I'm trying to make outline text in Quark XPress where the inside of
the outline is the same color as my document background.  I make a
heading (I'm using Arial Black font), then I use the "Style" menu to
open the "Character" dialog box.  I check "outline."  The text then
becomes outlined, but the inside of the text becomes white,
contrasting sharply with the dark background on the page.  How do I
make the inside of the outlined text be the same color as the
background?  (Yes, I could import outlined text from another program,
but my computer is old and doesn't like to have more than one program
open at once, so I want to be able to do it within Quark.)

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Request for Question Clarification by feilong-ga on 11 Nov 2002 09:59 PST

What QuarkXPress version are you using? The latest, I think, is 5.0.

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Clarification of Question by btc-ga on 11 Nov 2002 10:27 PST

I am using the latest version that I know of, Version 5.00r0.

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Request for Question Clarification by tox-ga on 11 Nov 2002 12:39 PST

btc-ga,
I would love to answer your question, but unfortunately, it is not
possible to do in Quark.  It states on the website that outline fonts
have a white center when printed, the only exception being if it was
printed to a postscript printer, in which case the middle of the
background text is transparent.
Hope that helps,

-Tox-ga

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Clarification of Question by btc-ga on 11 Nov 2002 13:42 PST

No wonder I couldn't figure out how to do it!!  Thanks.

Hi Btc-ga! I’m a graphic artist that’s why I chose to answer your
question. It's good to know that you are using version 5.0. While it
is true that outline fonts have a white center when printed and you
might nee a PS printer to get your desired result, there is another
way to make outline text with a transparent center without importing
it and using a PS printer. Actually, you almost got it but missed the
right option. Just follow these simple steps:

1) Select you’re the chosen text as you did before then go to the
“Style” menu.
2) Choose “Text to Box”. A text box in the shape of your text will
instantly appear below your previously selected text. Let us
temporarily call this as “T-text Box”.
 3) Select this new T-text Box and go to the “Item” menu that is found
next to the “Style” menu.
4) Choose the “Modify” option. A dialogue box will appear.
5) Go to the “Box” tab. You will find an option, also called “Box”,
set to “White” as the default color. Choose “None” and press “Apply”.
If your T-text Box is on a colored object or text you will notice the
white color of your T-text Box disappear.
6) In the same dialogue box, go to the “Frame” tab. You can change the
width, style, color, and shade of your T-text Box.

You now have the desired result that you want. However, there are
certain disadvantages that you have to accept regarding this.

1) You can resize it but you can’t change the font because it is not a
font anymore. If you want to change fonts, you have to repeat the
procedure.
2) Some letters may not look absolutely correct in appearance
especially with thicker line width. You can still manually adjust
these using the outline nodes of the T-text Box.

Please remember that a good graphic artist should be creative, not
only in concepts but also in techniques.

I hope this helps and thanks for visiting the site.

Feilong-ga

Perfect step-by-step instructions.