Important Terms

XTensions
XTensions are software that add functionality to QuarkXPress (they sit in the XTension folder, inside the QuarkXPress folder). Some XTensions come with QuarkXPress, some are free, and others are bought from third-party developers. For instance, there’s no way to lock a guideline in Quark, but there’s a free XTension that you can download from the Internet that lets you do it.

Bezier tools
Bezier tools are new in version 4; they let you crate boxes and lines with curves, just like in Adobe Illustrator and in Macromedia FreeHand Book. You can create a special document called a “Book” that appears on screen like a palette; you can then add Quark documents to the Book. The idea is that documents in a Book should act like a single publication, like chapters within a real book.

Libraries
Another kind of special document is the library, which, when opened, also appears on screen like a palette. You can store page items in libraries that you’ll use multiple times. For example, you could put a picture box that contains your company’s logo in a library; then when you want to use that item, you can simply drag the picture box out onto your page.

Master pages
Objects that you want to put on multiple pages in your document can be put on a master page. Your document pages are each linked to a master page, so if you put a red box on the Master page A, every document pages that is linked to that master page will have a red box on it also. A better example is automatic page numbering; you can put an automatic page number on a master page, and the proper page number appears on every page, so you don’t have to put it there manually.
Trapping. Trapping is a procedure that compensates for the misregistration that can happen when printing multiple colors.

PPDs
PostScript Printer Description files (PPDs) are files that include information about printers; QurakXPress uses these when it prints.

Kerning and tracking
Kerning changes the spaces between two letters; tracking lets you change the space between several characters in a row (this is more properly called “range kerning.”
H&Js. Hypenation and Justification (H&Js) settings are used to control the look of type as well as to turn automatic hyphenation on and off.

Clipping
A clipping path is for cutting out parts of a picture you don’t want to show on your page. For instance, if you had a picture of a bird, you could draw a clipping path around it, and the leaves around him will not show.