Layer It! User's Guide

Introduction

Layer It! is an XTension for QuarkXPress version 3.32 and higher. Layer It! helps the XPress user navigate through the multiple layers of page ele- ments on the document page. Page elements may be associated into groups which may then be hidden from view so the user can concentrate 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 element is considered to have its own unique layer, so the number listed “L=<VALUE>” also provides a count of the number of page ele- ments 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 docu- ment, clicking on the button selects either the bottom-most or top- most 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 button sends the currently selected page elements to the topmost layer of items in the spread. Holding down the shift key while click- ing 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 of the spread, and the layers are numbered consecutively above that. The layer symbol which appears beside the layer number tells the user whether the layer is an inner or outer layer. An inner layer is indi- cated by a symbol like this: , showing that it is surrounded by other layers. When the topmost layer is selected, this symbol appears: . The bottom layer is indicated by a this symbol: .

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 XPress.

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.

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.

The group name to be revised appears highlighted beside the Name but- ton. Type in a group name to replace the previous group name. The group name may be up to 31 characters long.

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.

Adding Items to an Existing Layer It! Group

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 bot- tom of the palette.

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.

Hidden page elements are not visible on the XPress page, and they do not print. While this is very convenient while working on specific portions of a document, remember that only a QuarkXPress user who has the Layer It! XTension 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, manipu- late, or print those page elements.

Combining Layer It! Groups

Hiding All 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.

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 ( ).

Deleting a Layer It! Group

Notes

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.

• 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.

Hiding a Layer It! Group

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 ( ).

License Agreement

Vision’s Edge, Inc. provides the computer software program and User Manual contained in the package (the “Program”), and licenses its use on the terms stated below:

a. You are granted a license to use the Program under the terms stated in this Agreement for personal use in your business or profession. Title and ownership of the program remains with Vision’s Edge, Inc.;

b. The Program may be used by you on a computer or computers which you own or use for which the Program is designed to operate, except that the Program may be used only on one computer at any one time;

c. You may not make copies, translations or modifications of or to the Program, except you may copy the Program into machine-readable form for backup purposes in support of your use of the Program. (Any portion of this Program merged into or used in conjunction with another program will continue to be the property of Vision’s Edge, Inc. and subject to the terms and conditions of this agreement.);

d.You may not assign, sell, distribute, lease, rent or transfer the Program or this license to any other person;

e. This license terminates if you fail to comply with any provision of this Agreement. You agree upon termination to destroy the Program, together with all copies, modifications and merged portions in any form.

Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Quark and QuarkXPress are trademarks of Quark, Inc., Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. XTensions is a trademark of Quark, Inc.

Quark, Inc. makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, regarding the enclosed computer software package, its merchantability, or its fitness for any particular purpose. Quark, Inc. disclaims all warranties including, but not limited to, the warranties of the distributors, retailers and developers of the enclosed software.

Without limiting the foregoing, in no event shall Quark, Inc. be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages in any way relating to the use or arising out of the use of the enclosed software.

Quark, Inc.’s liability shall in no event exceed the total amount of the purchase price/license fee actually paid for the use of the enclosed software.

Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties and/or the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so these exclusions and limitations may not apply to particular developers.

Limited Warranty

Vision’s Edge, Inc. warrants that the media on which the enclosed computer software package (the “Software”) is distributed will be free from defects for a period of sixty (60) days from the date of delivery of the Software to you. Your sole remedy in the event of a breach of this war- ranty will be that Vision’s Edge will, at its option, replace any defective media returned to Vision’s Edge within the warranty period or refund the money paid for the Software.

Vision’s Edge, Inc. makes no other warranty, either expressed or implied, regarding the Software, its merchantability, or its fitness for any particular purpose. Specifically, Vision’s Edge, Inc. does not warrant that the operation of the Software will be uninterrupted or that the Software will be error free. Vision’s Edge, Inc. disclaims all warranties including, but not limited to, the war- ranties of the distributors, retailers and developers of the Software.

This Warranty gives you specific legal rights. You may have other rights, which vary from state to state.

Disclaimer of Damages

Without limiting the foregoing Limited Warranty, in no event shall Vision’s Edge, Inc. be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages in any way relating to the use or arising out of the use of the Software.

Vision’s Edge, Inc.’s liability shall in no event exceed the total amount of the purchase price/license fee actually paid for the use of the Software.

Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties and/or the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so these exclusions and limitations may not apply to you.

Minimum System Requirements

Layer It! is designed for QuarkXPress 3.32 for the Macintosh, Power Macintosh, or Windows. Layer It! is network protected and is fully com- patible with floppy, RAM, or hard disks.

This manual assumes that you are familiar with standard Macintosh and Windows procedures such as basic use of the mouse, clicking, pulling down menus, copying files, and copying disks. If any of these procedures are new to you, please refer to your operating system’s user’s manual.

Copyright © 1994-98 Vision’s Edge, Inc. Portions copyright © 1987-1998 Quark, Inc. All Rights Reserved.