Quark Forums

I'm new to Interactive Designer, but not new to Quark. (Can anyone say 3.0?)

I have so far successfully avoided the world of web design, because it just never interested me. However, I'm going to develop my first site for myself soon which may generate a little money, and money DOES interest me.

I have a plan, but I wanted to run these 3 questions by you:

1)  I can handle type and layout in Q blindfolded, so I would really like to create my site elements in Q , export them to the appropriate file format, and just plop them onto the HTML page. (GoLive for now, and no jokes please.)

If I choose a standard RGB for the background of the home page, for example, and use the same RGB background for my exported Q elements, am I guaranteed a match? Like, will the GoLive, Quark and Flash Player, let's say, all play nice together and give me the same color when viewed?

2)  Anyone else here who sticks to the nice and comfy Q environment to develop web sites?

3) For an Action, and its cursor preferences, is there any way to add a customized cursor icon, something that will be available to me all the time?

THANKS!

Hi, Ira,

I can only say 3.1. 

First, I am unsure how you want to create your website. You post in Interactive Designer, which exports SWF (Flash). Then you mentuon GoLive, which exports HTML. Both formats are web formats but they are different (like a RTF file and a PDF file in print). Both have advantages and disadvantages. Of course both formats can be combined, so like a logo in print an SWF can reside in an HTML page.

QuarkXPress 8 offers two layout types to handle each (Interactive = SWF, Web = HTML).

Ira2:

1)  I can handle type and layout in Q blindfolded, so I would really like to create my site elements in Q , export them to the appropriate file format, and just plop them onto the HTML page. (GoLive for now, and no jokes please.)

If you want your designs and fonts to be handled correctly and display crips, then SWF is the way to go. Yes, you can just convert your print layout or start new, design it with the same feature set as in print and then export as SWF. Adding interactivity to your SWF is also possible (within the Interactive layout).

If I choose a standard RGB for the background of the home page, for example, and use the same RGB background for my exported Q elements, am I guaranteed a match?

If you don't turn on RGB color management for RGB destinations, yes. An exception might be pictures that need to be converted (thinking for example of EPS).

2)  Anyone else here who sticks to the nice and comfy Q environment to develop web sites?

See here: http://forums.quark.com/t/16613.aspx

3) For an Action, and its cursor preferences, is there any way to add a customized cursor icon, something that will be available to me all the time?

Yes, kind of. First, in preferences you can choose from a range of pre-fabricated cursors. If you want to design your own, that's possible though a bit tricky (design an object, move it to mouse position, make it sticky, hide standard cursor).

Enjoy!
Matthias

Thanks, Matthias.

Basically, I just want to use Interactive Designer (and it's a shame I can't use its acronym) to export to swf files to "plop" (that's Yiddish for "place") into GoLive. Anything I create will be new, starting its life as interactive--not converting any print projects.

 And another question, since this is probbaly on page 296 of the manual and I'm only up to page 30 (hah!):

Let's assume I have a 500 pixels by 500 pixels InterA file (hey, THAT'S a good acronym), and I have a picture box 100pixels wide by 500 high. What about the resolution of the placed image? If I place a 300dpi art file in there reduced to 20% of original size, for example, when I export to SWF, does the export process dump the unnecessary pixels, keeping my file size small? Or do I have to be concerned with the res of the placed artwork?

And I'm still confused about how to make a custom cursor:

Move it to mouse position, make it sticky, hide standard cursor?

 Huh???

Hi, Ira,

why is "QID" an acronym you can't use? ;-)

Interactive Designer takes the screen image in your layout and converts that into SWF, so you do not need to worry about resolution. Ideally you use compression in your export settings for your file then it gets even smaller.

About the mouse cursor, I can tell you know, I recommend you getting a bit more familiar with Interactive Designer first before I swamp you with the details (as for moving the element to the mouse cursor you need to use one action using an expression)

Thanks
Matthias

Okay, and THANKS! I'll keep my eye out for that expression.

Gonna study QID  all day today in the office, since I don't have any major projects to work on.

And I'm still on 7.5, but I'll put my request in for the update. I work for a state agency, and the wheels turn very slowly here.

Hi, Ira,

like this?

CLICK HERE
(top objects show an animated mouse cursor, bottom objects a static mouse cursor)

Enjoy!
Matthias

PS.: QXP here

Show-off!!!

My questions will be coming hot and heavy, even though I AM using the manual, and I'm gonna put a bunch of them here instead of creating new threads.

1) It seems that every time I preview as SWF, it opens a new window. I'm on a PC (eech), so is this a FlashPlayer thing and't can't be fixed? It's a PITA.

2) I have a one page doc, 4 basic objects (two initially at top, two atbottom), did a Script to slide home for all, and it works. But it doesn't loop. In Presentation prefs, I have loop checked, and auto advance 2 seconds. Does this only apply to looping between pages?

Who the heck WROTE this manual? ("A Guide to Quark InterD...") There has to be better documentation out there somewhere.

The heck with the manual for now! This is fun just playing with animation objects!!!

Ira2:

Show-off!!!

1) It seems that every time I preview as SWF, it opens a new window. I'm on a PC (eech), so is this a FlashPlayer thing and't can't be fixed? It's a PITA.

Don't understand. You mean that Flash doesn't close the previous previewed files?

2) I have a one page doc, 4 basic objects (two initially at top, two atbottom), did a Script to slide home for all, and it works. But it doesn't loop. In Presentation prefs, I have loop checked, and auto advance 2 seconds. Does this only apply to looping between pages

Yes, looping only happens when you have more than one page. Restart the script (by adding a delay, a reset for all objects and then start the script again).

Best
Matthias

1) Every new file defaults to full screen SWF view. I'm playing around now so I'm creating a lot of new files, and you have to remember to uncheck full screen SWF preview in prefs each time. And when you're not in full screen, yes, it just keeps adding additional preview windows.

2) Uhhhh, I'll try. But since I started learning about animations with objects on a path yesterday, maybe that's a better way to do this effect anyway, if the animation object will follow a path on the pasteboard. Gotta try.

Ira2:

1) Every new file defaults to full screen SWF view. I'm playing around now so I'm creating a lot of new files, and you have to remember to uncheck full screen SWF preview in prefs each time. And when you're not in full screen, yes, it just keeps adding additional preview windows.

You can control that in preferences. Uncheck fullscreen there (Interactive layout > SWF).

Best
Matthias

Yeah, but it keeps defaulting back to it full screen for new projects. Not a big deal, but the fact that Flash keeps adding additional preview windows is a PITA.

Hi, Ira,

like with all document preferences, change it with NO document OPEN, then it changes the DEFAULT for all NEW documents.

Does that work?

Best
Matthias

Boy do I feel stupid--but what else is new?

 Don't ever get old.