Print Selection for QuarkXPress 8.1

XTensions Module for Selection-based Output from QuarkXPress Layouts

Have you ever wanted to print a quick proof of a small area of your layout without printing the whole page? That's exactly what the Print Selection XT enables you to do. This XTensions™ module for QuarkXPress® 8.1 adds the Print Selection tool to the tool palette, allowing you to drag a marquee around the area you want to output to your printer, EPS, or PDF. Optionally you may select items on the page and choose File > Print Selection. The product can output the region from an individual page or multiple pages in the layout.

Wait, there's more! A bonus feature! Some customers have been asking me about the XPert Box Tools XTensions software because they need one specific feature from it — the New Box From Clipping Path command (found in the Item menu). This extremely useful feature allows you to move complex paths into QuarkXPress by embedding them into a picture file as a clipping path, then converting them to editable Bézier boxes within QuarkXPress.

If you've ever wanted to move a path from Illustrator® to QuarkXPress, now you can; just paste the path into a Photoshop® document and save it as an image, then bring it into QuarkXPress and convert it. I hope you find this as useful as I have.

As usual please send an email to me, Dan Logan, with feedback on these XTensions. (Should we build these features into QuarkXPress by default?)

Thanks,
Dan Logan
Product Manager, QuarkXPress

Installation Instructions

NOTE: Print Selection XT requires QuarkXPress version 8.1.

1. Unzip the downloaded file.
2. Move the Print Selection.xnt file into the XTensions folder within your QuarkXPress folder.
3. Re-launch QuarkXPress
4. You will now see the Print Selection tool, the File > Print Selection command, and the Item > New Box from Clipping Path command.

Known Issues

The following issues are already known and don't need to be reported:

• Print Selection has not yet been integrated with Drop Shadows, so it will not automatically accommodate the extra area needed by a shadow. In other words, if you select an item and output it with Print Selection, the bounds that will be output are defined by the bounds of the item itself; any shadow area that extends past the selection’s bounds will not be included in output. The workaround is to use the Print Selection tool to marquee an area that includes the entire shadow, or manually increase the output area in the Print Selection dialog.
• We added PDF output to this version, but you’ll notice that the resulting PDF’s media size is equal to the QuarkXPress page size, not the bounds of the selection. The only imagable area on the page will be the selection you created, but if you’re going for a final file equal to the selection, use EPS instead of PDF.