Quark Forums

I know there's a way to do it but there's nothing in "Help" - how do you make a fraction????

Carol:

If you don't already have the Xtension "Type Tricks" installed, you should. It's available as a free download from the Quark site. One version is for Quark 4 and another is for Quark 5. The Xtension comes bundled starting with Quark 6. If you are are not familiar with installing Xtensions, let me know and I can walk you through it.

Anyway, the idea is this: Type a fraction using normal numbers and the standard forward slash key. One-half would look like this:

Then, select all three characters (more specifically, choose the numerator, slash and denominator, since you could be working with something like 13/16 or 97/100). Go to the type style edit menu and choose the "Make Fraction" menu item. That's it! The results will shhow the number in whatever percentage of their original size that you specifiy in the preferences, and the slash will be replaced with a virgule... what I call a typographer's fractional slash.

Mark

You can also type one manually if you don't have the XT. I still type it manually even with Type Tricks installed since I can do it without leaving the keyboard. Here's how to make a manual fraction (keystrokes are for Macs, but Windows users must have similar keystrokes available):

1) For superscript (raised number): type command-shift-+ (plus sign). This toggles you into the superscript function. It should appear as a blackened raised "2" character in the styles section of the measurements palette. Unlike styled bolding, these superscript/subscript styles will actually print on professional equipment. Then type your upper fraction number(s). You can type the command-shift-+ key sequence again to back out of the superscript function or type command-shift-p to return to "plain" style.

2) Type the virgule (fraction slash). On a Mac it's option-shift-1 (the numeral one). This slash is a little more slanted than the one on the question mark key and slides under the raised number better.

3) For subscript (bottom number): enter the subscript function with command-shift-- (hyphen). Type your bottom numbers, then return to plain text function by retyping command-shift-- (toggles out) or command-shift-p.

This is MUCH faster in practice than it takes to read these instructions.

Note: the Quark document preferences defaults for the superscripts and subscripts are not ideal. A good rule of thumb for most fonts is to adjust the baseline for the superscripts to 30% and leave the subscripts at 0%. This will raise superscripts in most fonts nicely above the virgule and leave the subscripts sitting properly on the baseline.

Also check the superscript/subscript sizing in the document preferences. A good place to start is around 65% reduction in height (VScale) and 70% in width (HScale). Making the reduced numbers slightly wider gives them a little more weight so they don't look so spindly when reduced. Another trick is to set the superscripts and subscripts one weight heavier than the surrounding text. If the text is in regular/book weight, then set the reduced numbers in Semibold or Medium, depending on the font. If you just have Bold available it might be too big a jump.

Claire
textbook designer in Memphis

PS FYI, there's another little raised "2" on the Styles palette. That's for superiors, the raised numbers that are attached to footnotes and their text references. Quark allows you to adjust these separately from the superscripts. Access to these while typing is command-shift-v.

Since this formatting applies to any text, and not just numbers, this is also useful for anyone doing derivations or algebra in their works. For example, x/y will be made to look like the fraction x-over-y.