THE MAIN QC DIALOG BOX THREE CATAGORIES OF ANALYSIS Currently, QC uses three checklist catagories for quality assurance and analysis: TEXT--All things having to do with textual content (not the boxes themselves); PICTURES--All things to do with picture quality, analysis and printability.; ITEMS--All the rest. The QC Dialog is arranged according to these three sections and each is called up hitting the Mode Selection Buttons at the upper left. Whole catagories can be turned on or off, without changing settings, using the toggle arrows (explained below) to the left of the Mode Buttons . HOW TO CHOOSE WHAT GETS QC'D If something is selected when you go to the QC dialog, the selection option will be hilighted. If nothing is selected, then it defaults to the last used of either Current Page, Page Range or Document. At any time you can switch to Current Page, Page Range or Document but you can only switch to Selection if there is a selection. QC will attempt to analyze every single item in the selection or on each page. It is often better to QC a document one page at a time so you can quickly make adjustments and rerun QC on that page. This is very easy to do using the QC Palette with page navigation buttons. IMPORTANT TIP: Only select those items which you truly need to check for as each item can add a slight time (especially on long documents) to the check process, though it is still very fast. Sometimes it is good to do things in passes (i.e. Widows and Overflows, then Text Problems, etc.) so you can see very clearly what needs to be done. Using the pop-up info adjusters On the right side of each checklist appear a number of underlined blue text items. Each one of these leads to either a pop-up info adjuster or another dialog if the item is an ellipsis (...). To adjust information, hold down mouse button and drag left or right. The speed of the adjustment can be set in Prefs. In the case of a dialog, make your choices and hit OK or Cancel. The meaning of the information depends on whether that item is turned on and which item it is. THE TEXT CHECKLIST Items which appear on the TEXT Checklist involve the text stream within text boxes, not the boxes themselves. Turn items on or off by clicking on the colored arrows to the left. When it is green and pointing upward it is on. By turning an item on, you let QC know to check for that item. Certain items check for things to fall within a prescribed range. The range can be set using the pop-up info adjusters which appear when the underlined parameter is clicked. Following is a breakdown of the items on the TEXT checklist: Missing fonts: Will cause QC to list text it encounters which is using an unknown or unopened font. You can consult Font Usage to learn more about the font. Tracking amount >: Will cause QC to list text which has tracking which exceeds the amount specified, whether it's positive or negative. If the tracking is equal to the amount, it won't be listed. Horizontal scale >: Will cause QC to list text which has horizontal scale which exceeds the amount specified relative to 100%, whether it's above or below 100% If the scale is equal to the amount, it won't be listed. Widows: Will cause QC to list text it thinks is a widow, or a lone word at the end of a paragraph. Overflows: Will cause QC to list text which has flowed outside its text box. Baseline shift >: Will cause QC to list text which has baseline shift which exceeds the amount specified, whether it's positive or negative. If the shift is equal to the amount, it won't be listed. Multiple paragraph returns >: Will cause QC to list text which has more consecutive returns than specified. If the number is equal to the amount, it won't be listed. This is a good way to see if documents have been set up the 'down and dirty' way or properly using paragraph formatting. Multiple spaces >: Will cause QC to list text which has more consecutive spaces than specified. If the number is equal to the amount, it won't be listed. Often with such use of spaces it is better to use a tab instead. Styled text: Will cause QC to list text which uses soft styling (eg.Command -Shift-B) rather than font-based styling (eg. B Helvetica Bold). Soft styling is fine for office memos but when it comes to refined printables, the pros use the real font for insured quality. Altered styles: Will cause QC to list text which has used a style (except Normal) and then been modified to go outside the style's parameters. Use this to make sure documents conform to needed styles when required. Common text problems: Will cause QC to list text which it determines to meet one of the conditions checked off in the Text Problem Dialog below which is called up by clicking on the underlined ellipsis on the right side of the QC dialog. One of QC's most valuable features, this can be like having an extra proofreader in house. You will find that QC will flag many items that are as they should be since there are many legitimate exceptions to the rules. While this is definitely not a substitute for a good proofreader, it may help catch a few common mistakes. If you have suggestions for more items to add to the list, please let us know as we want to improve this function in future versions. Spot colors: Will cause QC to list text which uses spot colors which are not set up for process separation. All the above: Will cause QC to check for everything on the TEXT checklist. The Text Problem Dialog  Previous | Next | Table of Contents