QuarkXPress 2025 User Guide

Quarky AI Assistant

Quarky is an AI-powered tool in QuarkXPress designed to assist with content creation, editing, and translation. Users can generate and refine text directly within their projects.

Using Quarky

To use Quarky:

1. Select a text box or highlight text.

2. Click the Quarky icon in the Quick Access Bar.

   

3. Choose a function from the Quarky menu:

   • Content Generation - Enter a topic to generate new text.

   • Title Suggestions - Generate title recommendations for the selected content.

   • Summarize - Create a concise summary of the selected text.

   • Paraphrase - Reword the text while retaining its meaning.

   • Correct Grammar - Identify and correct spelling and grammatical errors.

   • Translate - Convert text into another language while maintaining context.

Navigating Quarky Outputs

• Click Regenerate to generate a new variation.

  

• Use the Left/Right arrow buttons in the Quarky window to browse generated options.

  

   

• Click Copy to copy the selected result to the clipboard.

• For Content Generation, click Insert to paste the AI-generated content into your text box.

• For other Quarky services choose from:

  • Insert Before - Add the generated text before the selected content.

  • Insert After - Add the generated text after the selected content.

  • Replace - Replace the selected text with the AI-generated result.

Using Quarky Prompts

Each Quarky service functions differently in terms of input requirements. Below are some tips on how to use prompts effectively:

• Content Generation - Enter a topic for Quarky to generate content about. The level of detail in your prompt significantly impacts the quality and specificity of the generated text:

  • Entering a simple topic like "cats" will result in a general article covering broad aspects such as their history, types, and traits.

    

  • Providing specifics like "A 250-word article about the history of cats and how they became a common household pet" will generate a more refined and precise article.

    

  • You can specify a tone or style such as "A lighthearted, engaging article about the history of cats for a general audience, add a fun fact before each new paragraph." to further tailor the output.

    

• Title Suggestions - No prompt is required. Simply select the text you want a title for, and Quarky will generate multiple suggestions based on the content.

  

  

• Tone of Voice - this feature allows you to adjust how your content reads based on your audience and communication needs. This option is available for both AI-generated and user-selected text - no manual input needed. You can choose from the following tone options:

  • More Formal - Refines your content to be more professional and suitable for business or academic contexts.

  • More Informal - Makes your content more casual and conversational.

  • Simplify - Rewrites the text to be easier to understand, ideal for general audiences.

  • More Engaging - Enhances the text with a lively and reader-friendly tone.

    

    

• Summarize Text - No manual input is needed beyond selecting the text. Quarky will condense the key points while maintaining clarity and readability.

• Paraphrase Text - Select the text you wish to rewrite, and Quarky will generate a reworded version that maintains the original meaning but improves clarity and variation.

• Grammar Correction - Select the text that requires correction, and Quarky will refine grammar, spelling, and punctuation without altering the meaning.

• Translate Text - Specify the target language into which you want your text translated. Quarky will handle the translation while preserving meaning and context.

  

• Edit with a Prompt - You can either select existing text or leave the selection empty to generate new content from scratch. In the input field, type your own instruction describing how you want Quarky to modify or create the content. Unlike predefined tools such as Tone of Voice or Grammar Correction, this option gives you full creative control - allowing you to request anything from a more persuasive rewrite, to a poem, simplified version, or text adapted for a specific audience or purpose.

  • Example Prompts:

    • “Make this more persuasive for a marketing brochure”

    • “Create a fun fact for this paragraph”

    • “Rewrite this in simple language for kids”

    • “Convert this paragraph into a question and answer format”

    • “Summarize this in one sentence only”

    

    

Best Practices for Prompts:

• Use clear, concise descriptions for better results.

• Add relevant details (tone, word count, audience) to refine content generation.

• For translations, ensure the source text is clear to improve accuracy.

Font Pairing

The AI Font Pairing feature automatically suggests complementary font combinations to improve typography consistency and design aesthetics. You can use any of your installed fonts or a Google Font you like to run Font Pairing. The AI will then recommend complementary pairings for heading 2 and body text, using fonts from the Google Fonts library. 

Using Font Pairing:

1. Open the Font Manager palette.

   

2. Locate your preferred font and click the Font Pairing icon next to it.

3. The AI will generate a font pairing, suggesting:

   • H1 (Heading 1) - Reference font (locked by default and marked by a blue lock icon)

   • H2 (Heading 2) - Suggested complementary font

   • Body - Suggested body text font

   

4. Click Regenerate to generate a new set of font pairings.

   

5. Browse through alternative pairings using the Left and Right arrows buttons.

   

   If you click on the Font Pairing icon on the same font later, it will start from the last viewed pairing. You will still be able to view previous pairings by using the left arrow button.

6. If needed, swap fonts between levels by dragging one onto another using the 6 dots icon.

   

7. Locking Fonts and Managing Reference Font Behavior

   1. You can lock one or two fonts in the pairing view (e.g., H1 and Body), but only one font at a time will act as the reference font—the one used to generate pairings. The locked fonts will remain the same while you click regenerate.

      

      • The current reference font is always indicated with a blue lock icon.

      

      • You can manually assign a font as the reference by Command-clicking its lock icon. On Windows use Control + click.

      

   2. The current reference font is always indicated with a blue lock icon.

      

   3. You can manually assign a font as the reference by Command-clicking its lock icon. On Windows use Control + click.

      

      1. If you unlock the current reference font and another font remains locked:

      • QuarkXPress will automatically promote the last locked font as the new reference.

        

      • The new reference font will be marked with the blue lock icon. 

      1. There must always be at least one font locked to maintain a reference point for pairing.

   4. If you unlock the current reference font and another font remains locked:

      • QuarkXPress will automatically promote the last locked font as the new reference.

        

      • The new reference font will be marked with the blue lock icon. 

   5. There must always be at least one font locked to maintain a reference point for pairing.

   Note: Regeneration history is tied to the active reference font.

   • If you change the reference font—whether by unlocking or manually reassigning it—the pairing history is cleared.

   • You will only see pairings generated with the current reference font when using the Previous and Next buttons.

8. Once you're satisfied with the results, click Save as Style Group to retain the selected font pairings.

   • All Google Fonts that are included in the selection, but are not installed on your machine, will be downloaded automatically.

   • Enable Extended Styles (checked by default) to generate styles for H3-H6 headings.

     

   • If a Style Group with the same name already exists, choose between:

     

     • Replace - Overwrite the existing group.

     • Auto-Rename - Automatically create a new group with a different name.

       If the existing Style Group contains customized attributes (e.g. you changed the font size of your body text), those attributes will be retained when using the Replace option.

AI Management and Usage