2023

User Guide | 415
Creating special effects with clipping paths
Various options in the Clipping tab let you invert a clipping path or specify
whether a picture is clipped using outside edges only, or whether the picture is
contained within its box. You can create special effects such as making visible
regions transparent and transparent regions visible, allowing holes within a
path, cropping the picture to the edges of the picture box, or removing portions
of the clipping path that fall outside the box borders.
Working with alpha masks
Unlike clipping paths, which produce a smooth edge primarily used for
separating a foreground image from a background image, alpha masks can
include transparency information to subtly blend a foreground image into a new
background. To work with alpha masks in QuarkXPress, you must first create an
alpha mask in an image-editing application such as Adobe Photoshop. You can
then use the alpha mask in QuarkXPress.
The alpha mask on the flames allows the text in the background to show through.
To work with alpha masks in QuarkXPress, you’ll need to save them with the
picture in a format that supports alpha channels.
To apply an alpha mask to the selected picture, choose an alpha channel from
the Measurements palette’s Mask drop-down menu.
By default, this drop-down menu is set to Composite, which preserves the 
image’s overall transparency.
Working with PSD pictures
You can import native, unflattened picture files from Adobe Photoshop directly
into QuarkXPress with PSD Import functionality. Once files are imported, you