2019

PREFERENCES
A Guide to QuarkXPress 2019 | 501
Use the Small Caps area to control the scale of characters with the Small Caps •
type style applied to them. The VScale value determines the vertical size of the
character and is measured as a percentage of font size. The HScale value
determines width and is measured as a percentage of the normal character width
(as specified by the font designer). The default value for both scales is 75%
(range = 0 to 100%, measurement system = percentage, smallest increment = .1).
Use the Superior area to control the scale of superior characters. The VScale •
value determines the vertical size of the character and is measured as a
percentage of font size. The HScale value determines width and is measured as a
percentage of the normal character width (as specified by the font designer). The
default value for both scales is 60% (range = 0 to 100%, measurement system =
percentage, smallest increment = .1).
Use the Ligatures area to use ligatures built into a font. A ligature is a •
typographic convention in which certain characters are combined into a single
glyph. Most fonts contain ligatures for the characters “f” followed by “I” and “f”
followed by “l”. The Break Above field enables you to specify the kerning or
tracking value (measured in 1/200 em space increments) above which characters
will not be combined into ligatures. For example, a headline with a large
tracking value would probably not contain ligatures. The default value is 1
(range = 0 to 10, measurement system = .005 [1/200] em space, smallest
increment = .001). To prevent the second two letters in “ffi” and “ffl” (as in
office and waffle) from being combined into ligatures, check Not “ffi” or “ffl”.
Three-character ligatures for these combinations, common in traditional
typesetting systems, are not standardized in fonts designed for macOS, so some
typographers prefer to keep all three letters separate rather than combine only
two of them. Note that many PostScript fonts do not have “ffi” and “ffl”
ligatures, but most OpenType fonts do. This option is unchecked by default.
Check Auto Kern Above to specify that QuarkXPress uses kerning tables, which •
are built into most fonts, to control intercharacter spacing. The Auto Kern
Above field enables you to specify the point size above which automatic kerning
must be used. The Auto Kern Above feature also implements custom tracking
information specified in the Tracking Values dialog box for a selected font (Edit
> Font Tracking Table Edit). This option is checked by default, with a 4-point
threshold (range = 0 to 72 pt, measurement system = various [“, pt, cm, etc.],
smallest increment = .001).
Check Standard Em Space to specify an em-space equivalent to the point size of •
the text (for example, 24 pt text has a 24 pt em space). If Standard Em Space is
unchecked, QuarkXPress uses the width of the two zeros in the current font as
the em-space width. This option is checked by default. You can insert an Em
space in text by pressing Cmd+space/Ctrl+Shift+7.
Use the Flex Space Width field to change the 50% default width of a flexible •
space. To create a breaking flexible space, press Option+Shift+space/Ctrl+Shift+5;
to create a nonbreaking flexible space, press
Command+Option+Shift+space/Ctrl+Alt+Shift+5. The Flex Space Width value is
expressed as a percentage of the normal en space for a given font and font size
(range = 0 to 400%, measurement system = percentage, smallest increment = .1).