When evaluating the level of students who are switching from Quark to InDesign, the first thing I look for is extra returns between paragraphs. Why? It’s one of least efficient things that can be done using a layout application and the chances are quite high that students using extra returns are NOT using Quark’s Style Sheets for formatting type or Master Pages. To say the least, they’re using their layout program at a very basic level.
Why is adding an extra paragraph return to add space between paragraphs so inefficient? Changing the amount of space becomes a totally manual process. Each return has to be selected, one at a time, to be changed. It’s far better to make paragraph spacing part of the actual formatting. That’s where “Space After” and “Space Before” come in. Open your Paragraph palette (Type menu > Paragraph) and under the Options menu, choose Show Options if Paragraph Spacing is not showing. Using the Type tool (T), select several pages of 12 point copy and add 9 points (.125″) of Space Before OR Space After. All the paragraph spacing opens up. Need to decrease the spacing? Type in a lower number. You’re done! The next step is to take this efficiency global with Paragraph Styles. But that’s another tip.
Tip provided by Jeff Witchel, Certified Adobe® Training Provider.
Author: jeff witchel
Jeff Witchel graduated from Pratt Institute in 1973 with a B.F.A. (Cum Laude) in Advertising Design and Visual Communications. He has been an award-winning advertising art director, writer, designer, illustrator, and TV producer ever since.
Before starting his own advertising agency in New Jersey, Jeff built his career at top New York ad agencies such as Young & Rubicam, Grey Advertising, and Wells, Rich, Greene. Over the years, he has created award-winning work for many clients including AT&T, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Jell-O Pudding, The Plaza Hotel, and Pfizer. His many prestigious awards include N.Y. Art Directors Club Gold Award, One Show Gold Award, N.J. Art Directors Club Award, multiple Andy Awards, Graphis Annual, numerous readership awards, plus an Emmy Award nomination.
Jeff is a self-taught computer artist with over 19 years of experience. His initial introduction to the computer was with PageMaker, but he switched to Quark 1.0 when it was first introduced in 1987. Having arrived on the desktop publishing scene so early, Jeff became the “go to” guy for answers when others started getting into computer graphics.
As an Adobe Certified Expert, he’s provided online support for Adobe and is now an Adobe Certified Training Provider for both Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Adobe InDesign CS2. Jeff is one of just a handful of Adobe Certified Instructors in the New York metropolitan area. He also is a Quark Certified Expert in QuarkXPress 6 as well as a master of Adobe Photoshop and related applications. He counts among his training clients ad agencies, design studios, magazines, illustrators, and photographers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
