Easily Create Complex Shapes Using “Merge Union”
In QuarkXPress, a complex box shape can be created easily by combining several simple boxes. Draw any number of overlapping rectangles, ellipses, Bézier items and freehand boxes, then select them all, and choose Item> Merge> Union.
The other Merge options, such as Difference, Intersection, etc., will combine or remove the items from each other in other ways.
After the items are combined into one item, you can edit the details of the shape by doing this:
QuarkXPress 7 and earlier: choose Item> Edit> Shape or type Shift-F4.
QuarkXPress 8: click on the item with the Bézier Pen tool.
And don’t forget: if you want to use these shapes in another program such as Adobe Illustrator, just export your page in PDF or EPS format. Illustrator can then open that file for editing, with vector shapes, strokes, fills, etc., intact!
Jay Nelson is the editorial director of PlanetQuark.com, and the editor and publisher of Design Tools Monthly. He’s also the author of the QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress 7 training titles at Lynda.com, as well as the training videos Quark includes in the box with QuarkXPress 7 . In addition, Jay writes regularly for Macworld and Photoshop User magazines and speaks at industry events.
Thanks, very simple and clear!!!