QuarkXPress to Adobe InDesign CS4 Conversion Guide

Top 10 Differences
You Need to Understand
When you start using InDesign, you’ll quickly find several similarities
to QuarkXPress: Both programs display spreads on individual pasteboards.
Both have standard methods for saving and opening documents and
templates. And each has a toolbox and floating panels. InDesign was
built to be intuitive and easy for QuarkXPress users to learn. However,
there are some significant differences between the two programs that
you must understand if you want to be proficient in InDesign.
Modify Dialog Box Replacements
In QuarkXPress, the Modify dialog
box contains controls for modifying
items, and most users open this
dialog box frequently as they build
pages. InDesign does not have a
comparable dialog box. Instead, controls
for modifying objects are available
in the Control panel, as well as
in other panels such as the Swatches,
Text Wrap, and Stroke panels.
To modify the placement of text
within a text frame—including number
of columns, text inset values, and
placement of the first line of text—
choose Object > Text Frame Options.
Frames Are Frames
InDesign has graphic, text, and unassigned
frames, similar to those in
QuarkXPress. You can easily convert
a frame from one type to another. For
example, if you select a text frame,
choose File > Place, and choose an
image, InDesign changes the frame
to a graphic frame and replaces any
text with the placed image.
Similarly, if you click an empty graphic
frame or unassigned frame with the
Type tool, InDesign converts it to a text
frame. If you don’t want InDesign to do
this, open the Preferences dialog box
(Command+K on Mac OS or Ctrl+K
on Windows), choose the Type pane,
and deselect the Type Tool Converts
Frames To Text Frames option.
Here are several more facts about
frames that you should note:
■■
The Rectangle Frame Tool creates
Graphic frames; the Rectangle Tool
creates Unassigned frames.
■■
Unassigned frames that have a
fill color of None are empty, so
you can click through them to
objects behind them. To learn how
to select objects behind text and
graphic frames, see “Selection Tool
Techniques” on page 36.
■■
Any path can be a frame. For
example, you can draw an open
U-shaped path with the Pencil tool
or the Pen tool, and then place text
or a graphic inside the shape.
10 Adobe InDesign CS4 | Conversion Guide