Creating Stroked Text In QuarkXPress™

Part One

It used to be that the only way you could create a stroked text effect in Quark™ was to use another application (such as Adobe® Illustrator®). You first had to create the effect, then save it as an EPS file, then place it into a Quark picture box as an image:

QuarkXPress version 4.0 or later supports boxes of any shape. You can create a box in the shape of the text, then stroke it using Item > Modify > Frame. This tutorial shows both ways. You may still want to use the old way because you have more control over the effect.

Using Adobe Illustrator To Create The Effect

1. Create the text in Illustrator, then click Type > Create Outlines. This will create a group of vector objects (paths) which are no longer editable as text. Give it a stroke and fill of your choice. In this example I used the CMYK color model. The fill is 100% yellow and the stroke is 100% black. For a little flair I added a solid black drop shadow by making a copy, giving it a black fill then sending it to back:

2. Save the art as an EPS file. Make sure to save it with a preview image so you can see it in the layout when you work in QuarkXPress.

3. Open your QuarkXPress file and make a picture box.

4. With the Content tool selected, click File > Get Picture, then navigate to the EPS file on your drive. Click "Open" to load the EPS file into the picture box.

Part Two 5. Position the image in the layout. In this case it's a page head.   Note: When working on the Macintosh®, the preview image in the EPS file will be in PICT format. The PICT format supports transparency so the picture box can be set with a background of "None" and you will be able to see the transparent background onscreen in QuarkXPress. When working in Windows®, though, the preview image will be in TIFF format which doesn't support transparency. Although you won't be able to see a transparent background onscreen, it will print correctly when output to a PostScript® device. Using QuarkXPress To Create The Effect 6. In QuarkXPress, create a text box and enter the desired text, then select it (shown highlighted below). 7. Click Style > Text to Box. This creates a picture box in the shape of the text. Click Item > Edit, then un-check "Shape" to keep from accidentally changing the shape. 8. Click Item > Modify, then in the "Box" tab, choose a color from the "Box" section of the dialog (for the fill). Then click the "Frame" tab and select a width and color for the frame of the box (for the stroke). In this case the box (fill) color is yellow and the frame (stroke) color is black with a width of .6 of a point. 9. Click Item > Content > None to get rid of the criss-cross lines in the box. This is optional but the criss-cross lines tell you that the box is a picture box. I prefer to get rid of them. To achieve the same shadow effect, move the box over the original text. Then select them both with the Item tool and group them by clicking Item > Group. 10. This is a close up of the finished effect. Once again, you may want to create the effect in another application and save it as an EPS file because you will have greater control. Still, you can create the effect in Quark™ without having to use another application.