An object is a QuarkXPress item (such as a text or picture box) to which you have assigned a name and an object type. If you don’t change a QuarkXPress item to an object, it simply becomes part of the background. There are 10 kinds of objects:

• Basic object: A QuarkXPress item (such as a picture box, text box, or line) or a group of items that has been named. Basic objects don’t really do anything special by themselves, but you can use actions to hide, show, or move them. Basic objects can also react to user events.
• Button object: An object that contains a multi-state button. You can create buttons using Button layouts.
• Animation object: An object that can move along a path, contain an image sequence, or contain an image sequence and move along a path. An image sequence is a series of images that you create using an Image Sequence layout (in an Interactive layout).
• Video object: A box that contains a movie.
• SWF object: A box that contains an imported SWF presentation.
• Text Box object: A rectangular box that contains text that the end user can select. A List object is a special kind of Text Box object that enables the end user to select each line as a separate item.
• Menu object: A box that lets an end user choose from a list of options. A Menu Bar object is a Menu object that displays as a horizontal list of menus. A Pop-Up Menu object is a Menu object that displays as a drop-down menu.
• Window object: An object that can be displayed and hidden in its own window, such as a dialog box or palette, rather than being constrained within the presentation’s window.
• Button group: A grouped set of On/Off buttons that acts as a group of radio buttons. When an end user turns on one of the buttons in a Button group, all of the group’s other buttons switch off.

Each type of object is designed to do something different, so the Object tab of the Interactive palette changes depending on what kind of object is selected.