2015

Controlling the stacking order of items
When two or more items overlap, each is either positioned in front of or behind the
other item. The term "stacking order" refers to the front-to-back relationship of the
various items on a page. Each item you create occupies its own level in the stacking
order. Every new item you create becomes the front item.
The Item menu includes commands that let you control item stacking order.
• Choose Item > Send to Back to move an item to the back of the page or layer.
• Choose Item > Bring to Front to move an item to the front of the page or layer.
• To move an item one level backward in the page or layer on Mac OS X, press Option
and choose Item > Send Backward. On Windows, choose Item > Send Backward.
• To move an item one level forward in the page or layer on Mac OS X, press Option
and choose Item > Bring Forward. On Windows, choose Item > Bring Forward.
In a document with layers, the layers themselves are in a particular stacking order;
within each layer, each item has its own relationship to the stacking order. When you
use the Send to Back, Send Backward, Bring to Front, and Bring Forward commands
(Item menu), the stacking order of the items is altered within the layer.
To activate an item that is hidden behind other items, select the Item tool and press
Command+Option+Shift/Ctrl+Alt+Shift while you click repeatedly at the point where
multiple items overlap. Pressing Command+Option+Shift/Ctrl+Alt+Shift while clicking
will successively activate items from the front of the stacking order to the back.
Grouping items
You can combine multiple items on a page or spread into a single group. Grouping
items is useful when you want to select or move several items simultaneously. You
can move, cut, copy, duplicate, and perform a number of other functions on a group.
For example, you can group all the items that compose a publication masthead; once
grouped, you can modify or move the entire group as you would a single box, line, or
text path.
After you create a group, you can still edit, resize, and reposition individual items while
maintaining the group relationship. You can also place a copy of a group into an open
QuarkXPress library for use in other documents.
Items can be grouped when two or more items (lines, boxes, text paths, or other groups)
are active. To select multiple items with the Item tool , either Shift+click each item
or draw a marquee around the items you want to group. Choose Item > Group
(Command+G/Ctrl+G) to place multiple selected items into a single group.
You can group groups, and multiple-select a group (or groups) along with individual
boxes, lines, and text paths to create a larger group.
With the Item tool selected, you can move, cut, copy, paste, duplicate, rotate, and
color a group. With the Text Content tool or Picture Content tool selected, you
can manipulate individual items as you would any ungrouped item.
92 | A GUIDE TO QUARKXPRESS 2015
BOXES, LINES, AND TABLES