When Quark introduced layouts within projects in version 6, one intent was to solve that age-old limitation of one page size per document. What was once a document, a single publication with a single page size, became a layout stored within a larger project file.

Today, a project file can contain multiple layouts for print and web, and the layouts share specifications such as colors, style sheets, and H&Js. This means you could finally store, say, a book jacket and its book in the same file — or all the contents for a single marketing campaign, from T-shirt art to bumper stickers. Sounds great, right? As initially implemented, the feature created mass confusion over file names and it was hard to retrofit legacy documents to work with it.

If you would like more information on this topic, check out Joe Capassaco's story in X-Ray Magazine v3n4: Layout Your Documents for a Successful Project

The way projects and layouts works is that the project file has one name and each layout can have its own name, but Quark seemed to forget that we all had a billion documents. When we opened documents in QuarkXPress 6 and they magically became projects, suddenly they all had two names: the project name and the file name, and the two names were the same, which was sort of fine until you tried to use collect for output, that really wanted a different name for the layout. If you used save as you ended up with a new project name but an old layout name. If you changed the name on the desktop, same thing: new project name, old layout name. Granted, you could change the layout name but, already confused and irritated, most of us just chose to ignore the whole layouts/projects thing entirely.

Another drawback to the project structure was that it was difficult to take advantage of if you worked with legacy files all day. It was just too hard to merge separate documents into a single project file. Who’s going to go to all the trouble to set up a new layout in a project file with exactly the right specifications, and then thumbnail drag the pages over to it?

The 7 Solution

QuarkXPress 7 attacks all the issues with projects and layouts, making them both easier to ignore and easier to use at the same time. You can now work in single-layout mode, append layouts, export layouts, and view different layouts within the same project. All these enhancements make projects and layouts much more flexible in a real-world workflow.

Go Back in Time with Single Layout Mode

If what you really wish is that layouts had never been born, you get your wish with QuarkXPress 7. When you create a new project, click new project > single layout mode (figure 1). The layout name field disappears and the project file behaves just like a good ol’ document file — one name, no tabs at the bottom, no confusion. If you want your old files to work this way, too, check quarkxpress > edit > preferences > project > general > project preferences > single layout mode. Again, this strips that layer of complexity out of your files.

One more thing to know about single layout mode — it’s nothing but cosmetic. Whether or not a project is in single layout mode, you can still use the layout > new and layout > duplicate commands to add more layouts. Presto, chango, and you’re out of single layout mode and into the future.

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