Tip 1
Drag & Drop Images & Text into ID & QX
Both InDesign CS2/CS3 and QuarkXPress 4/5/6/7 let you drag and drop images and text from your desktop onto a document page. If you drag an image onto a box that already contains an image, it will replace that image and keep all its attributes (scale, cropping, etc.). Note: to do this in Quark- XPress, you need the free QX-Drag&Drop XTension from Extensis, available at www.tinyurl.com/92323 and in our June Software Closet.
 

Tip 2
Mica-Coated Paper
If you’re looking to add some sparkle (literally) to your next print project, look into mica-coated paper. Mica is the silicabased mineral that sparkles in granite and other volcanic rocks.When ground up and applied to paper, it looks almost metallic. For lots more info, read Molly Joss’s article at PaperSpecs: tinyurl.com/2dw3gy. And ask your paper supplier for samples.
 

Tip 3
Scan Forms to Create PDF Forms
In the past, we’ve run tips on how to let Acrobat identify text fields in a form you’ve created, and then generate actual PDF formfields from that text: Forms>Run Form Field Recognition. If all you have is a printed sample of the form, here’s the trick to SCANNING itand turning it into an interactivePDF form: scanthe form and save it inPDF format. Open it in Acrobat.Choose Document>OCR Text Recognition, and then click the Edit button and be sure to choose Formatted Text&Graphics from the PDF Output Style popup menu in that dialog box.
 

Tip 4
Apply Graphic Style to Objects as You Create Them
By default, Illustrator uses the Basic Appearance for all new objects. If you’ll be creating a series of similar objects, you can change that behavior so that each new object has the same attributes as the previous one you created. In the Appearance panel, click the side menu and turn off New Art Has Basic Appearance.
 

Tip 5
Extract Embedded Images in Illustrator
Usually, it’s better to “link” a picture to a document than to “embed” it into the document. Adobe Illustrator provides multiple ways to accidentally embed images, but no easy way to extract an embedded image. The easiest way to extract an image is to copy it from Illustrator (Edit> Copy), then in Photoshop choose File> New. Photoshop will automatically size the new document to fit what’s on the clipboard, and you can then paste the picture (Edit> Paste). This retains the original image’s size and resolution. If you need to do a lot of this, considerWorker72a’s Scoop ($47), which exports all embedded graphics.
 

Tip 6
Copy Gradients from Illustrator to InDesign
If you copy an object from Adobe Illustrator that contains a gradient, you can paste it into an InDesign document and its gradient will be added to the Gradient Swatch panel as “New Gradient Swatch”. Controlclick or right-click on that swatch to give it a name.
 

Tip 7
Copy and Paste Pictures Between Boxes Both
QuarkXPress and In- Design let you copy and paste the content of a picture box/frame into another box/frame. In QuarkXPress, just click on the box with the content tool, copy it, click on the other box and paste it (Command-V). In InDesign you must select the picture content using the Direct Selection tool (white arrow) or the Position tool, copy it, click on the other box and choose Edit> Paste Into (Command-Option-V).
 


Tip 8
Restrict Guides to Views
If you like to work with lots of page guides, sometimes they can overwhelm the page. Because many guides are only useful when you’re zoomed in, both InDesign and QuarkXPress let you set individual guides so that they only appear at specific magnifications: InDesign: Drag out a ruler guide then Control-click on the ruler and choose Ruler Guides from the popup menu that appears. Then select a percentage in the View Threshold in the Ruler Guides dialog box. QuarkXPress: If you hold down the Shift key while pulling a guide from a ruler, the guide will only appear and be functional at a view percentage equal to or greater than the view percentage active when you create the guide. So, if you want certain guides to only show up in 300% view or higher, then Shiftpull the guides from the ruler when you’re viewing the document at 300%.
 

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