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Website Design

Last post 11-07-2011 3:33 AM by Xuoxo. 12 replies.
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  • 10-02-2008 12:53 PM

    • gary8:25
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 03-03-2008
    • Pennsylvania
    • Posts 10

    Website Design

    To all the naysayers out there who say QuarkXpress is not a web design program. I am a print designer using QuarkXpress for the past 15 years and needed to provide an online portfolio to potential clients. It took a few weeks of frustration before I was able to figure it out. I just needed something real basic and QuarkXpress web features worked great. I've already updated my site a few times with extreme ease. www.hummel4design.com
  • 10-04-2008 6:16 AM In reply to

    • GeorginaKate
    • Top 500 Contributor
    • Joined on 11-20-2007
    • Worthing, West Sussex, UK
    • Posts 28

    Re: Website Design

    Hi, I'm the same as you, I was doing graphic design with quark for 15 years and decided I needed a website so I spent pretty much the whole weekend awake and taught myself web design, since then I have mastered pretty much all of it except the forms, I need someone to teach me how to script them urgently. Since learning web design with quark I have produced dozens of websites for my customers. Your site is great, only thing I noticed was that when you rollover an image it shows you the file name with .png etc, when you insert a picture go to 'item' and 'modify', click on the export tab and go down to the 4th line and delete the text (which will be the file name) or insert some new text so this will apear as a caption when someone rolls over the image instead of the original file name.

    Georgina

  • 10-07-2008 7:54 AM In reply to

    • gary8:25
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 03-03-2008
    • Pennsylvania
    • Posts 10

    Re: Website Design

    Thanks Georgina. I've made fixes and tried it out. It works.
  • 10-07-2008 2:53 PM In reply to

    • GeorginaKate
    • Top 500 Contributor
    • Joined on 11-20-2007
    • Worthing, West Sussex, UK
    • Posts 28

    Re: Website Design

    Thats okay, I'm glad I could help!

  • 11-17-2008 11:20 AM In reply to

    • kialua
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 06-22-2008
    • Posts 9

    Re: Website Design

    Really nice website Gary. I have been trying to do the same thing for the same reason. After having made my living with my bleoved Quark (4.1) for 17 years stepping into Q8 is daunting. (the last year I've worked in CS3) I'm finding I am totally lost and frustrated with the web building so far as I can't even understand the directions in the pdf help manual. What did you study to learn this Georgina? I'm thinking a sample web template would have been nice to be included like Illustrator does. Then I would be able to see how it's set up and the links and palettes and such. Anyone know of one I can use? I've searched everywhere to no avail...
    Quark 8 and CS3
  • 11-18-2008 8:49 AM In reply to

    • gary8:25
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 03-03-2008
    • Pennsylvania
    • Posts 10

    Re: Website Design

    I created website using QXP 7.5. In the beginning it was difficult to understand the concept. After many attempts I was finally able to figure it out. I've since updated website many times and am finally satisfied with it for now. It's not that different from creating a print document. Trial and error will result in you understanding how it's done. You will say to yourself later, "that was easy". Just keep trying. www.hummel4design.com
  • 11-28-2008 4:30 AM In reply to

    • GeorginaKate
    • Top 500 Contributor
    • Joined on 11-20-2007
    • Worthing, West Sussex, UK
    • Posts 28

    Re: Website Design

    Hi, sorry, just found your message.

    I am self taught. i did media studie at college (92-94) but that was with coreldraw and pagemaker, I was given quark many years ago and just taught myself to use it for DTP. 3 years ago when I wanted a website I decided they were too expensive so I spent the weekend teaching myself with google! i typed in HTML, found out what it meant and then other words which i came across until i understood websites a bit, then I made a blank document in quark and just messed around working my way through the tool bars and menus working out what each one did and if i got stuck then i googled it. My first sites were rubbish but now they get better all the time. i have just finished a 250 page website with a search engine and contact forms and shopping cart etc which im really pleased with, except today i discovered they look terrible in firefox (thanks for that Quark). But I seem to be spending a lot of time in notepad lately, once a site is exported i have to go to notepad to add the code to center the pages, add paypal, add site counters, edit the form code, create php codes for the forms and search etc and im back to being out of my depth and searching google all the time. if you need a template for something i can knock you up one, or if you need advice then just ask. I'm no expert compared to web programmers and no good with complex codes but do okay in quark. my email is production@trumandesigns.co.uk if you want any help. Georgina

  • 01-20-2009 6:59 PM In reply to

    • sjbbdesign
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 01-21-2009
    • Fort Wayne, Indiana
    • Posts 4

    Re: Website Design

    Great looking site. I've totally green at using Quark for web design but like you have been a print designer for 20+ years. Using version 7.2 I'm not getting very far as the program crashes every time I try to create a basic rollover (drat!). Wish I could have you give me a tutorial.
  • 03-12-2009 3:50 PM In reply to

    Re: Website Design

    I suggest a visit to the Quark company website. There you'll find comprehensive tutorials for download in Quark 8 template form and also PDF (if you're working on an earlier version of Quark). But better still, buy a book! I did and it got me up and running straight away... no trial and error period. The book I bought (through Amazon) was QuarkXPress 6 for Print and Web Design by Michael Baumgardt. It is superbly designed and dead easy to follow. I don't know if he has updated the book for newer versions of Quark but I doubt if that would matter anyway since the principles are exactly the same. The book is 346 pages and about half is dedicated to print and half to web design. It's an inspirational book. Incidentally I rang the author one night from Melbourne Australia (his number was in the book) when I was struggling with Quark's gif animation and left him a message. A few minutes later he phoned back even though it was 2am in New York. No, I didn't wake him, he was working! He was extremely helpful. I've created quite a few websites using Quark since then. Here are a few if you're interested: http://www.masterclassart.com http://www.gasco.net.au http://www.casuarinavillas.com.au Cheers, John
  • 10-12-2009 10:49 AM In reply to

    Re: Website Design

    Wayheeeeeyyyyyy! OK. I'm a quark user since 3.1, I think it was 1989 / 90. So I'm one of the older guys! So, it may seem bonkers, but I've just realised you can design websites in Quark 8 ! Wow. Not than I CAN design websites, but it's encouraging if one can build professional websites (? REALLY? ) in quark, quite EASILY? Hmmm, I must spend a w/end on it and see; Encouragement please..... :)
  • 12-16-2009 4:20 PM In reply to

    • Moyssi
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 12-15-2009
    • New York Metropolitan Area
    • Posts 17

    Re: Website Design

    I've been happily using Quark since 2.0 and literally jumped on Quark 6.0’s Web and interactive tools just as quickly as I jumped on Quark's earliest Bezier tools to illiminate Illustrator from my daily frustrations. The first website that I built was a 750-page labor of love made while recovering from a massive stress-related heart attack: http://moyssi.com . It is inelegant and overdone without much thought to making money, but it certainly proves that you can build a big complex site in Quark. My first significant site (made with Quark 6.5) for a client was http://vicleakdetection.com. Still clunky, but it quadrupled site visitation over its predecessor overnight. I take credit or blame for everything you see except the "What's new" page which my customer has tampered with and  it corrupts in some browsers including Firefox. Btw, I find that Firefox on a Mac fairly predicts any issues that will arise in IE.

    Building websites in Quark is everything that it's not in Creative Suite: fast, intuitive, simple. That makes it fun.Hop to it!

  • 12-09-2010 4:08 PM In reply to

    • kialua
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 06-22-2008
    • Posts 9

    Re: Website Design

    Wow it's been two years + since I posted this. I finally found how to start thanks to a cyber friend. Thanks for all the advice. I am really ssssllloooowww at this but have to do it now more than ever. Made a sample start.
    Quark 8 and CS3
  • 11-07-2011 3:33 AM In reply to

    • Xuoxo
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 11-07-2011
    • Posts 1

    Re: Website Design

     Basic tips: 
    If you have recently started using QuarkXPress, you may find yourself doing some of the errors described in this article. Take a second to read through our main stumbling blocks for beginners ten and save a bit of frustration in getting to grips with their new software. 

    1. Do not set document properties for new projects 

    Beginners often creates a new project and click OK without paying much attention to the settings in the New Project dialog. 

    Quark maintains the configuration of the last project you created. If these are not appropriate for the document you are about to create, change the page size, orientation, margins and column guides as needed. 

    2. Margins of confusing the edge of the page 

    Having the margins set by creating a new project, many QuarkXPress users will still feel inclined to position your text and picture boxes within the margin guides, leaving extra space. Remember that the blue lines represent the margin guides not the edges of the page. Normally, the edges of the text boxes will be placed on the outside rather than inside them. 

    3. Excessive use ruler guides 

    Ruler guides are created by dragging the horizontal or vertical line to the page. Besides providing a visual reference guides can be used to align items horizontally and vertically by adjusting elements to them like a magnet. For example, if the top two text boxes are set to the same guidelines, both pictures are the same distance from the top of the page. 

    The guides are very helpful tools, but most used (as often happens with new users), you end up with a cover page in confusing green lines. Consider using the measurements palette, like this: enter the measurement of x equal to two boxes to adjust their left edges and the same measurement and align the top. 

    4. No objects snapping to guides 

    A classic mistake that beginners when using guides to align objects is as follows. To drag a guide and align (roughly) with one edge of a table then takes a second box in the directory. This means that only the second box is really adjusted to the guide. 

    Remember that both boxes must be adjusted to the guide to get the most benefit. Since one of the edges of the original box was used as a reference point for the guide, which is almost aligned, but not quite: simply move slightly until it actually fits the guide. Place the mouse pointer over the appropriate means of the controller box until the cursor changes to a pointing finger. Click and drag the handle so that it conforms to the guide. (If necessary, move the lever away from the guide and then back on it to feel the magnetic pressure.) 

    5. Misuse of automatic text box 

    The function of automatic text box in QuarkXPress can be activated when creating a new project, simply click the box marked "automatic text box." It allows us to get into something like word processing mode. It should be used to create multi-page documents containing mostly text, as a report or a book. 

    Many users assume that all of this feature is to automatically create a text box on the page for you, saving you the trouble of doing it yourself, without realizing that the text box created in this way has a special property. When filled with text, QuarkXPress automatically creates a new page with another text box linked to the cash machine on the first page. 

    So if you are creating a brochure or advertisement single page, an automatic text box is a responsibility, as if full of text for any reason (for example, when you are experimenting with fonts and font sizes) you end up with an additional page that is created. 

    6. When you click the text box tool to edit text 

    Another simple error new QuarkXPress users tend to do is to click the text box tool then try to modify the text. This is not as serious as it is a non-starter: the only thing you can do with the text box tool to create text boxes. The right tool for editing text content tool, the second tool in the QuarkXPress toolbar. 

    7. The attempt to modify the text when the article tool highlights 

    Another popular type of confusion with QuarkXPress tools is when to use the Item tool and when to use the tool of content. They are often the beginners trying to edit or import text, while the tool is selected. Like the above error is not like a big thing because sooner or later you will remember that you have to select the tool to access content before the text inside the box. 

    8. Stressing the Item tool when resizing boxes 

    Another common / Content tool is mistake that new users often insist on selecting the Item tool when resizing a box: in effect, change the size works well regardless of whether the tool or content item is selected. 

    9. Create text boxes too 

    QuarkXPress newbies tend to create more text boxes than they need (This box is for my departure, this is for my subheading, etc ...), remember that the format of the text can be changed as often as necessary within the same box. 

    Separated from the text boxes need to be created only on the attributes of the different blocks of text can not be accommodated within the same box, for example, a title that spans two columns over a two-story columns. 

    10. Focusing on the box and not the content 

    Beginners in QuarkXPress will often spend time aligning headings within a text box, for example vertically centered, forgetting that, since the box does not print, all that matters is the position of the text of the page. 

    A good way to cure this is to get into the habit of pressing F7 (a shortcut for View - Guides). This key combination toggles the visibility of QuarkXPress margin and ruler guides and the edges of the boxes that do not have frames. This means that you always remember that in reality the elements will be visible when the document is printed.

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