9.3

QuarkXPress lets you create automatic drop shadows.
To work with drop shadows, you must have DropShadow XTensions software loaded.
Applying drop shadows
To apply a drop shadow, select the item and check Apply Drop Shadow in the Drop
Shadow tab of the Measurements palette or the Modify dialog box (Item menu). You
can apply drop shadows to the shape of an item — box, line, text path, table — provided
that the item has a background color applied to it. You can apply a drop shadow to text
when the box background has an opacity of less than 100%. You can apply a drop shadow
to the contours of a picture when a clipping path or alpha mask is selected and the box
background is None. You can apply a drop shadow to a group with the drop shadow
reflecting the collective shape of all of the items in the group.
Customizing drop shadows
Using the controls in the Drop Shadow tab of the Modify dialog box (Item menu) or the
Measurements palette, you can customize how a drop shadow looks, including its distance
from the item, size in relation to the original item, offset, angle of light source, color,
shade, opacity, blur, and more. You can also synchronize the angle with other drop shadows
in the layout, making it easy to maintain a significant light source throughout a layout
and making drop shadows seem more natural.
Incorporating drop shadows with items
Additional options control how drop shadows interact with items, including handling
opacity and text runaround. As with the other controls, these options are located in the
Drop Shadow tab of the Modify dialog box (Item menu) or the Measurements palette.
• Use Inherit Item's Opacity to have the drop shadow reflect different opacities in the item,
such as differences in the box background and frame.
• Use Item Knocks Out Drop Shadow to prevent a shadow from displaying through
semi-opaque areas of an item — to keep a shadow from peeping through its box, for
example.
A GUIDE TO QUARKXPRESS 9.3 - PLUS EDITION | 225
COLOR, OPACITY, AND DROP SHADOWS