Requires InDesign or QuarkXPress 2016-2025.
Q++Studio Paragraph Formatting is made-up of a string of comma-delimited attributes settings of attributes from the list below, and apart from being used internally by Q++Studio to communicate with QuarkXPress and InDesign, can be used as the sFormat variable of the macro function FormatText (yes, FormatText, which accepts text, paragraph and box attributes).
➢Differences between QuarkXPress and InDesign in their support and/or implementation of various features are detailed in the topic differences between QuarkXPress and InDesign.
Each specifier is separated from the next by a comma (no space). Any value which can be specified in decimal form must use a period as decimal separator, regardless of the workstation's Windows settings. Sample formatting may look as follows (the additional non-highlighted text is part of the formatted text replacement sent by Q++Studio to QuarkXPress and InDesign which can be inspected by viewing p-code):
{[1d]}={PLEFTINDENT 1.1,PRIGHTINDENT 2.2,PRULEBELOW 1|28}
Formatting will fail if the text formatting string contains the same attributes repeated with a different values or with inherently conflicting attributes.
Formats
Keyword |
Example use |
Attribute Description |
PLEFTINDENT |
PLEFTINDENT 0.5 |
Paragraph left indent (decimal mm) |
PFIRSTINDENT |
PFIRSTINDENT 0.5 |
Indent of first line of paragraph (decimal mm) |
PRIGHTINDENT |
PRIGHTINDENT 0.5 |
Paragraph right indent (decimal mm) |
PLEADING |
PLEADING 9.25 |
Paragraph leading (decimal 2 to 100).
Leading is a text attribute in InDesign, as compared to QuarkXPress, where it is a paragraph attribute. To apply leading in InDesign, use text leading. |
PSPCBEFORE |
PSPCBEFORE 0.5 |
|
PSPCAFTER |
PSPCAFTER 0.5 |
Space after (decimal mm) |
PJUST |
PJUST 1 |
Paragraph horizontal text alignment |
PCHARALIGN |
PCHARALIGN 2 |
East Asian character alignment |
PKEEPWITHNEXT |
PKEEPWITHNEXT 0 |
Set/remove keep with next attribute (boolean 0=remove, 1=add) |
PDROPCAPCHARS |
PDROPCAPCHARS 0 |
Number of characters to be dropped (0 means no dropped cap) |
PDROPCAPLINES |
PDROPCAPLINES 0 |
Number of lines for dropped caps (0 means no dropped cap) |
PKEEPTOGETHER |
PKEEPTOGETHER 0 |
Keep lines of paragraph together (boolean 0=false, 1=true) |
PKEEPALL |
PKEEPALL 0 |
Keep all the lines of paragraph together (boolean 0=false, 1=true, has no effect if PKEEPALL is false) |
PKEEPTGTHRSTART |
PKEEPTGTHRSTART 1 |
Keep the lines of paragraph together starting at this line number (integer starting at 1) |
PKEEPTGTHREND |
PKEEPTGTHREND 2 |
Keep the lines of paragraph together ending at this line number (integer starting at 2) |
PGRIDLOCK |
PGRIDLOCK 0 |
Lock to grid (boolean 0=false, 1=true) |
PGRIDTYPE |
PGRIDTYPE 3 |
Grid type (has no effect if PGRIDLOCK is false) (0=topline, 1=bottomline, 2=centerline, 3=baseline) |
PGRIDLEVEL |
PGRIDLEVEL 0 |
Grid level (has no effect if PGRIDLOCK is false) (0=page grid, 1=textbox grid) |
Tabulations |
|
Keyword |
TABS |
Sample usage |
TABS(3,928858,1,0,0,0,1857716,2,0,0,0,2786574,0,0,0,0) |
Description |
Creates a set of tabulations for the paragraph of the current text.
Referring to the above example, the first number (3) means that there are 3 tab positions, each one being described by 5 numbers.
Looking at the first set of 5 numbers (928858,1,0,0,0): •The first number (928858) represents 5 mm, expressed in the internal fixed units, the smallest unit of size, used by both QuarkXPress and InDesign, one fixed unit being defined as 1/65536 of a point. This means that an inch is 4718592 fixed units, and a millimeter is approximately 185771 fixed units. •The second number (1) represents the tab alignment, where 0=left, 1=center, 2=right. •The third, fourth and fifth numbers (0,0,0) should always be set to zero for the time being. |
Rules Above
Keyword |
Example use |
Attribute Description |
PRULEABOVE |
PRULEABOVE 0 |
Set/remove rule above attribute (Boolean 0=remove, 1=add) |
PRABOVETEXTLEN |
PRABOVETEXTLEN 0 |
Rule above text length (0=indents is not available in InDesign and will be replaced with 2=column) |
PRABOVELEFTINDENT |
PRABOVELEFTINDENT 1.25 |
Rule above left indent (decimal mm) |
PRABOVERIGHTINDENT |
PRABOVERIGHTINDENT 1.25 |
Rule above right indent (decimal mm) |
PRABOVECOLOR |
PRABOVECOLOR(Pantone 231U) |
Rule above color name as specified in QuarkXPress or InDesign. |
PRABOVEREL |
PRABOVEREL 0 |
Offset type (1=percentage, 0=mm) (percentage offset is not available in InDesign) |
PRABOVEPOS |
PRABOVEPOS -1.25 |
Offset value (decimal in mm or percent, depending on the value of PRABOVEREL) |
PRABOVESTYLE |
PRABOVESTYLE 0 |
Dashes and stripes style ID (refer to the list of dashes and stripes from the scanned template). |
PRABOVEWIDTH |
PRABOVEWIDTH 7.55 |
Width (thickness) of the rule (decimal in points) |
PRABOVESHADE |
PRABOVESHADE 35.0 |
Text shade (decimal percentage from 0 to 100) |
PRABOVEOPACITY |
PRABOVEOPACITY 100.0 |
Text opacity (decimal percentage from 0 to 100) (not available in InDesign) |
PRABOVEOVERPRINT |
PRABOVEOVERPRINT 1 |
Overprint type (1=overprint, 0=knock-out) (not available in QuarkXPress) |
Rules Below
Keyword |
Example use |
Attribute Description |
PRULEBELOW |
PRULEBELOW 0 |
Set/remove rule below attribute (Boolean 0=remove, 1=add) |
PRBELOWTEXTLEN |
PRBELOWTEXTLEN 0 |
Rule below text length (0=indents is not available in InDesign and will be replaced with 2=column) |
PRBELOWLEFTINDENT |
PRBELOWLEFTINDENT 1.25 |
Rule below left indent (decimal mm) |
PRBELOWRIGHTINDENT |
PRBELOWRIGHTINDENT 1.25 |
Rule below right indent (decimal mm) |
PRBELOWCOLOR |
PRBELOWCOLOR(Pantone 231U) |
Rule below color name (spelled exactly as obtained from scanning). |
PRBELOWREL |
PRBELOWREL 0 |
Offset type (1=percentage, 0=mm) (percentage offset is not available in InDesign) |
PRBELOWPOS |
PRBELOWPOS -1.25 |
Offset value (decimal in mm or percent, depending on the value of PRBELOWREL) |
PRBELOWSTYLE |
PRBELOWSTYLE 0 |
Dashes and stripes style ID (refer to the list of dashes and stripes from the scanned template). |
PRBELOWWIDTH |
PRBELOWWIDTH 7.55 |
Width (thickness) of the rule (decimal in points) |
PRBELOWSHADE |
PRBELOWSHADE 35.0 |
Text shade (decimal percentage from 0 to 100) |
PRBELOWOPACITY |
PRBELOWOPACITY 100.0 |
Text opacity (decimal percentage from 0 to 100) (not available in InDesign) |
PRBELOWOVERPRINT |
PRBELOWOVERPRINT 1 |
Overprint type (1=overprint, 0=knock-out) (not available in QuarkXPress) |
Paragraph Shading
Paragraph Shading attributes below require InDesign (they exist as a text attribute in QuarkXPress 2017-2025) |
||
PBKCOLOR |
BKCOLOR(Pantone 231U) |
Paragraph Background color name (spelled exactly as obtained from scanning). |
PBKSH |
BKSH 35.5 |
Paragraph Background Shade (decimal 0 to 100) |
PBKOP |
BKOP 80.5 |
Paragraph Background Opacity (decimal 0 to 100) |
PBKTOP |
BKTOP 3.55 |
Paragraph Background Extent Top (decimal -2 to 99) |
PBKBOTTOM |
BKBOTTOM 3.55 |
Paragraph Background Extent Bottom (decimal -2 to 99) |
PBKLEFT |
BKLEFT 3.55 |
Paragraph Background Extent Left (decimal -2 to 99) |
PBKRIGHT |
BKRIGHT 3.55 |
Paragraph Background Extent Right (decimal -2 to 99) |
Paragraph Border
Paragraph Border attributes below require InDesign (they exist as a text attribute in QuarkXPress 2017-2025) |
||
PFRCOLOR |
FRCOLOR(Pantone 231U) |
Paragraph Frame color name (spelled exactly as obtained from scanning). |
PFRSH |
FRSH 35.5 |
Paragraph Frame Shade (decimal 0 to 100) |
PFROP |
FROP 80.5 |
Paragraph Frame Opacity (decimal 0 to 100) |
PFRWID |
FRWID 0.25 |
Paragraph Frame Thickness (decimal 0.1 to 44) |
PFRTT |
FRTT 0 |
Paragraph Frame Top Present (0 or 1=present) |
PFRBB |
FRBB 0 |
Paragraph Frame Bottom Present (0 or 1=present) |
PFRLL |
FRLL 1 |
Paragraph Frame Left Present (0 or 1=present) |
PFRRR |
FRRR 1 |
Paragraph Frame Right Present (0 or 1=present) |
PFRTOP |
FRTOP 0.0 |
Paragraph Frame Extent Top (decimal -2 to 99) |
PFRBOTTOM |
FRBOTTOM 0.0 |
Paragraph Frame Extent Bottom (decimal -2 to 99) |
PFRLEFT |
FRLEFT 1.5 |
Paragraph Frame Extent Left (decimal -2 to 99) |
PFRRIGHT |
FRRIGHT 1.5 |
Paragraph Frame Extent Right (decimal -2 to 99) |
The application of paragraph styles requires InDesign |
||
Keyword |
Example use |
Attribute Description |
STYPARA |
STYPARA(aParaStyleName) |
Applies the paragraph style or style sheet of aParaStyleName to the current paragraph. |
See also: differences between QuarkXPress and InDesign, native text formatting, native paragraph formatting, xpress tags formatting and the macro function FormatText.
Topic 183090, last updated on 24-Jan-2025
