2022

A Guide to QuarkXPress 2022 | 643
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