator dialog. The first is to cre- ate or select a graphic or text box in QuarkXPress, then choose Polygon Creator… from the ACT menu. The second way to activate the Polygon Creator dialog is to select the Polygon Tool ( ) from the QuarkXPress tool palette and draw a box the size of the desired polygon.

The Polygon Creator dialog gives you all the controls you need to automati- cally re-form an QuarkXPress graphic box into various polygon shapes. These controls include:

Starburst radio button — Found at the top left of the Polygon Creator dialog, this radio button creates “starburst” polygon shapes. Selecting this radio button causes its four associated controls to become active.

Spikes field — The value entered in this field determines the number of spikes on the starburst. Starbursts without alternating spikes may have a maximum of 99 spikes; a starburst with alternating spikes may have up to 60 points.

Spike Depth field — A percentage placed in this field indicates how “deep” into the starburst shape the spikes should go. Higher percentages yield longer spikes. The maximum spike depth is 80%.

Shaft % field — The percentage value in this field tells the XTension how wide the shaft of the arrow should be. It is expressed in a percentage of the width of the original box.

Apply button — Clicking this button reshapes the polygon as specified in the dialog without closing the Create Matrix dialog. Pressing Command- A from the keyboard is equivalent to clicking this button.

Cancel button — Closes the Polygon Creator dialog without saving any of the changes made while the dialog was onscreen.

OK button — Closes the Polygon Creator dialog and reshapes the polygon as specified in the dialog.

To use the Create Matrix utility, select a page element or group of page ele- ments to be duplicated into the matrix. With the items selected, choose Create Matrix… from the ACT menu.

Create Matrix

The create matrix feature creates equally spaced grids of page elements or groups of page elements three different ways. AdCreation Toolkit can cre- ate a matrix by indicating the gutter desired between elements, the total dimensions of the desired matrix, or by scaling the matrix elements to accommodate both the gutter and total matrix dimensions.

The Create Matrix Dialog

Creating a Polygon

To create a polygon using the Polygon Creator, first select a text or graphic box in QuarkXPress. Then choose Polygon Creator… from the ACT menu. The Polygon Creator dialog appears.

Choose from the polygon types available, selecting the radio button for either a starburst, isometric triangle, right triangle, diamond, trapezoid, star or arrow. Depending on which polygon type is selected, additional controls may need to be set, either by entering values or checking a check box. Once all of the controls are set as desired, click the OK button and AdCreation Toolkit goes to work. The XTension converts the selected box to a polygon box using the specifications set forth in the Polygon Creator dialog.

Polygon Tool ( ) in the QuarkXPress tool palette generates a polygon made of either a text box or a graphic box. To choose whether a text or graphic box is created whenever the Polygon Tool is invoked, select AdCreation Toolkit from the Preferences submenu, found under the Edit menu (Macintosh) or select Preferences from the ACT menu (Windows).

The Create Matrix dialog includes all of the controls necessary to create a matrix one of three ways. These controls include:

Create Matrix By popup menu — This popup menu allows the user to choose which method should be used to specify the matrix. The method chosen in this popup menu will determine which controls are acces- sible in the Create Matrix dialog.

Setting the Polygon Tool Preferences

A section at the bottom right of the preferences dialog labeled Polygon Tool includes a pair of radio buttons: Picture and Text . Choose the radio button corresponding to the type of polygon box which should be created when- ever the Polygon Tool is used, then click the OK button to save the selec- tion to the XTension’s preferences.

Rows field — This field determines the number of rows to create in the matrix.

Columns field — The value in this field indicates the number of columns to include in the matrix.

Gutter fields — A pair of fields allowing the user to enter a distance to be left between the items in the matrix.

Height/Width fields — Fields indicating the total height and width of the matrix being created, including the items in the matrix and the gut- ter distances.

Keep Proportional check box — This control is only active when a matrix is being created by the Scaling method, and when it is checked, it caus- es AdCreation Toolkit to scale the items in the matrix proportional- ly and center them in the matrix area.

Group Matrix check box — Checking this box tells AdCreation Toolkit to group all of the items in the matrix into one group after creating the matrix.

Create Matrix by Dimensions

To create a Matrix by specifying its total dimensions, first select an item or group of page elements to be the prototype for the matrix, then with those items selected, choose Create Matrix… from the ACT menu.

Creating a Matrix by Gutter

To create a Matrix by specifying the gutter width, first select an item or group of page elements to be the prototype for the matrix, then with those items selected, choose Create Matrix… from the ACT menu.

Select Dimensions from the Create Matrix By popup menu. This disables the two Gutter fields while leaving the Rows, Columns, Height and Width fields active. Now the user may enter the number of rows and columns the matrix should include, and also enter the total height and width of the matrix. The XTension calculates and displays the gutter distances each time a value is entered in one of the fields. If the matrix should be grouped together when it is complete, check the Group Matrix box, then click the OK button to generate the matrix. If the height or width of the proposed matrix exceeds the page size, the XTension indicates which variables need to be changed to remedy the problem.

Create Matrix by Scaling

To create a Matrix by scaling its elements to fit the specified area, first select an item or group of page elements to be the prototype for the matrix, then with those items selected, choose Create Matrix… from the ACT menu.

Select Gutter from the Create Matrix By popup menu. This deactivates the Height and Width fields while leaving the Rows, Columns and Gutter fields active. Now the user may input the number of rows and columns desired for the matrix, and also the gutter distance desired in the matrix’s horizon- tal and vertical axes. AdCreation Toolkit calculates and displays the total height and width of the matrix each time a value is entered in one of the fields. If the matrix should be grouped together when it is complete, check the Group Matrix box, then click the OK button to generate the matrix according to the user specifications. If the height or width of the proposed matrix exceeds the page size, the XTension indicates which variables need to be changed to remedy the problem.

Select Scaling from the Create Matrix By popup menu. This enables all of the fields on the dialog as well as the Keep Proportional check box. Enter val- ues in the Rows, Columns, Gutter, Height and Width fields to indicate the sizes desired for the matrix.

If the boxes in the matrix should remain at a 1:1 proportion to their starting size, check the Keep Proportional check box to indicate this. This creates a matrix by scaling the matrix elements proportionally until they fit into the specified matrix size. Height and Width values are, in this case, the maxi- mum allowable height and width.

If the Keep Proportional check box is left unchecked, AdCreation Toolkit will generate a matrix the size indicated by scaling the boxes in the matrix accordingly. When this method of creating a matrix is used, the XTension actually fills the specified Height and Width completely in both directions.

When all of the controls are set as desired, click the OK button to generate the matrix as specified.

Setup Guides

AdCreation Toolkit provides a convenient way to set up page guides in either a grid configuration or to divide the page into sections. It also allows you to install a single page guide by specifying its horizontal or vertical coordinate.

The Setup Guides Dialog

To activate the Setup Guides dialog, select Setup Guides… from the ACT menu.

The Setup Guides dialog has all of the controls necessary to create grids of guides or specify single guides in QuarkXPress. The controls include:

Grid Controls — Selecting the Grid radio button activates the Grid controls, allowing the user to specify the horizontal and vertical intervals at which the guides should appear on the document.

Custom Controls — Selecting the Custom radio button activates the Custom grid controls. These controls allow the user to specify the number of Rows and Columns which the page should be subdivided into, and also includes options for setting Margins around the grid and the horizontal and vertical Gutter width between rows and columns in the grid.

One Guide Controls — Selecting the One Guide radio button activates the controls that allow the user to add a single page guide to the document. A Horizontal/Vertical popup menu lets the user specify the direction the guide should run on the page, and the Position field allows the user to set its horizontal or vertical coordinate.

Remove Existing Guides check box — If the page guides already on the page are no longer needed, select the Remove Existing Guides check box. To preserve the already-existing guides, make sure that check box remains unchecked The Remove Existing Guides feature only removes guides that were created with AdCreation Toolkit.

Install button — Clicking this button adds the guide(s) to the page as speci- fied in the dialog, but it does not close the Setup Guides dialog. Once installed, guides may not be removed by closing the Setup Guides dialog with the Cancel button. The keyboard equivalent for this feature is Command-I.

Print… button (Macintosh only) — Clicking this button prints a visual repre- sentation of the location of guides on each page. Each pages is print- ed with a line designating the location of each guide present.

Cancel button — Clicking this button closes the Setup Guides dialog and disregards any changes made in the dialog since the last time the Install feature was used.

OK button — Clicking this button closes the Setup Guides dialog, applying guides to the document page as specified in the dialog.

When the Setup Guides dialog appears, select the Grid radio button. This activates the Vertical and Horizontal fields at the top of the dialog. These two fields let the user specify the intervals to be left between guide lines in the grid, both vertically and horizontally. Entering a 0 in either the Vertical or Horizontal field causes AdCreation Toolkit to create no guides in that direction. Enter values into these fields accordingly. Click the Install or OK button to add the guides to the page.

Creating a Custom Grid of Guides

For creating a more complex grid of page guides, the Setup Guides feature also includes a custom option. This function is also accessed by selecting Setup Guides… from the ACT menu.

Creating a Grid of Guides

To create a grid on the QuarkXPress document page using page guides, select Setup Guides… from the ACT menu.

When the Setup Guides dialog appears onscreen, select the Custom radio button. Selecting this button activates a number of controls at the bottom of the dialog. These controls include:

Rows field — The number of rows the page should be divided into.

Columns field — The number of columns the page should be divided into.

Top/Bottom Margins field — Allows the user to specify how much of a margin at the top and bottom of the page should be left before AdCreation Toolkit begins to calculate the distances for creating the grid.

Left/Right Margins field — A value expressing the left and right margins which should be left out of the area AdCreation Toolkit subdivides.

Vertical Gutter field — The width of the vertical gutter between columns.

Horizontal Gutter field — The height of the horizontal gutter between rows.

Enter the desired values into the fields described above. Then click the Install or OK button to add the guides to the page.

Creating a Single Guide

AdCreation Toolkit can also let you specify a single guide. This function is accessed by selecting Setup Guides… from the ACT menu.

The Drop Shadow dialog allows the user to set all of the specifications for creating a drop shadow. Enter the desired offsets in the Down and Across editable fields. Then choose the color desired for the drop shadow from the Color popup menu. The color’s shade may be selected either by using the Shade popup menu or by highlighting the current percentage and typing in a new one. When all of the controls are set as desired, click the Shadow button to create the drop shadow. The box created for the drop shadow is always a graphic box, since graphic boxes take less time to print than text boxes.

When the Setup Guides dialog appears onscreen, select the One Guide radio button, then choose either Horizontal or Vertical from the One Guide popup menu. Enter the desired location of the guide to be added in the Position field. Then click the Install or OK button to add the guide to the page.

Printing the Guides (Macintosh Only)

The 3D Shadows Dialog

From the Setup Guides dialog, click the Print… button to print a visual representation of the location of guides on each page. Each pages is print- ed with a line designating the location of each guide present.

The 3D Shadows dialog contains all of the controls used to create three- dimensional shadow effects within QuarkXPress.

Shadow Effects

AdCreation Toolkit creates drop shadows faster than the user can create them manually. The XTension also creates three-dimensional shadows of any color or size. In addition, the three-dimensional shadows can optional- ly have a blend effect.

Creating a Drop Shadow

To create a drop shadow with AdCreation Toolkit, first select the page rule,

Offset field — An editable field used to set how wide the shadow should be when created.

Color popup menu — A popup menu which is used to choose the color the three- dimensional shadow should be.

Group Boxes check box — If this box is checked when AdCreation Toolkit creates the three-dimensional shadow, it conveniently groups the elements of the shadow and the original box together.

Shades Controls: Down and Across — Two popup menus which allow the user to set the shade of the selected color which will appear in both the horizon- tal and vertical elements of the three-dimensional shadow. The percent- ages can also be edited by highlighting the current setting and then entering new values from the keyboard.

Gradient to Zero check box — If this box is checked when AdCreation Toolkit cre- ates the three-dimensional shadow, AdCreation Toolkit applies a blend to the shadow, making the shadow appear to fade away as it stretches farther from the box.

Shadow Position Indicator — Found on the right side of the dialog, the shadow position indicator is the image of a box with a three-dimensional shad- ow. Clicking the mouse in any of the four corners of the indicator box changes the position of the shadow to the two sides nearest the corner.

Once all of the controls are set as desired, click the Shadow button. AdCreation Toolkit quickly creates two picture boxes to the specifications entered in the 3D Drop Shadow dialog and, if the Group Boxes check box is checked, groups the shadow and the original box together.

Creating a Three-Dimensional Shadow

AdCreation Toolkit allows the user to easily create a three-dimensional shadow effect. To create the shadow, select the text or picture box to be shadowed, then choose 3D Shadow… from the ACT menu.

When a polygon is selected as the RefleXTion dialog is activated, the dialog appears with the Polygon radio button already selected. Choose which way the polygon should be flipped by selecting one of the three directional radio buttons: Vertical, Horizontal or Both. Then click the RefleXT button. The axis used to flip the polygon is always the polygon’s center.

RefleXTion

When designing a document in QuarkXPress, a striking effect can be gained by mirroring items to create a symmetrical effect. While creating this effect can be time-consuming and tedious when done by hand, RefleXTion allows the user to reflect polygons, groups of items, and even entire QuarkXPress pages quickly and easily to give the QuarkXPress user more freedom of design.

Reflecting a Polygon with RefleXTion (Windows Only)

Reflecting a single polygon across its vertical or horizontal axis is easy with RefleXTion. Select the polygon and choose RefleXTion… from the ACT menu.

Reflecting Selected Boxes with RefleXTion

Using RefleXTion to reflect selections of boxes on a page is also easy . First, select the items to be flipped, then choose RefleXTion… from the ACT menu.

The Selection radio button is selected by default (Macintosh), or since the RefleXTion dialog was activated while multiple items were selected, the Group Box radio button is already selected (Windows). Choose the appropriate directional controls (Horizontal, Vertical or Both) , then click the RefleXT button. AdCreation Toolkit calculates the center of the selection and uses that axis to flip the group of items.

AdCreation Toolkit’s Page function is meant to work on only one page at a time. If there is a need to reflect items found on more than one page of a spread, use the Group option instead to flip the group of items which need to be reflected.

When a group of items containing text or pictures is flipped, the text and pictures are not flipped. Always check to make sure that flipping the items did not cause text to reflow.

Flipping an Entire Page with RefleXTion

Flipping Box Contents (Macintosh Only)

AdCreation Toolkit gives the user the ability to flip all of the items on a sin- gle page. To flip a page of items using the Macintosh, select all elements on the page. To flip a page of items using Windows, select any item on the page to be flipped. Then choose RefleXTion… from the ACT menu.

A handy additional feature of AdCreation Toolkit for the Macintosh is the ability to flip the contents of boxes which are being reflected. First, select the items to be flipped, then choose RefleXTion… from the ACT menu.

The election radio button is selected by default (Macintosh). If a polygon or other items was selected when the AdCreation Toolkit dialog was activat- ed, the Polygon or Group Box radio button is selected, otherwise the Page radio button is automatically selected (Windows). Make sure the Page radio button is chosen, then choose the appropriate directional controls (Horizontal, Vertical or Both) . When all of the controls are set, click the RefleXT button. RefleXTion uses the center axis of the page to flip the page’s contents.

Choose the appropriate directional controls (Horizontal or Vertical ), and whether the current selection or the entire page should be flipped. Use the Reflect Contents check box to determine whether or not the contents of the boxes being reflected should also be flipped. Click the RefleXT button. AdCreation Toolkit uses the chosen option, Page or Selection to determine the axis across which the page elements should be flipped.

Change Height is selected, the height of the box will lengthen or shorten to accommodate the text it contains. However, if the Change Width check box is checked, the box width will only narrow, not widen, in adjustment to fit the text it contains.

Click the Apply button or press Command-A to see how the dialog set- tings will affect the selected box. If the result is as desired, click the OK button to close the Fit Text Block dialog, or else continue to change settings or click the Cancel button to close the dialog and discard changes made to the document.

Fitting a Text Block by Adjusting Text Attributes

A second way the Fit Text Block utility can operate is by adjusting text attributes to help fill or fit into a given text box. To use this method, select the text box to be adjusted and select Fit Text Block… from the ACT menu.

Fit Text Block

One of the convenient functions provided by AdCreation Toolkit is the ability to fit a text box to the text it encloses. If a box is overset (having too much text, displays the overflow symbol at the lower right) or if it is underset (the text does not fill the enclosing text box to the bottom), this utility can trim the box to fit the text it encloses.

Fitting a Text Block by Adjusting the Box

One way the Fit Text Block utility can operate is by adjusting the size of the text box. To use this method, select the text block to be adjusted and select Fit Text Block… from the ACT menu.

The three text attributes which may be used to help fit text into a given text box are Paragraphs, Leading and Tracking.

Paragraphs— If this check box is checked, the “space after” setting on the text paragraphs is adjusted to help the text fit into the box. The user limits the range a “space after” value may be by entering values in the Maximum and Minimum editable fields.

Leading — When the Leading Check box is checked, the leading applied to the text is adjusted to help it fit into the text box. The user may limit the range of values acceptable for leading by entering a maximum allowable value in the Positive field and placing the minimum allowable value in the Negative field.

Tracking — Checking this check box tells the XTension to try adjusting the tracking settings in order to better fit the text to the text box. Like

To adjust the size of the box with the Fit Text Block utility, check the Adjust Box check box. This activates two other check boxes, labeled Change Width and Change Height. Check either the Change Width or the Change Height check box, depending on how the text box’s size should be adjusted. If leading, the maximum and minimum allowable values may be entered in the Positive and Negative fields.

Check whichever of the three text attributes should be adjusted in the text, then set their corresponding fields. Click the Apply button or press Command-A to see how the dialog settings will affect the selected box. If the result is as desired, click the OK button to close the Fit Text Block dia- log, or else continue to change settings or click the Cancel button to close the dialog and discard changes made to the document.

The Auto Mask utility is disabled under QuarkXPress 4.0. This functionality is available within QuarkXPress 4.0 by using the program’s clipping paths feature.

Text Inset

QuarkXPress allows the user to set the text inset distance for any given text box, but the application does not provide the option to enter different val- ues for the four sides of the text box. AdCreation Toolkit adds this handy feature.

Auto Mask

Setting Text Inset Values

Using the Auto Mask Utility

To set separate text inset values for the four sides of a text box, first select the text box whose insets should be adjusted. Then choose Set Text Inset… from the ACT menu.

The AdCreation Toolkit auto mask feature creates a mask around an imported picture with a polygon graphic box. To use the auto mask utility, import any graphic into a graphic box. Select Runaround… from the Item menu and set the runaround popup menu to Manual Image. The outline of the runaround is visible around the graphic image.

The four fields labeled Top, Left, Right and Bottom may then be used to enter different values for the distance the text is inset on each side of the selected text box. To see the effect of the new settings on the text box, click the Apply button or press Command-A. When the values are set as desired, click the OK button to apply the new text inset values to the text box.

At this point, the manual runaround may be adjusted using the handles. For more on manual runaround, consult the QuarkXPress manual. Once the runaround is placed as desired, select Auto Mask from the ACT menu or execute the custom keyboard command specified in the AdCreation Toolkit Preferences. AdCreation Toolkit creates a polygon graphic box in the shape of the manual runaround, as seen below.

Job Slug

The AdCreation Toolkit Job Slug utility gives the user the ability to store vital document tracking information within the QuarkXPress document. It also lets the user place a text box anywhere in an QuarkXPress document which automatically provides the user with that stored data, updating the information each time the document is printed out.

AdTrax

The AdTraX utility automatically tracks the total time a QuarkXPress document is in use. This makes it easy to bill design work by the hour.

Viewing Total Time

As soon as AdCreation Toolkit is installed, it starts tracking total time doc- uments are in use. To see how long a document has been in use, select AdTraX… from the ACT menu.

The Job Slug Dialog

The Job Slug dialog lets the user input or change the document identifica- tion information stored within the QuarkXPress document. To activate the Job Slug dialog, select Job Slug… from the ACT menu.

The AdTraX dialog displays the total time the current document has been in use. It also indicates the date and time of initialization. Initialization is the point at which AdTraX started tracking total time.

Clearing the Total Time

To clear the total time and start over tracking the time a document is in use, select AdTraX… from the ACT menu to activate the AdTraX dialog. Then click the Clear button. Finally click the OK button to close the AdTraX dia- log and continue tracking time.

The Job Slug dialog appears displaying the information already stored in the document. If the AdCreation Toolkit New Layout feature was used to enter data, that text appears in the dialog. Make changes to any fields as necessary or check or uncheck the Include AdTraX Total Work Time check box to indicate whether the information gathered by the AdTraX utility should be included in the Job Slug or not. Then click the OK button to save any changes made.

Smart Time Tracking

AdTraX defines a period of time spent working on a document as begin- ning when a document is opened and ending when the document is last saved before it is closed. This means that opening a document, then closing it again without making any changes to the file does not add to the total time reported in the AdTraX dialog.

AdTraX does not count the time a document is open when it is not the active (frontmost) document in QuarkXPress. Also, when a document is left active and QuarkXPress is left idle for more than fifteen minutes, AdTraX stops adding to the total time until QuarkXPress is used again.

Applying a Job Slug to a Text Box

To apply a Job Slug to the current spread, choose Job Slug… from the ACT menu. Once the Job Slug dialog appears, make any changes necessary to the data fields, then click the Attach button to add the Job Slug to the cur- rent spread. The Job Slug appears at the upper right side of the spread, almost completely in the pasteboard. Once a Job Slug is applied to a docu- ment, the slug updates each time the Print command is executed in QuarkXPress while AdCreation Toolkit is installed.

Price Formatting

The AdCreation Toolkit price formatting feature allows the user to create a set of preferences for formatting prices in the text of QuarkXPress docu- ments and then apply that price format within the document. The XTension includes a batch format feature which formats every price in the document with a single command.

Superior $ and ¢ check box — Checking this box causes AdCreation Toolkit to apply the superior text attribute to the dollar and cent symbols in prices so that the “$” symbol appears as “^$” and the “¢” symbol appears as“^¢”.

Superior After Radix check box — When this check box is checked, the numerals which appeared after the radix (decimal point) in the price have the superior text attribute applied to them. (Example: The cents value of “48” is made superior in this price: $39⁴⁸) The Superior After Radix check box mostly commonly used along with the Delete Radix check box.

No Confirmation check box — If this check box is checked, AdCreation

Toolkit’s Change All Prices feature formats every price in the current document without pausing. Unchecking the box causes the XTension to pause before formatting each price, giving the user the opportunity to confirm that each price should be formatted.

Applying Price Formatting to a Single Price in a Document

To format a single price, select the price, including the accompanying dol- lar sign or cent symbol and select Format Price from the ACT menu. AdCreation Toolkit uses the formatting preferences selected by the user to format the selected price.

Applying Price Formatting to all Prices in a Document

To format all of the prices in the current document, make sure no boxes are selected in the document and choose Format All Prices from the ACT menu. Depending upon the way the XTension’s preferences are set, AdCreation Toolkit handles global price formatting one of two ways.

If the No Confirmation check box in the AdCreation Toolkit preferences dia- log is checked, the XTension scans through the entire document and for- mats every price it finds. AdCreation Toolkit’s Format All Prices feature defines a price as any number preceded by a dollar sign ($) or followed by a cents sign (¢).

Since documents may contain numbers with decimals which are not prices, AdCreation Toolkit allows the user to individually confirm occurrences of prices in the document. If the No Confirmation check box in the AdCreation Toolkit preferences dialog is unchecked when the Format All Prices item is selected from the ACT menu, AdCreation Toolkit pauses before each occurrence of numbers it identifies as prices and allows the user to decide whether or not that number really should be formatted as a price.

Setting the Price Formatting Preferences

The formatting AdCreation Toolkit applies to prices is set through a dialog. To access the AdCreation Toolkit preferences dialog, select AdCreation Toolkit from the Preferences submenu, found under the Edit menu (Macintosh) or select Preferences from the ACT menu (Windows).

The various controls in the AdCreation Toolkit Preferences dialog allow the user to set different aspects of the price format as well as provide choices about how the XTension functions. These controls include:

Price Format Keyboard Command — This control lets the user set the key- board command which may be used to activate the price formatting utility. When entering a character in the editable field, keep in mind that other XTensions or macros may use keyboard commands which also combine the command and control keys with another character. Enter a unique keyboard command to avoid conflicts.

Underline Cents check box — Checking this check box indicates that

AdCreation Toolkit should underline the cents in prices which include both dollar and cent values. (Example: The cents value of “99” is underlined in this price: ^$12⁹⁹)

Delete Radix check box — If this box is checked, the radix (decimal point) in prices are removed when AdCreation Toolkit formats the price. The Delete Radix check box is usually chosen in conjunction with the Superior After Radix check box.

AdCreation Toolkit allows the user a number of formatting options through the check boxes found in the AdCreation Toolkit preferences dia- log. A single price could be formatted several different ways, depending upon the settings in the preferences dialog.

Copy & Apply Text Attributes

Setting Keyboard Commands for Copying & Applying Text Attributes

The copy & apply text attributes utility has a nearly invisible interface; all of the functions the user calls upon are accessed by keyboard commands. So when AdCreation Toolkit is first installed, it is important to set the key- board commands.

To set the keyboard commands, select AdCreation Toolkit from the Preferences submenu, found under the Edit menu (Macintosh) or select Preferences from the ACT menu (Windows). The AdCreation Toolkit preferences dialog appears.

Another way to activate AdCreation Toolkit’s Format Price feature is to use the user-defined keyboard command which is set in the AdCreation Toolkit preferences dialog. Executing this keyboard command while no text is selected in the document or the item tool is the active tool in the tool palette is equivalent to selecting Format Price from the ACT menu.

Formatting Examples

Some formatting is standard to all prices. Prices under a dollar are format- ted with a cent symbol.

Prices over a dollar may be expressed many ways in a document and still be recognized by AdCreation Toolkit. The XTension standardizes the formatting of the prices.

Command Keys preferences for Macintosh (left) and Windows (right)

The section at the upper left of the dialog contains the preferences for the copy & apply text attributes utility. The two editable fields in this section allow the user to choose any letter or number to create the unique key- board commands for Copy & Apply. When setting the keyboard com- mands, enter letters or numbers for which will not conflict with keyboard combinations using Command+Control (Macintosh) or Alt+Ctrl or (Windows) which are already assigned to other XTensions loaded into QuarkXPress.

Also included on the preferences dialog is a check box labeled Apply Style Sheet. If this check box is checked, whenever this utility is used to apply paragraph formats, the XTension will also attach the name of the copied text’s style sheet to the altered paragraph.

Once the copy & apply preferences are set as desired, click the OK button. Now the XTension is set up for the user’s own preferences and is ready to perform functions copying character and/or paragraph attributes.

Character Attributes vs. Paragraph Attributes

Copy & apply can be used to alter character attributes and/or paragraph attributes.

Paragraph Attributes

• Alignment
• Indents
• H&J
• Leading
• Space Before
• Space After
• Keep With Next ¶
• Keep Lines Together
• Lock to Baseline
• Drop Caps
• Tabs
• Rules

Character Attributes

• Font
• Size
• Color
• Shade
• Horizontal Scale
• Track Amount
• Baseline Shift
• Character Style (Plain, Bold, Italic, etc.)

Copying Paragraph Attributes with AdCreation Toolkit

To copy paragraph attributes, either place the text insertion point in the text which contains the desired attributes, or highlight a range of text. Then press the keyboard combination Command+Control+ <user defined copy key> (Macintosh) or Alt+Ctrl+<user defined copy key> (Windows) or select Copy Paragraph Attributes from the ACT menu. AdCreation Toolkit stores those text attributes. If text containing more than one character or para- graph attribute is selected when the keyboard command to copy is issued, an alert appears indicating that the copy function could not be completed.

Copying Character Attributes with Copy & Apply

To copy text attributes, either place the text insertion point in the text which contains the desired attributes, or highlight more than one charac- ters. Then press the keyboard combination Command+Control+ <user defined copy key> (Macintosh) or Alt+Ctrl+<user defined copy key> (Windows) or select Copy Character Attributes from the ACT menu. AdCreation Toolkit stores those text attributes for future use. If text con- taining more than one character or paragraph attribute is selected when the keyboard command to copy is issued, an alert appears indicating that the copy function could not be completed.

Next, highlight the text which should receive the copied text attributes. Press Command+Control+ <user defined apply key> (Macintosh) or Alt+Ctrl+<user defined apply key> (Windows) or select Apply Character Attributes from the ACT menu. The character attributes are applied to the selected text.

Next, highlight the text which should receive the copied text attributes. Press Command+Control+Shift+ <user defined apply key> (Macintosh) or Alt+Ctrl+Shift+<user defined apply key> (Windows). The copied character and paragraph attributes are applied to the selected text. If the Copy & Apply preferences are set so that the Apply Style Sheet check box is checked, the style sheet name of the paragraph which contains the text being changed is also changed.

New Layout

The New Layout utility allows the user to save and recall user-defined sets of ad sizes so that creation of new documents for advertisements is quick and easy. Ad sizes may be grouped together according to publication to publication type for easy recall. Several commonly-used ad sizes are already included with the XTension.

The New Layout Dialog

To activate the New Layout dialog, select New Layout… from the ACT menu or select Layout… from the New hierarchical menu found under the QuarkXPress File menu.

Next, highlight the text which should receive the copied text attributes. Press Command+Control+Shift+ <user defined apply key> (Macintosh) or Alt+Ctrl+Shift+<user defined apply key> (Windows). The copied character and paragraph attributes are applied to the selected text. If the Copy & Apply preferences are set so that the Apply Style Sheet check box is checked, the style sheet name of the paragraph which contains the text being changed is also changed.

The New Layout dialog contains all the controls necessary to store new ad sizes, recall saved ad sizes and make changes to any sizes already saved by the New Layout feature. It also lets the user store job information about ads within the document and includes a “Save EPS” feature. These controls include:

Publication list — A list of publications whose ad sizes are saved in the New Layout utility.

Ad Size list — A list of ad sizes which have been saved for the currently selected publication in the Publication list.

Publication field — Displays the currently selected publication name. Can also be used to enter a new publication name or other label.

Ad Size field — Displays the currently selected ad size name. Can also be used to enter a new ad size name.

Width field — Displays the currently selected layout’s width. Can be edited to change the current setting or add a new layout size.

Height field — Displays the currently selected layout’s height. Can be edit- ed to change the current setting or add a new layout size.

OK button — Creates a new document based on the chosen ad size.

Cancel button — Closes the New Layout dialog without saving any changes made.

Add button — Adds the currently displayed settings to the stored layouts.

Change button — Alters the selected ad size by replacing its previous size with the currently displayed width and height.

Delete button — Removes the currently selected ad size from the New Layout dialog.

Client Name — A field in which the user may enter a client name to be stored within the QuarkXPress document.

Ad Name — A text field in which the user may store an identifying ad name.

Run Date — A text field in which the user may enter a publication date for an ad.

Ad Number — A field in which the user may store an ad number or job number.

Save EPS on all saves check box — When checked, each time an ad is saved, an EPS image of the ad is also saved to folder specified in the AdCreation Toolkit Preferences.

Ad sizes are grouped by publication. To add a new ad size to a publica- tion’s group of ad sizes, make sure the name in the Publication field match- es the name of the desired publication already found in the Publication list.

Changing a Setting Already in the List

To alter a setting already listed on the New Layout dialog, select the setting to be altered. The setting’s width and height are displayed in the fields at the bottom of the dialog. Make the desired changes to the Width and Height fields, then click the Change button. This updates the information stored by AdCreation Toolkit about that setting.

Removing a Setting from the List

To remove a setting from the New Layout dialog, select the setting to be deleted. Then click the Delete button. The ad size setting is removed from the list.

Creating a New Document with the New Layout Utility

To use one of the ad sizes stored in the New Layout utility, activate the New Layout dialog by selecting New Layout… from the ACT menu or select Layout… from the New hierarchical menu found under the QuarkXPress File menu. Then select the desired publication and ad size from their respective lists. If desired, enter information into the Client Name, Ad Name, Run Date and Ad Number fields. This information is stored inside the document and accessed through the AdCreation Toolkit Job Slug feature.

If an EPS copy of the ad being created is desired, check the Save EPS on all saves check box. Finally, click OK to create the new document based on the specified ad size and data.

New Ad Preferences

One convenience included in AdCreation Toolkit is the ability to automati- cally border an ad when it is created. To activate this feature, select AdCreation Toolkit from the Preferences submenu, found under the Edit menu (Macintosh) or select Preferences from the ACT menu (Windows) to summon the AdCreation Toolkit preferences dialog.

Adding a Setting to the New Layout Dialog

To add a setting to the New Layout dialog, fill in the Publication field, Ad Size field, Width field and Height field, then click the Add button. The set- ting is added to the Ad Size list.

The New Layout section of the preferences dialog includes a check box labeled Automatic Frame. Check this box if new ads should automatically offer bordering options as they are created.

Another preference available in for the New Layout data is Save “Ad Name”. When this check box is checked, The QuarkXPress document con- taining the ad created by ACT through the New Layout utility will default to the name of the Ad.

Additionally, the preferences dialog includes a Save EPS on Save check box and opi and Format popup menus. The EPS files created contain a special ‘pnot’ resource that contains the data stored with the document for Ad Name, Client Name, Run Date and Ad Number. This information is made available to third-party applications that handle document and workflow management.

A pair of popup menus in the New Layout preferences let the user set the OPI options and the EPS type. The OPI (Open Prepress Interface) popup menu provides these options:A button near the bottom of the New Layout dialog labeled EPS Folder… lets the user specify the folder into which an EPS file is stored if the Save EPS on Save option is turned on.

When finished setting the preferences for AdCreation Toolkit, click the OK button to save all changes which have been made to the dialog’s controls and to return to normal operation of QuarkXPress.

The ACT Publications File

AdCreation Toolkit creates an external data file containing the saved pub- lication settings. On Macintosh systems, this file is called “ACT Publications” and is stored in the QuarkXPress folder. On Windows sys- tems, this file is named “actnl.prf” and is stored in the c:\windows directo- ry. This file contains the saved publication settings. The file can be set up on one computer and then copied into the QuarkXPress folder of another computer which contains a copy of AdCreation Toolkit to provide identical menu selections for both systems.

The Publication Preserver (Macintosh Only)

The second popup menu, the Format menu lists the EPS formats that are available for use when the Save EPS on Save option is turned on. The user may choose among:

Because previous versions of AdCreation Toolkit stored the publication data within the XTension file itself, an application named Publication Preserver is included with AdCreation Toolkit 1.1 that can extract the set- tings stored within an older version of AdCreation Toolkit and generate an ACT Publications file.

To extract the publication settings from an older version of the XTension, launch the Publication Preserver application in the Finder, then select Select File from the File menu.

Select the older AdCreation Toolkit XTension. When installing AdCreation Toolkit 1.1, the installer automatically moves any already-installed, older XTension to the “XTension (Disabled)” folder, and that may be where the file is now stored. After selecting the XTension, click the Open button. Publication Preserver exports the stored publication data from the speci- fied copy of AdCreation Toolkit and creates the new ACT Publication file and places it in the folder containing the QuarkXPress application.

The Create Headline dialog has all of the controls the user needs to set up a headline, including:

Font popup menu — Sets font of all text in the current text box.

Size field — Sets size of all text in the current text box.

Tracking field — Sets tracking for all text in the current text box.

Horizontal/Vertical Scale — Sets the horizontal and vertical scale for all of the text in the current text box.

Alignment popup menu — Sets the text alignment (flush left, flush right, jus- tify, etc.) for the current text box.

Text Color popup menu — Sets the text color for text in the current box.

Text Shade field — Sets the shade of color for all text in the current text box.

Justification popup menu — Sets the vertical alignment of the text in the text box, like the user can through the QuarkXPress Text Box Specifications dialog.

Inter ¶ Max field — Sets the maximum distance allowable between para- graphs when the Justification popup menu is set to Justify.

No Box Color check box — Applies the color “none” to the currently selected text box. Checking this check box disables the Box Color popup menu and Box Shade field.

Create Headline

For adjusting headline material fast, the create headline utility gives you access to the tools you need in one dialog. The dialog sets the color, track- ing, justification, horizontal and vertical scale of headline text as well as the color of the headline’s text block.

The Create Headline Dialog

To activate the Create Headline dialog, select a text box to become the headline and choose Create Headline… from the ACT menu.

Box Color popup menu — Sets the color for the currently selected text box.

Box Shade field — Sets the shade of color for the currently selected text box.

Character attributes check boxes — A set of nine check boxes at the bottom for the Create Headline dialog that allow the user to indicate character attributes to be applied to all text in the current text box.

Best Fit button — Clicking this button alters the text size to make it as large as possible while still fitting into its text box.

Apply button — Clicking this button applies the current settings in the dia- log to the selected text box without closing the Create Headline dia- log.

Cancel button — Clicking this button closes the Create Headline dialog and discards any changes made while the dialog was open.

OK button — Clicking this button applies the current settings in the dialog to the selected text box and closes the Create Headline dialog.

The Create Headline dialog appears. Its controls give the user control over the size and attributes of the type in the headline text block as well as over the color of the text box itself. Set the controls as desired, using the Apply button to preview the effects the settings have on the text. Once all of the controls are set as desired, click the OK button to close the dialog and save all changes.

Fontasy

The Fontasy Palette

To access the Fontasy palette, choose Show Fontasy from the View menu.

Using the Create Headline Utility

To create a headline with AdCreation Toolkit, select the text box which will become the headline. Then choose Create Headline… from the ACT menu or with the user-defined keyboard command set in the AdCreation Toolkit Preferences.

On the Fontasy palette, there is a viewing area with a horizontal scroll bar which is used to scroll through all of the characters available in the cur- rently selected font.

In addition, the right side of the palette contains two popup menus. One menu allows the user to change the font displayed in the viewing area, and the second popup menu allows the user to change the point size of the font. Next to the point size popup is the character set button.

Changing the Current Font

The current font name is displayed at the right side of the Fontasy palette, where characters of the font are displayed in the scrolling viewing area on the left. To change fonts, click on the popup menu button ( ) to the left of the current font’s name. A popup menu appears, listing all of the fonts currently available to the system.

When the user clicks on the palette and the desired character is inserted, continuing to type from the insertion point produces characters which have all of the attributes of the text which is found in the text previous to the character which was inserted. However, if two or more characters are entered from the Fontasy palette and the user continues to type from the insertion point, the resulting text is in the font and point size of the characters entered from the palette.

Choose the desired font from the popup menu. The viewing area display changes to depict the characters of the newly chosen font.

The Character Set Dialog

Changing the Point Size

Since scrolling through an entire character set on the Fontasy palette can be time-consuming, Fontasy also offers the character set dialog, which shows all of the characters available in the current font. To activate the character set dialog, click on the character set button ( ) found at the lower right of the Fontasy palette. A dialog appears:

When using Fontasy to add characters to a QuarkXPress document, the point size displayed at the lower right side of the Fontasy palette is the point size at which the characters are inserted. There are two ways to change the point size displayed on the palette.

The first way to change the point size is to use the font size popup menu. Click on the popup menu button ( ) to the left of the current font size. A popup menu appears, listing many commonly used point sizes. Select the desired number from the menu to reset the point size.

There is a second way to change the point size on the Fontasy palette. This is especially useful when the user wants to set a point size not available from the popup. To reset the point size this way, use the mouse to highlight the current point size and enter a new number from the keyboard.

Using Fontasy to Add a Character to a Document

To add a character to a document with Fontasy, first place the text cursor at the desired place in the document. Next select the correct font from the font popup menu. Once the correct font is chosen, set the proper point size. Finally, when all of the settings are correct on the Fontasy palette, scroll through the font’s characters until the desired character is displayed, then click on the character. The indicated character is inserted into the text.

The character set dialog displays all of the characters in the font. To insert one of the characters into the current document, just click on the character to be inserted. Fontasy closes the dialog and inserts the character. To close the dialog without inserting a character, click in the bottom area of the dia- log which reads “Click here to cancel Fontasy dialog mode”.

Layer It!

Layer It! helps the QuarkXPress user navigate through the multiple layers of page elements on the document page. Page elements may be associated into groups which may then be hidden from view so the user can concen- trate on the part of the document which is being worked on.

Layer Count — The Layer It! palette includes a display which tells the user how many layers are found in the current spread. Each page ele- ment is considered to have its own unique layer, so the number list- ed “L=<VALUE>” also provides a count of the number of page elements on the current spread.

Layer It!’s layering controls provide information at a glance about the layer position of the currently selected page element. For instance:

Layering Within a Spread

Layer It! helps the user work with the various layers of page elements in QuarkXPress documents through the handy Layer It! palette. To activate the Layer It! palette, select Show Layer It! from the View menu.

The upper portion of the Layer It! palette is used for moving through and manipulating the layering order of page elements within the spread. These controls include:

Layer Traversing Buttons ( ) — These buttons automatically select the page element on the layer immediately above or immediately below the item currently selected. If no item is selected in the document, clicking on the button selects either the bottom-most or topmost item on the current spread. When the top or bottom-most item in the spread is selected, one of the buttons disappears, indicating the user can move through the layers no farther in that direction. Holding down the shift button while clicking on the layer travers- ing buttons shows each item in the document as it is selected.

Layer Movement Buttons ( ) — Clicking on the “up” layer movement but- ton sends the currently selected page elements to the topmost layer of items in the spread. Holding down the shift key while clicking on the “up” button moves the selected items upward one level. Likewise, the “down” layer movement button may be used to move the currently selected items to the bottom layer of the spread or sim- ply down a layer.

Layer Indicator ( ) — This control indicates the layer level of the cur- rently selected page element. Layer “1” is the bottom layer.

Layering Groups

In addition to manipulating the layering of individual page elements, Layer It! helps the user manage page elements by providing layering groups which may be hidden or displayed as the user wishes to help speed desktop publishing tasks in QuarkXPress.

Creating New Layering Groups

To create a new layering group, first open the Layer It! palette by choosing Show Layer It! from the View menu. Then select an item or items on the QuarkXPress page which should be included in the new Layer It! group. The Name button appears on the Layer It! palette, indicating that the XTension is ready to create a new group to include the selected page ele- ments. Click the Name button.

The group name “Untitled Group” appears highlighted beside the Name button. Type in a group name to replace “Untitled Group” . A group name may be up to 31 characters long.

Removing Items from a Layer It! Group

If a page element should no longer be a member of a particular Layer It! group, the user may select the element, then click on the None group name in the Layer It! palette. The user may also assign the page element to another Layer It! group by clicking on a different group name on the palette’s scrolling list.

Renaming a Layer It! Group

Sometimes it may become necessary to rename the Layer It! groups which have already been established. To do this, first deselect all page elements, then click on the group name where it is listed at the bottom of the Layer It! palette. Click the Name button.

The group name to be revised appears highlighted beside the Name button. Type in a group name to replace the previous group name. The group name may be up to 31 characters long. When the new name for the group is entered completely, press the Return key to accept the name. The Layer It! group name is then revised at the bottom of the palette.

When the name for the new group is entered completely, press the Return key to accept the new name. The name is added to the list of available Layer It! groups found on the bottom portion of the Layer It! palette.

Combining Layer It! Groups

To merge two Layer It! groups into a single group containing the members of both groups, follow the instructions above to change the name of one of the groups so that it is exactly the same name as the group with which it is to be combined.

Deleting a Layer It! Group

Whenever a page element which is a member of a Layer It! group is select- ed, the Layer It! palette displays the group name in bold, to indicate that one of its members is selected, as seen above.

There are two ways to remove a Layer It! group from a document. The first way to delete a group is to follow the directions under Renaming a Layer It! Group — Instead of typing in a new name for the group, press the Delete key to remove the previous name, then press the Return key set the group name to blank, effectively removing it from the list.

The second way to remove a Layer It! group is to reassign all page ele- ments to other groups. The unused group name will eventually disappear from the list on the Layer It! palette.

Adding Items to an Existing Layer It! Group

Items are added to Layer It! groups similarly to the way the user is accus- tomed to applying text style sheets to paragraphs. Select the page elements to be added to the group, then click on the appropriate group name. After that, the item is a member of the layer group.

Hiding a Layer It! Group

The CLASS ACT Dialog

Layer It! lets the user hide all of the members of a Layer It! group with a click of the mouse button. To hide the members of a group, click on the light bulb icon which appears to the left of the group’s name. All of the members of that group are then hidden whenever the light bulb icon is dark.

The dialog used to change the current CLASS list is accessed by selecting CLASS ACT Styles… from the Edit menu.

Hidden page elements are not visible on the QuarkXPress page, and they do not print. While this is very convenient while working on specific por- tions of a document, remember that only a QuarkXPress user who has the AdCreation Toolkit can un-hide the hidden group. If the document is given to a user without access to the XTension, that user will not be able to see, manipulate, or print those page elements.

Every member of all Layer It! groups in a document may be hidden with a single command, thanks to the two light bulb icons seen in the upper right corner of the Layer It! palette. To hide all page elements associated with Layer It! groups, click on the dark light bulb ( ). This effectively “turns off” those page elements. To show all page elements which are members of Layer It! groups, click on the icon of the bright light bulb ( ).

A scrolling list on the left side of the CLASS Dialog lists all CLASSes and Models included in the default set and in the current document. Model names are preceded by a bullet (•) in the list. When a CLASS name is selected from this list, the CLASS’s text attributes are displayed along the bottom of the dialog, so the user can easily tell how CLASS will format text if that CLASS style sheet is applied.

The dialog also includes a series of nine buttons, including:

New Style — Creates a new CLASS, based upon CLASS Normal or the cur- rently selected text range.

Edit — Allows the user to alter the currently selected CLASS style sheet.

Duplicate — Creates a copy of the currently selected CLASS style sheet.

This is useful when creating a CLASS similar to one already includ- ed in the list.

Delete — Removes the currently selected CLASS style sheet from the list.

New Model — Allows the user to create a CLASS Model, a series of

CLASSes that may be applied to a selection of text to automate formatting.

Character Level Applied Style Sheets

CLASS ACT (Character Level Applied Style Sheets) helps speed text format- ting and reformatting in QuarkXPress by creating CLASSes — text for- matting style sheets which apply to only selected words in a paragraph. CLASSes can help reduce typesetting time and aid typographic consisten- cy throughout a publication. The CLASS system works similarly to the familiar QuarkXPress style sheets, only style sheets may be applied to only entire paragraphs while CLASSes may be applied with more precision. CLASS ACT even offers a model feature which allows the user to create a series of CLASSes to be applied to a selection of text.

Append — Adds the QuarkXPress style sheets from the current document into the CLASS list.

Import — Allows the user to bring CLASSes from another QuarkXPress document into the current CLASS list.

Save — Closes the dialog while saving any alterations made to the CLASS list.

Cancel — Closes the dialog without saving any alterations made to the CLASS list or its contents.

Creating a New CLASS

To create a new CLASS, activate the CLASS ACT Dialog by selecting CLASS ACT Styles… from the Edit menu. When the CLASS ACT Dialog appears, click the New button to summon the Character Attributes dialog.

Adding CLASSes to a List Automatically

There are two ways to automatically add a number of CLASSes to a list. The first way is to append them from a list of QuarkXPress style sheets. To do so, select CLASS from the Edit menu, then click the Append button. The XTension instantly appends all QuarkXPress style sheets stored in the currently active document to the current CLASS list.

The second way to automatically add a number of CLASSes to the current list is by using the Import… button in the CLASS Dialog. Import allows the user to get the CLASSes stored within another QuarkXPress document, so when the Import… button is clicked, a dialog appears, prompting the user to select an QuarkXPress document from which the CLASSes should be imported. If one of the CLASSes being imported has a name which matches that of a CLASS already present in the document, the AdCreation Toolkit XTension notifies the user. CLASS then provides an opportunity to decide whether to use the CLASS already found in the document or rename the CLASS being imported. The importing feature imports only CLASSes themselves, not CLASS models.

This dialog lets you set what attributes should be applied to text when the new CLASS is applied to it. Almost all of the controls are familiar to the QuarkXPress user because they appear in the Quark Style Sheets dialog, with the exception of the Name and Key fields. Enter the name for the new CLASS into the Name field. A single character may be entered in the Key field, indicating the key that, combined with Option-Control will apply the CLASS to text. Then click OK to save the newly-established character attribute settings.

This returns the user to the CLASS ACT Dialog. At this point, the user may opt to click the Save button to save the newly-created CLASS and exit the dialog, or continue creating and modifying CLASSes using the dialog’s other controls.

Any CLASS currently appearing in the CLASS ACT palette may be edited at any time. There are two ways to edit a CLASS. The first way is through the CLASS dialog. To do this, select CLASS ACT Styles… from the Edit menu, then select a CLASS from the scrolling list on the left side of the CLASS ACT dialog. Click the Edit button to alter the currently selected CLASS.

Editing a CLASS

The Character Attributes dialog lets the user change the characteristics of the text in a particular CLASS. It also allows alteration of the name of the CLASS. When finished with the Character Attributes dialog, click the OK button, then click the CLASS ACT Dialog’s Save button to save the changes made to the CLASS.

The second way to edit a CLASS is to hold down the command key while clicking on the listing on the CLASS ACT palette. This automatically sum- mons the Character Attributes dialog and allows the user to make changes to that CLASS. Clicking the OK button after the desired changes have been made closes the Character Attributes dialog and returns the user to regular operation of QuarkXPress.

Keep in mind that revising a CLASS’s characteristics applies those attribut- es to all text which has that CLASS applied to it.

With the desired range of text selected, click on the CLASS name in the palette. Just like clicking on the QuarkXPress style sheets palette applies the style sheet to the selected paragraph(s), clicking on the name in the CLASS palette applies the CLASS to the selected characters of text.

Alternatively, the user may apply the CLASS by first selecting the desired text, then selecting the CLASS name from the CLASS ACT hierarchical menu, found under the Style menu. This is a good method when the user needs to access the CLASSes once and doesn’t want to activate the CLASS palette for only one usage.

A third way to apply a CLASS to text is to first select the desired text. Then execute the keyboard command which the user defined for the CLASS to be applied. A CLASS ACT keyboard command consists of Option-Control- <user defined key>. The key the user defined for a particular CLASS is displayed to the right of the CLASS name in the CLASS ACT palette.

The CLASS Model Dialog

CLASS Models allow the user to set up a series of CLASSes that can auto- matically be applied to a selection of text to automate repetitive formatting tasks. To create a new CLASS Model, Select CLASS ACT Styles… from the Edit menu to activate the Edit Classes dialog, then click the New Model… button.

CLASSes are applied to various ranges of text in an QuarkXPress docu- ment. The range of text does not necessarily have to be an entire paragraph or even an entire word. To apply a CLASS to a range of text, first select the text range using the content tool.

A CLASS may be applied to a text range through the CLASS ACT palette, activated by selecting Show CLASS ACT from the View menu. The CLASS palette lists all of the CLASSes present in the current document.

Applying CLASSes

The CLASS Model dialog contains all the controls needed to prepare a series of CLASS settings that can be automatically applied to text. These controls include:

CLASS Model field — An editable field allowing the user to enter a name for the CLASS Model.

Key field — An editable field where the user enters the key that, when used in conjunction with Option-Control functions as a keyboard com- mand to apply that model to text.

Model list — A scrolling list that indicates exactly how the CLASS model under construction will apply CLASSes.

OK button — Closes the CLASS Model dialog while saving any changes made while the dialog was open.

Cancel button — Closes the CLASS Model dialog while discarding any changes made while the dialog was open.

New ¶ button — Indicates the beginning of a new paragraph in the CLASS

Model list. Clicking this button activates the CLASS Style dialog so the user can select which CLASS should be applied at the start of the paragraph.

Next Format button — Adds a line to the Model list and allows the user, through the CLASS Style dialog, to indicate where the style sheet should begin to be applied to running text and also to select which CLASS should be applied to the text.

Edit Format button — Allows the user to edit the currently selected line in the Model list through the CLASS Style dialog.

Delete button — Removes the currently selected line from the Model list.

The CLASS Style dialog lets the user indicate which CLASS should be used in building the CLASS model. A popup menu lists all CLASSes currently available to the XTension, and allows the user to choose among them.

Generating a CLASS Model

To create a new CLASS Model, Select CLASS ACT Styles… from the Edit menu to activate the Edit Classes dialog, then click the New Model… but- ton. Enter a name for the new model in the CLASS Model field at the top left of the dialog, then enter a character in the Key field. When combined with the option and control keys, the Key character is used as a keyboard command to apply the CLASS Model to text.

Next click the New ¶… button.

Below the popup menu are radio buttons which are active when any CLASS is to be applied to text which is not the first CLASS in a paragraph. These radio buttons indicate when the next CLASS should be applied:

Change after — Indicates that the CLASS should change after the XTension encounters the character indicated in the Delimiter field.

Change at — Indicates that the CLASS set in the CLASS Style popup menu should begin to be applied at the character entered in the Delimiter field.

Change after deleting — Indicates that the CLASS set in the CLASS Style popup menu should begin to be applied to text after the character entered in the Delimiter field has been deleted from the document.

Stop at (Macintosh only)— Indicates that the previous CLASS should be applied up until the Delimiter character, then no CLASS should be applied to any further text.

Delimiter field — A field allowing the user to enter the character that appears in the document’s text indicating a different CLASS should be applied from that point on.

Creating a CLASS Model

Applying CLASS Models

Like CLASSes themselves, CLASS Models are applied to various ranges of text in an QuarkXPress document. To apply a CLASS Model to a range of text, first select the text range using the content tool.

A CLASS Model may be applied to a text range through the CLASS ACT palette, activated by selecting Show CLASS ACT from the View menu. The CLASS palette lists all of the CLASSes present in the current document. Model names on the palette are preceded by a bullet (•).

To create a new CLASS Model, Select CLASS ACT Styles… from the Edit menu to activate the Edit Classes dialog, then click the New Model… button.

Enter a name for the model being created in the CLASS Model field, then enter a hotkey in the Key field. Next click the New ¶… button. The CLASS Style dialog appears, allowing the user to indicate which CLASS should be applied to the text at the beginning of the CLASS. When that is set, addi- tional formats can be added to the sequence one at a time using the Next Format… button. Each format allows the user to indicate the next CLASS style sheet to be applied to the text and at what delimiter it should begin to be applied. Additional paragraphs can be added to the CLASS Model by clicking the New ¶… button and repeating the process.

Adding another item to the Model list when no item in the list is selected automatically adds the new item at the bottom of the list. To insert an item somewhere in the middle of the list, select the list item after which the new entry should appear and then click either the New ¶… or Next Format… button to generate the new list item.

When everything is set in the CLASS Model dialog, click the OK button to close the dialog and save the changes made while it was open. The new CLASS Model appears in the CLASS ACT palette with a bullet in front of the name, indicating it is a CLASS Model instead of a single CLASS.

With the desired range of text selected, click on the CLASS Model’s name in the palette just as you would a single CLASS. Alternatively, the user may apply the CLASS Model by first selecting the desired text, then select- ing the CLASS Model name from the CLASS ACT hierarchical menu, found under the Style menu. A third way to apply a CLASS Model to text is to first select the desired text. Then execute the keyboard command which the user defined for the CLASS Model to be applied.

CLASS Delimiters

The delimiter field on the CLASS Style dialog defaults to a tab (signified by “/t”). Any single character may be entered in the field. To indicate a soft return delimiter (typed from the keyboard as shift-return), either hold down the Command key while typing shift-return or enter “/n” in the delimiter field.

• Fontasy is inactive if the Content Tool is not selected, and it is also necessary that a text box be active. If these criteria are not met before the user clicks on the Fontasy palette, a system beep sounds.

• When a page element is added to a Layer It! group which is current- ly hidden, that page element vanishes from the computer screen. Don’t panic! The item is not lost forever. Like the rest of the group, the element is simply hidden, and when the group is made visible again, the item reappears.

• Layer It! group names are saved within each document, and they are attached to each member of the group. When a group member is copied to another document, the group name (and membership to that group) is transferred as well.

• There is no such thing as “local formatting” in CLASS as there is with QuarkXPress style sheets. Any alteration in character attribut- es made to text which has been assigned to a CLASS removes that text from the CLASS. Similarly, formatting text in a document which is not a member of a CLASS to the exact attributes of that CLASS causes the XTension to think the text is part of the CLASS.

• The CLASS named “CLASS Normal” cannot be deleted from the CLASS list, although it may be revised. CLASS Normal is like the QuarkXPress “Normal” Style Sheet in this regard.

• Keep in mind that revising a CLASS’s characteristics applies those attributes to all text which has that CLASS applied to it.

• The 3D shadow function will not allow the user to group the drop shadow to a box that is already in a group.

• 3D shadows cannot be applied to rotated or skewed boxes.

• 3D shadows can only be applied to text boxes and rectangular pic- ture boxes.

• When using the RefleXTion utility, a group or box positioned off of the spread cannot be flipped. To reflect it, drag it back onto the page itself to flip it, then reposition it as desired.

• AdCreation Toolkit can not auto mask a graphic with a compound manual runaround. If the manual runaround consists of more than one separate runaround element, the user should eliminate the additional runaround element and reshape a single runaround shape to enclose the portion of the image which should appear in the mask.

Preferences

Keyboard Commands

AdCreation Toolkit allows the user to set up keyboard commands for many of its frequently-accessed features. These keyboard commands are set up through the AdCreation Toolkit preferences dialog. To activate this dialog, select AdCreation Toolkit… from the Preferences submenu found under the Edit menu (Macintosh) or select Preferences from the ACT menu (Windows).

A section on the left side of the dialog is labeled Command Keys. Through these fields, the user may set up keyboard commands for the Copy & Apply feature, the Format Prices utility, the AutoMask menu item, Fit Text Block, New Layout, and Create Headline.

Each keyboard command consists of a single character combined with the Command and Control keys (Macintosh) or the Ctrl and Alt keys (Windows). Set up keyboard commands by entering the third character of the combination in the editable field corresponding to each utility function. Keep in mind that other XTensions or utilities may also have customized keyboard commands. If a conflict between commands appears, simply return to the AdCreation Toolkit preferences dialog and change the key- board command to one that does not conflict.

• Copy & Apply Text Attributes: If text containing more than o