Teach Yourself QuarkXPress : Version 4 (Teach Yourself) [Paperback]

Christopher Lumgair (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0844226289 | ISBN-13: 978-0844226286 | Publication Date: November 1, 1999 | Edition: 1

Introduces the essentials of the program to provide a guide to text entry, page layout and production processes in easy-to-follow stages. Provides an essential first guide to the DTP tool, clear, informative, and jargon-free text. Softcover.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you like learning new software on the subway, Teach Yourself Quark Xpress: Version 4, a modest little paperback, will come in handy. You can carry it with you, reading sections here and there, and then later sit at your computer and follow along with the step-by-step instructions.

Written primarily for beginners, the book follows a slow-paced and intuitive route from creating a new document, working with pages, adding and formatting text, and then on to more complex steps like linking text boxes, adding page numbers, and working with books--all this before even introducing graphic items and images. Such a firm grounding in handling text and typography is important to getting the most out of a premier layout application like Xpress.

Users with some experience in XPress can use the book as a review or for discovering new shortcuts. There may be features you've never conquered, for example, making an index or table of contents, or the intricacies of master pages, all of which are succinctly explained here. There's a convenient appendix with keystrokes for special characters such as the ligature of f and l, which also lists special characters specifically for the Find/Change dialog box and eight different kinds of word spaces.

The writing is clear and uncluttered; it's a bare-bones manual style that can be just the ticket when you just have one question and need the answer fast. There's not much here for intermediate or advanced users. For example, although there is a nice explanation of how to use clipping paths, the subject of setting trapping preferences is only discussed briefly. On the other hand, if the book were much more in depth, you wouldn't be able to read it while hanging from that subway strap. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: Elementary instruction in using Quark XPress, including creating documents, working with pages and master pages, working with text boxes and formatting text, working with items and images, using colors, manipulating text to improve readability and appearance, creating books with tables of contents and indexes, and preparing files for printing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844226289
• ISBN-13: 978-0844226286
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,993,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect when you need the basics quick., March 30, 2000

By 

Susanna Hutcheson "Copywriting for the Discri... (Midwest U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Teach Yourself QuarkXPress : Version 4 (Teach Yourself) (Paperback)

If you apply for a newspaper job or just about any job as a writer or much else, you need to know Quark. And, if you're like me, you can't just jump in over your head! That's where this book can save your skin.

If you need the basics fast, this book is for you. You can build on the knowledge you get in this book. But this is the place to begin.

In addition, sometimes you just need one bit of information. Again, this book is the place to search and find it quickly.

I highly recommend it.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I ever bought!, January 9, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself QuarkXPress : Version 4 (Teach Yourself) (Paperback)

I had always wanted to learn design but had no time or money to invest in classes etc. All I had was an iMac and "Teach yourself Quark Express". Although some reviews don't praise this book, I found it to be informative enough to learn my way around the Quark interface and start designing pages. Because large manuals overwhelmed me- not to mention my optimism about breaking into design was not that high, I settled for this cheap little book. Well I'm happy to say that within about six weeks I landed my first design job in NYC and have since mastered Quark and became very skilled in Photoshop and Illustrator. Just 11 months after reading this book I am now a very experienced and employable designer. I have taken many courses in design since then-but my gratitude goes to the author of "Teach Yourself QuarkXPress"- I never could have done it without this book. I'd like to see the great works of art from those "negative" people who suggest "Quark for Dummies". This is the only Quark book I've ever owned and believe me, anything a certified Quark instructor has ever showed me I had already learned in this book. Maybe the "Dummies" should read it again. This is a real review from a real designer.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too Small Even For a Doorstop, June 15, 2000

By 

C. Fein (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself QuarkXPress : Version 4 (Teach Yourself) (Paperback)

While this book does contain some information which may be useful to, say, comatose goats trying to break into a career in desktop publishing, this book provides no easy way of accessing it. The index and glossary are woefully useless and the book is disorganized and nauseatingly simplistic. If one of your coffee table's legs is a little bit too high, this book may just be perfect for you. For those of you with un-wobbly coffee tables, I suggest the Quark for dummies book. It is a crying shame that one star is the lowest possible rating allowed. I hope I have been successful in dissuading you from purchasing this book, you'll thank me later.