Switching from QuarkXPress to the newer InDesign can disrupt your workflow. Learn how to overcome three pain points when making the switch.Whether making the switch or just staying marketable, many long-time QuarkXPress professionals are busily learning InDesign. While they're quickly getting the hang of InDesign-centric features like object transparency and blending modes, OpenType support, and the ability to export PDFs that print, certain fundamental features like runaround, overriding master page items, and linking text frames are tripping them up.
Runaround vs. Wrap Text
Where did runaround go? In QuarkXPress, runaround is the process of forcing text to avoid another object—often a picture or another text box—and includes options for specifying the outset distance, or "no text zone," beyond the object's borders. Text literally runs around something. Runaround options are on a tab in the Modify dialog box—accessible from the Item menu.
At first glance—and perhaps even second—it might appear that InDesign doesn't have runaround. It does; it just isn't called runaround, and it isn't in a dialog box.
From the Window menu in InDesign, select Text Wrap. Look familiar? The controls and options of text wrap are virtually identical to those of runaround. Some are still hidden, though. From the flyout menu on the Text Wrap palette (the circle in the top right), choose Show Options to reveal the Contour Options menu, where you'll find Bounding Box, Detect Edges, Same as Clipping and other types you're accustomed to seeing in XPress's runaround Type menu. The Contour Options menu is greyed out if the text wrap is set to anything but the middle text wrap type button, Wrap Text Around Object Shape.
While it may take a little getting used to, InDesign's method of placing text wrap on a palette is actually more convenient than XPress's dialog. Dialog boxes lock out access to the layout until they're closed, but with palettes, the layout and all its objects are always selectable, making the process of applying text wrap to multiple frames faster. Checking the settings on already wrapping frames is a breeze—just select the frame and glance to the palette; there's no need to navigate menus or lay your hands on the keyboard.
Overriding Master Page Items
Overriding master page items is another major frustration for proficient QuarkXPress users moving to InDesign. In XPress, any instance of a master page item may be moved, resized, or otherwise altered on a document page simply by clicking on it with the Item, Content, Rotate, or tools. There's really no effective difference between objects that exist directly on a document page and those placed there via inheritance from a master, which, of course, makes accidents easy.
The ease with which master page items may be overridden and inadvertently modified has lead to many a mistake, but XPress users have learned to work around it. That is exactly why InDesign's childproofing of master page items inspires such ire. InDesign makes them less error prone, but with a simple hotkey, deliberate overrides are a snap. Merely hold Shift+OPT (Mac) or Shift+CTRL (Windows) when clicking on a master page item on a document page to disassociate that object with the master page. Now it's a normal page object—modify or delete at will.
Linking and Unlinking Text Frames
Another significant difference between QuarkXPress and InDesign is exactly how to link and unlink text frames (a.k.a. boxes). In XPress, clicking on the source text box then the destination text box with the Linking tool flows a story between them; the Unlinking tool does the reverse, breaking a text box out of the chain.
InDesign may have a glut of palettes, but it's frugal with tools—there are no dedicated Linking and Unlinking tools. Reach back to your PageMaker days. Remember linking or threading text frames just by clicking on windows shade handles? InDesign was developed by the same people who created PageMaker, and they kept that feature—sort of. Rather than windows shade handles, InDesign's text frames have in and out ports. To thread frames, click with the Type or Selection tool on the out port of the source frame—which gives you a loaded cursor—and then on the in port of the destination frame. Repeat as necessary to thread multiple frames.
Breaking the thread is even easier: double-click any non-empty in or out port.
Where runaround went, how to override master page items, and linking and unlinking text frames aren't the only divergences of QuarkXPress and InDesign by a long shot. They are, however, among the most frustrating and confusing differences cited by experienced QuarkXPress users learning InDesign. Now, you can cross them off your list of frustrations.
Graphics Tools 
