QuarkXPress 7: Use Composition Zones to Share Your Layout With Team Members

1. Open an existing layout or create a new one and save it as you normally would (this file will be referred to as the parent file as you move through the following steps).
2. Using either the Item or Content tool, select a text or picture box
3. Choose Item > Composition Zone > Create
   
   The words Layout 2 will appear on the item you selected. You have essentially split the layout into two: the main layout and the Composition Zone.

   Since the item is now a Composition Zone, you can’t edit the contents of the item directly on the page as you normally would. Instead, you will edit the Composition Zone in its own window.

   Next you will learn to edit the contents of a Composition Zone.

Internally Edit a Composition Zone

1. Select the item you used to create the Composition Zone and choose Item > Composition Zones > Edit

   The Composition Zone appears in its own window.

2. Make a change to the content.
3. Save your work and close the file.

Share a Composition Zone

1. Using either the Content or Item tool, click one time within the Composition Zone
2. Choose Item > Share

   The Shared Item Properties dialog box appears.

3. Change the Name as you see fit
4. Change the Availability to All Projects
5. Click Make External
6. Change the File name as you see fit (this file will be known as the child file)
7. Click Save and then click OK

Externally Edit a Composition Zone

1. Choose File > Open > Open
   and open the file from Step 6 above (the child file).

   The Composition Zone opens in its own layout, just like it did when you internally edited the zone. The difference now? The zone is open completely independent of the parent layout. If you had saved the zone to a network drive, anyone with access to the drive and QuarkXPress 7 could open and edit the zone.

2. Make changes to the Composition Zone
3. Save your work
4. Close the layout (File > Close)

   Next you will manually update the parent layout.

Update a Composition Zone

1. Open the parent file you created at the beginning of this lesson.

   Notice that the changes you made to the child file have not yet been updated in the parent file.

2. Choose Utilities > Usage

   The Usage dialog box appears.

3. Select Composition Zones from the list at the left

   Notice that the Status column indicates that the Composition Zone has been modified.

4. Click one time on the words Layout 2 to select the Composition Zone
5. Click Update

   Now the Composition Zone Status reads OK.

6. Click Done

   Notice that the Composition Zone in the parent layout has been updated.

You have just learned how to set up and share a Collaboration Zone so that team members can work on specific areas of your layout over a network. Then you learned to manually Update the shared portion of the layout so you received the updated region. Got it? Or are Composition Zones as clear as mud? Click here for an interactive demonstration that should clear things up for you.