Understanding Composition Zones
A Composition Zones item is a layout or user-defined area within a layout that can be shared with other QuarkXPress users.
Imagine a layout artist in charge of the QuarkXPress project files for a magazine. The layout artist can use Composition Zones to share content with writers, editors, graphic artists, and remote contributors who also use QuarkXPress.
Using QuarkXPress, the layout artist can “draw out” the area of the project for an ad using the Composition Zones tool and then export that Composition Zones item as a separate file. The resulting file includes the correct specs, and this approach saves steps when the remote ad creator receives the file. The ad creator works in QuarkXPress to add the content and then returns the file — along with necessary graphics and fonts — to the layout artist. The layout artist then places the updated file in the proper folder, and the layout is updated automatically to show the ad. And because the Composition Zones item works just like a QuarkXPress layout, the layout artist can open the file to make changes.
Meanwhile, the layout artist can designate another Composition Zones item for an article on the same page as the ad. The layout artist draws three boxes: One for the headline, one for the body of the article, and one for a picture. Using the Shift key to select all three boxes, the layout artist creates a new Composition Zones file from those three boxes, exports that file, and then notifies the writer that the file is available in the staff’s shared network folder. As the writer works with the file and saves each updated version, the updates display in the layout artist’s project. And like the advertisement, the article can be edited later in the project.
Top: The main layout artist exports parts of a project as Composition Zones, and then sends one file through e-mail to a remote ad designer and puts another file on a local networked server. Middle: The main layout artist, the reporter, and the ad designer all work on their parts of the page simultaneously. Bottom: The ad designer sends the completed ad to the main layout artist in an e-mail message, the page updates automatically, and the layout is done.
The scenario above shows the primary uses for Composition Zones, but the feature can accommodate other collaborative workflow issues as well. For example, Composition Zones can be restricted to the project where they are defined, which you might want to do for a number of reasons. Perhaps the layout artist wants to use an ad in more than one place in the project, and the ad might include multiple text and picture boxes. You cannot use the Shared Content palette to synchronize a group of items, but if the layout artist creates a Composition Zones item based on a selection of multiple items, that Composition Zones item becomes synchronized and available for use throughout the project. Maybe the layout artist designates one layout for the printed magazine and another layout in the same project for a Web page that includes the ad. The layout artist can restrict the use of this Composition Zones item to this single project, but the ad can match exactly in print and on the Web.