Wed, Oct 8, 2008
In a QuarkXPress text box that has several columns, you can force text to begin at the top of the next column by simply pressing the Enter key where you want the text to break to the next column.
If you change your mind, just backspace over the Enter character.
Jay Nelson is the editorial director of PlanetQuark.com, and the editor and publisher of Design Tools Monthly. He’s also the author of the training videos Quark includes in the box with QuarkXPress 7, and the QuarkXPress 7 training at Lynda.com. In addition, Jay writes for several other publications and speaks at industry events.
October 8th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Great tip, Jay! When I figured this out, I started using it all the time.
Also, adding Shift to the Enter key will force the text to begin at the top of the next linked text box (if there is one) regardless of how many empty columns there are.
October 24th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I have used Quark since v4. I just upgraded to version 8 and I cannot force text to flow to a linked text box using shift-enter or force text to a new column using enter. It just doesn’t work for me like earlier versions of Quark. I don’t know what else to do except to resize the text boxes.
October 25th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Scott: Most excellent! I forgot about Shift-Enter.
Jaye: Just to be sure, I tried it just now in QuarkXPress 8, and it worked as it should. I wonder what’s going on with yours? Has anything changed in your setup, such as a new computer or keyboard?
October 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I am using a brand new laptop and installed the Quark update for v8 on Thursday from a Quark web site download. I installed the full upgrade version with the validation code from Quark. Very strange. I have never had any problems with any version of Quark.
October 25th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Here’s a wild guess: are you using your laptop’s keyboard? Mine doesn’t have a dedicated Enter key, just a Return key that becomes an Enter key when you press the “fn” key at the same time.
Is it possible that you’re using the Return key by mistake?
October 26th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Thanks. I will give it a try tomorrow.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Thanks for the tip.