A Composition Zones item is a layout or user-defined area within a layout that can be shared with other QuarkXPress users.
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.
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.
Job Jackets serve two main purposes:
- To allow a job definer to create detailed specifications for Print and Web layouts.
- To allow a layout artist to create projects and layouts from those specifications, share the specifications with other layout artists, and verify that a layout follows its specifications.
Job Jackets were created because producing a layout and successfully sending it to output can be a complex task.Large and complex print jobs provide even more opportunities for error, and the cost of such errors becomes much greater. Job Jackets prevent unprintable or incorrectly constructed jobs from being constructed in the first place.