Creating Setting Up QuarkXPress™ Tool Defaults - Part One

Next we want to setup the tool defaults. Either double-click the zoom tool or any item creation tool in the tool palette or click Edit > Preferences > Document, then click the "Tool" tab. We are going to set the defaults for multiple tools at once.

The objective here is to setup all text boxes with a background of "None" (clear background) and all picture boxes with a background of "White". The reason for this is that TIFF images with white or knocked-out backgrounds will not print correctly on high-end imagesetters unless the background of the picture box is either set to white or zero percent black (an imperceptible percentage).

High-end imagesetters such as Linotronic® have a hard time differentiating the edges of an image from its plain white background if the picture box background is set to "None". The outline of the pixels in the image will come out ragged instead of smooth.

If the box contains an EPS image with a clipping path, then set the background to "None" for that image. If you modify the "Clip Path" item settings for a picture box and either select an embedded clipping path or let Quark™ create one then Quark will automatically reset the background to "None" for that box since images with clipping paths require a clear background.

I use these settings because the backgrounds of most printed pages are white. I always use "Send to Back" to place picture boxes with white backgrounds underneath text boxes. I make the text boxes clear and place them on top of picture boxes in the item stacking order. Usually, the only time I place a picture box over text is when it is an EPS file with a clipping path and a background of "None".

First modify the text tools. Start by clicking the first text box creation tool. Then select the remaining text box tools.

1. You select multiple tools either by:
a.) Holding down the Ctrl key (Windows®) or Command key (Mac®) and select them one at a time, or
b.) Selecting the first one in a range and click the Shift key on the last one in a range, or



c.) Selecting one of the text box tools, then click the "Select Similar Types" button (shown below).



2. Next click the "Modify" button.



3. In the "Group" tab of the "Modify" dialog, select a box color of "None".



4. In a similar manner, select all the picture box tools and press the "Modify" button.



5. In the "Group" tab of the "Modify" dialog, select a box color of "White".

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