MARKIT

Registration Marks for QuarkXPress

What is MarkIt?

MarkIt is an XTension to QuarkXPress that lets you quickly and easily place press marks, such as trim lines, registration targets, and color and gray-scale bars, in a QuarkXPress document. A selection of standard press marks is provided. In addition, you can customize MarkIt by adding your own marks.

With MarkIt you define MarkIt Styles—each defines placement of a specific set of press marks. You then assign a MarkIt Style to a QuarkXPress document prior to printing. Unlike QuarkXPress Style Sheets, MarkIt Styles are saved with the XTension, meaning all Styles are available in any document. In addition, when a Style is assigned to a particular document, a link to that Style is saved with the document.

What MarkIt adds to QuarkXPress

When MarkIt is loaded with QuarkXPress, the submenu MarkIt Style is added to the File menu, the command MarkIt is added to the Preferences submenu of the Edit menu, and the command MarkIt is appended to the Edit menu.

The MarkIt Style submenu lets you assign a particular MarkIt Style to the active QuarkXPress document. The command MarkIt in the Preferences submenu opens the MarkIt Preferences dialog box which contains MarkIt’s default settings.

USING THIS MANUAL

The MarkIt command appended to the Edit menu opens the MarkIt Styles dialog box, allowing you to create, edit, save, import, and export MarkIt Styles. All of MarkIt’s enhancements are described on the following pages.

The manual covers all aspects of MarkIt and follows a structure similar to the QuarkXPress manuals. Please take a few moments to read this information—while MarkIt is straightforward and easy to use, all of its many features may not be immediately apparent.

This manual assumes that you are already familiar with QuarkXPress and makes no attempt to guide you in usage of QuarkXPress.

MARK IT STYLES

A MarkIt Style defines the placement of a particular set of press marks; when the Style is assigned to a document, and the document printed, the selected marks appear in the specified locations on each page.

To create or edit MarkIt Styles, choose the MarkIt command from the Edit menu. The MarkIt Styles dialog box appears.

MarkIt Styles list

This scrolling list displays the names of all available MarkIt Styles. To select a Style for editing, duplication, deletion, or export, click its name in the list to highlight it. Shift-click to select a range of Styles, Command- click to select multiple, separate Styles, or press Command-A to select all MarkIt Styles (Command-D deselects all selected Style names).

New Click New to create a new MarkIt Style; the Edit MarkIt Style dialog box is presented (described in the following section). Option-click this button to override the Zoom Window to Screen option in the MarkIt Preferences dialog box. That is , if Zoom Window to Screen is selected, the standard-size Edit MarkIt Style dialog box is opened when New is Option-clicked. Similarly, if Zoom Window to Screen is not selected, Option-clicking New causes the Edit MarkIt Style dialog box to be fit into your monitor screen.

Edit To edit the highlighted Style, click Edit, press Return, or simply double-click its name. The Edit MarkIt Style dialog box appears. Option-click this button to override the Zoom Window to Screen option in the MarkIt Preferences dialog box.

Duplicate Click this button to create a copy of the highlighted Style. The Edit MarkIt Style dialog box appears. Option-click this button to override the Zoom Window to Screen option in the MarkIt Preferences dialog box.

Delete Click to discard the highlighted MarkIt Style.

Import To import a file of previously exported MarkIt Styles, click Import. A standard directory dialog box is presented; locate and select the file to be imported. If an imported Style has the same name as an existing Style, “.dup” is appended to the name of the imported Style.

Export To export one or more MarkIt Styles for transport to another system, select the Style names in the list and click Export. A standard directory dialog box is presented; type a name for the exported file and select a destination folder.

Save Click to save all changes made to MarkIt Styles and close the MarkIt Styles dialog box.

Cancel Click to close the MarkIt Styles dialog box without saving changes made to MarkIt Styles.

Note: When the MarkIt Styles dialog box is closed, an upside-down trash can pointer is displayed briefly. This indicates MarkIt is deleting temporary items and performing other “housekeeping” tasks.

Style preview If Preview is checked, a “thumbnail” of the highlighted Style is displayed. You can click the thumbnail to view the dimensions of the trimmed page and the Style page; click again to return to the thumbnail.

EDITING MARKIT STYLES

The Edit MarkIt Styles dialog box appears when you click New, Edit, or Duplicate in the MarkIt Styles dialog box.

Mark bar This scrolling column displays the available press marks. To place a particular mark, drag from the appropriate icon in the mark bar into the page preview and position the mark. (The fixed press marks—trim lines and crop marks—can be turned on and off by simply clicking their icons in the bar. Fixed marks are indicated by a red strip at the left edge of the mark bar.) You also can “Auto Place” marks: Option-click a symbol in the mark bar to display the Auto Place dialog box (described in the following section “Auto Place”).

Locked marks – A lock symbol slightly below and to the left of an icon indicates the mark is locked—locked marks cannot be removed from the bar. To unlock a mark, Command-click its icon to open the Mark Setup dialog box. Deselect the Lock option and close the dialog box. (When opened from the mark bar, the Mark Setup dialog box defines “master” attributes for a mark; that is, each placed mark includes these attributes. The attributes for placed marks also can be changed individually. This procedure is described in the subsequent section, “Mark Setup.”)

Removing a mark – To remove an unlocked mark from MarkIt, Shift- click its icon. A warning is displayed if you attempt to delete a mark used in another MarkIt Style. If you proceed, all occurrences of the mark are removed from other Styles. The fixed marks (trim lines and crop marks) and the text marks cannot be unlocked and deleted.

Color strip – The color strip to the left of each mark-bar icon changes to a checkerboard pattern when that particular mark is in use. The various colors define groups of marks.

Name The name displayed in this field depends on the button clicked to open the Edit MarkIt Styles dialog box. Style names can be up to 32 characters.

Trim Size These values define the print area of the Style’s page. Values default to the page dimensions of active QuarkXPress document; if no document is open, the values specified in the MarkIt Preferences dialog box are used. The Style page is defined as this print area plus a registration area or trim margin along each of its sides in which the press marks are placed.

Note: If the Trim Size of a MarkIt Style and the page size of the QuarkXPress document to which you apply it are not the same, MarkIt will adjust mark placement so the marks appear in the same relative positions. (However, for precise mark placement, be sure the MarkIt Style page size and the document page size match.)

Scrolling proxy You can quickly display a particular area of the Style page by clicking the corresponding point on this proxy. (Alternately, to scroll the page you can use the scroll bars, you can drag a mark past the edges of the page-viewing area, or you can press the Command key, activating the Grabber, and drag the page.)

Registration area This value defines the thickness of the registration area or trim margin that appears along each edge of the print area of the page. The value can be between 6 pt. and 288 pt. (0.083 in. and 4 in.); the default is set in the MarkIt Preferences dialog box.

Page bleed This value defines a bleed zone around the print area of the page. Trim lines and crop marks are offset this distance from the print area to allow for page bleed. Minimum value is zero, and maximum depends on registration-area value (default is set in the MarkIt Preferences dialog box).

Mark coordinates The X and Y coordinates of the mark currently selected on the page. To move the mark, drag it to a new location (the coordinates are updated), or enter new coordinate values. The upper left corner of the trim area is the zero/zero point.

Magnification To change the magnification of the Style page, enter a new value in this field. Magnification can range between 25% and 300%. Click the magnifying-glass symbol to the left of this field to fit the page representation in the page-preview area; Command-click the symbol to go to 25% magnification, Option-click it for 50% magnification, Control-click for 100%, and Shift-click the symbol for 200% magnification. (Refer to the following “Page preview” section for additional methods of changing magnification.)

Document page This pop-up menu lets you choose a page from the active QuarkXPress document for display in the Style page preview area (available only if document page size matches Trim Size).

Mark information When a placed mark is selected, its name and dimensions are displayed.

Add mark Click the Add button to add a press mark to the mark bar. A standard directory dialog box is displayed; locate and select the desired file. (Press-mark files must be in EPS format.) The mark is appended to the bottom of the bar.

Page preview A preview of the Style page, displaying placed marks. A thumbnail of any page from the active QuarkXPress document can be displayed to assist you (if document page size and Trim Size match). Choose the number of the desired page from the Document page pop-up menu.

The page-preview area of the Edit MarkIt Styles dialog box; dashed lines indicate trim area. Selected mark is indicated by dotted gray lines.

Placing marks – Place a mark by dragging from its icon in the mark bar, or by using Auto Place (see the following section); the color strip to the left of the symbol changes from a solid color to a checkerboard pattern. An existing mark can be duplicated by Option-dragging a copy to a new location.

Selecting a mark – Click a previously placed mark to select it. The selected mark is enclosed in a box of dotted lines, and its dimensions, name, and coordinates are displayed in the dialog box.

Moving marks – To move a mark, you can drag it to a new location, or you can enter new coordinates. (The X value is the distance from the left trim edge of the page to the left edge of the mark’s bounding box.

Similarly, the Y value is the distance from the top trim edge to the top of the mark.) In addition, you can press the Command key and use the arrow keys to nudge the selected mark to a new location (the mark is moved the standard QuarkXPress nudge distance), or press Command- Option and use the arrow keys to move the mark one-tenth of the standard nudge distance.

You also can reposition an existing mark by double-clicking it to open the Offset From Page Edge dialog box and entering new distance(s) from the top and left, or bottom and right of the trimmed page. (The Offset From Page Edge dialog box can be opened for the selected mark by pressing Command-M.)

Deleting marks – You can delete any mark by Shift-clicking it; you can press Command-K to delete the selected mark. To delete all instances of a particular mark, click that icon in the mark bar.

Magnification – In addition to the methods of changing page magnification described earlier, you can:

• Click the magnifier symbol at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal scroll bars to increase, or Option-click it to decrease, magnification in the percentage increments specified in the MarkIt Preferences dialog box.

• Press Shift-Command-> to increase, or Shift-Command-< to decrease, magnification in the percentage increments specified in the MarkIt Preferences dialog box.

• Press the Control key and click or drag out a marquee in the page- preview area to increase magnification; displayed area is centered on the clicked point or the marquee. (Control-Option-click or -drag to decrease magnification.)

Page scrolling – To scroll a page that doesn’t fit into the preview area, click a point on the scrolling proxy, use the scroll bars at the bottom and right sides of the preview area, or press the Command key and drag the page. (In addition, the page is scrolled automatically when you drag a mark past an edge of the preview area.)

AUTO PLACE

Instead of dragging several copies of a mark, one at a time, into position on the MarkIt Style page, you can use Auto Place to place one or more instances of a mark in various locations on the page. To Auto Place any unfixed mark, Option-click that mark’s icon in the mark bar; the Auto Place dialog box appears.

The Method section, in conjunction with the Apply To section, defines how and where the marks are to be placed. For example, if Center is selected, one mark is centered in each side selected in the Apply To section. The Edge Offset value defines a distance between the each outer edge of the Style page and the nearest edge of the related mark’s bounding box.

When Off Center is selected, the Page Offset field becomes available; Auto Place marks are moved this distance from the centerpoints of the selected sides (thus if Page Offset is zero, the marks are centered). A positive Page Offset value moves the marks clockwise; a negative value, counterclockwise.

If you select Corners a mark is placed at each intersection of sides selected in the Apply To section. If you select Right of Corners or Left of Corners, the marks are offset in the specified direction (right is clockwise, left is counterclockwise) by the amount in the Page Offset field.

The Repeat Count field is available only when Distribute is selected: the specified number of marks are distributed evenly along each selected side (if a Page Offset is entered, each mark is shifted accordingly).

MARKIT SETUP

Most of the provided press marks have certain default settings or values; for example trim-line length and weight, and text-slug information. You can alter these settings by changing the master Style defaults for a mark, or by changing them individually, on a placed-mark by placed-mark basis.

To change the master attributes for a mark, Command-click its icon in the mark bar. The trim-line setup dialog box, Text Setup dialog box, or Mark Setup dialog box is displayed, depending on the icon clicked. All marks subsequently placed adhere to the new settings.

The trim-line setup dialog box. Trim Line Weight and Trim Line Length respectively specify thickness and length of crop marks and trim lines.

These checkboxes define the information printed as text slugs. When Other is selected, you can enter up to 32 characters of additional information.

The Print Spot Plates As option specifies how the mark appears on spot- color plates: as a composite of the mark, as only the black, cyan, magenta, or yellow portion of the mark, or the mark can be skipped. You also specify that the mark is to be color separated.

ASSIGNING MARKIT STYLES AND PRINTING

To change the setup for an individual, placed mark, select the mark and press Command-I to open the appropriate dialog box. (When the Mark Setup dialog box is opened for an individual mark, the Lock option and the mark name and dimensions are not available.)

A MarkIt Style is assigned to the active QuarkXPress document by choosing the Style from the MarkIt Style submenu of the File menu. When the document is printed, the specified press marks appear on each page.You can turn off press-mark printing by choosing Off from the Registration pop-up menu in the Print dialog box. The MarkIt Style however, is still assigned to the document.

Spreads – When printing the QuarkXPress pages as spreads, marks placed on the left side of the MarkIt Style appear to the left of the left printed page, right-side marks appear to the right side of the right printed page, and the top and bottom of the MarkIt Style are repeated across the top and bottom of each page of the spread (text slugs are not repeated; they appear only where placed).

Unexpected page centering – Note that in some instances QuarkXPress will adjust printing so that the print area of a page is centered on the paper (e.g., when the print area of a page plus the MarkIt Style trim margins is larger than the printer paper size). If this occurs, some press marks may be cut off. You can remedy this with manual tiling.

M ARKIT PREFERENCES

The MarkIt Preferences dialog box specifies a number of default settings for new MarkIt Styles. This dialog box is opened by choosing MarkIt from the Preferences submenu of the Edit menu.

The MarkIt options are:

Magnification – This is the magnification at which the page preview is displayed when the Edit MarkIt Styles dialog box is opened.

Magnification Steps – The increment at which magnification is increased or decreased when you click or Option-click the magnifier symbol in the lower right corner of the page-preview area, when you press Shift-Command-> or Shift-Command-<, and when you click in the page preview with the magnifier tool (press Control or Option- Control and click or drag).

Trim Line Weight – Defines the default thickness of trim lines and crop marks.

Trim Line Length – Defines the default length of trim lines and crop marks.

Page Width – Defines default trim width for new MarkIt Styles; overridden by page width from active document.

Page Height – Default trim height for new MarkIt Styles; overridden by page height from active document.

Registration Area – Thickness of the trim margin around the page; can be changed for each Style in the Edit MarkIt Styles dialog box.

Page Bleed – Distance around print area to be left as a bleed zone; can be changed for each Style in the Edit MarkIt Styles dialog box.

Page Frame Color – Defines color of dotted line indicating trimmed page/registration area boundary in page preview. Click box to open Apple Color Picker.

Page Background Color – Color of page-preview background (area on which page preview is displayed). Click box to open Apple Color Picker.

Show Preview of Style – Default setting for Preview checkbox in MarkIt Styles dialog box.

Zoom Window to Screen – Option-click New button in MarkIt Styles dialog box.

Knockout EPS Marks – If selected, background of placed marks (area enclosed by bounding box) is opaque white. Otherwise, background is transparent and print area of page is visible.

Knockout Text Marks – If selected, background of text slugs is opaque white.

Limited Page Bleed – If selected, page bleed will be restrited to the inside of the bleed zone.

INSTALLING MARKIT

The MarkIt installer automatically places the XTension in the correct folder to be run by QuarkXPress.

1. From the Finder, hold down the Shift key as you choose Restart from the Special Menu; this will disable all extensions including any virus protection.

2. Insert the MarkIt disk into your floppy disk drive and double-click the MarkIt Installer icon. When the splash screen appears, hit any key or click to continue.

3. Click the Install button.

4. A dialog box will prompt you for the QuarkXPress you want to use

MarkIt with. Locate the copy of QuarkXPress select it and click Open.

5. You will now be asked for your name, organization, and serial number. You can find your serial number on the “Read Me First” card. Enter the required information and click OK.

6. When the installation process is complete, a message appears indicating that the installation was successful.

7. Click Quit to exit the installer and return to the Finder. Be sure to store the MarkIt disk and your half of the registration card in a safe place.

Installing Demonstration Versions

The dialog box displayed after you click Install provides a Demo button that allows you to install an unserialized, limited-function version of the XTension. We included this demo to provide a sense of the benefits available from MarkIt. Feel free to share the installation disk (for demos only!) with friends and co-workers.

A demo installation of MarkIt will turn QuarkXPress into demo mode. To get out of demo mode, simply remove the demo version of MarkIt from your QuarkXPress and/or XTension folder.

Please Note: Documents saved in demo mode (a demo version of QuarkXPress) cannot be opened by a regular version of QuarkXPress. We strongly recommend that you duplicate any documents that you intend to use with a demo version of MarkIt.

A good rule of thumb is never work with original documents when QuarkXPress is in demo mode and NEVER save over existing documents.

About Software Copying

Remember: by using this software you have agreed to the software license — please do not copy the product illegally. If you have multiple copies of QuarkXPress and you would like to use this software with them, a site license can be arranged.

Thank You

We extend to you our thanks for your support of this product. It is important that you understand that a lowly apprentice production, inc. is a small software company (nowhere near the size of Quark, Inc.). It is your comments and feedback that lead to improvements to this product. Please feel free to call or write with any suggestions you may have for future versions of this XTension and we will put them on our “wish list.”

Also, if you encounter a problem with the software, please let us know what you did and what the XTension did — only the problems we know about can be fixed.

And finally, please be sure to send in your registration card so we can keep you informed about what we are doing.

Trademark Information

a lowly apprentice production, the lowly apprentice logo, MarkIt and alap XTensions logos are trademarks of a lowly apprentice production, inc. Quark, QuarkXPress, and XTensions are trademarks of Quark, Inc. Apple, Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

The software described in this manual is distributed under license from a lowly apprentice production. The license agreement specifies the permitted and prohibited uses of this software. Any unauthorized duplication or use of MarkIt in whole or in part, in print, or in any other storage or retrieval system is prohibited.

Imposer software is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, regarding the software package, its merchantability, or its fitness for any particular purpose.

Quark Disclaimer

THIS PROGRAM CONTAINS XTENSIONS WHICH ENABLES IT TO BE USED WITH QUARKXPRESS — APPLE MACINTOSH COMPUTER VERSION.

SEE THIS ALAP XTENSIONS PRODUCT’S ORIGINAL PACKAGING FOR PLATFORM AND QUARKXPRESS VERSION COMPATIBILITY.

QUARKXPRESS IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF QUARK, INC. ONLY VALID, REGISTERED COPIES OF QUARKXPRESS — APPLE MACINTOSH COMPUTER VERSION MAY BE USED WITH THIS PROGRAM.

QUARK, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES EITHER EXPRESS 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 DISTRIBUTOR, 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 DAMAGE 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 FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00).

THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND/OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IS NOT ALLOWED IN SOME AREAS, SO THESE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Copyright © 1993-96 by a lowly apprentice production, inc. All rights reserved. Portions of the software (the XTension library) are Copyright © 1990-96, Quark, Inc.