Composition Zones Continued
Page 5

Location

Location determines who can edit a composition layout. If you make a composition layout internal, only you can edit it. If you make a composition zone external, you export the composition layout into a new, separate project, which you can then give to somebody else to edit (see figures 10, 11, and 12).

Figure 10 A composition layout designated as this project only. Only layouts in Project 1 can place composition zones based on Composition Layout 1.

Figure 11 An internal all projects composition layout. Project 2 has linked to Project 1, and Composition Layout 1 is a linked layout for Project 2.

Figure 12 An external composition layout designated as all projects. The owner of Project 1 drew Composition Zone 1 and exported it as Project 2. Later, the owner of Project 3 linked to Project 2 and placed a composition zone based on Composition Layout 1.

Placing a Composition Zone

To place a composition zone in a layout, just drag it from the shared content palette onto the page. The content of the corresponding composition layout displays automatically in the composition zone, and are updated whenever its composition layout is updated (assuming the composition layout is where your copy of QuarkXPress can find it).

A composition zone always displays with a blue shading when selected, regardless of how it was created, and regardless of whether you drew it, converted it, or placed it in your layout by dragging it from the shared content palette.

Composition Zones Designated as This Project Only

Why would you choose to make a composition available only in the project where it was created? Let’s assume that Nancy decides to run an urgent promotion, based on the fact that their newspaper delivery boy has gone off to college in the city and Eric is getting grouchy from crawling out of bed at four in the morning to deliver the papers himself. Nancy wants her ad for a newspaper carrier to run on every page in the paper, but she doesn't want to do it with a master page, because (a) if she uses master pages, the ad has to be in the same place on every page, and (b) if you’re a layout purist, putting an ad on a master page is just poor form.

So what does she do? Well, you’ve probably guessed that she uses a composition zone. She starts out by drawing a box that’s the right size, then converts it to a composition zone using item > composition zone > create. Now she’s ready to actually create the ad. To do so, she right clicks on the composition zone and chooses edit.

When she does this, a funny thing happens: a new window opens, containing a small layout the size and shape of the box she just drew (see figure 13). This is the composition layout for the composition zone she just drew.

Figure 13 When you right click or control click on an internal composition zone and choose edit, you can edit the composition layout in a new window.

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