Document information and File info in Layout by Zaweba
Document information in Layout by Zaweba lists fonts, links, colours, inks and print instructions, and File info puts author and copyright into PDFs.
Before a job leaves your hands, someone always asks the same questions. Which fonts does it use? How many pictures are linked? Is there a spot colour in there? Layout by Zaweba answers them in one place, Document information, and alongside it File info carries the author, subject, keywords and copyright into the files you export.
What Document information lists
Fonts used are listed, so you can see every typeface in the document at a glance. That is the first thing a print shop asks, and the list is also a quick way to spot a font you didn't mean to use, such as a stray default font left in an empty text frame.
Links are listed, giving an overview of the pictures and files the document depends on, which pairs with the detail in the Links panel.
Colours and inks are listed, showing which process and spot colours the document contains. That tells you how many plates the job needs and whether a spot colour has crept in by accident, which could add an unexpected ink to the print bill.
Print instructions can be recorded, so notes for the printer, such as the paper, finish or binding, stay with the document rather than in a separate email.
Why the overview matters
Most of these details are available elsewhere, in the Links panel, the Swatches panel or preflight. Document information brings them together for the moment you need to see the whole job: when quoting, when briefing a printer or when checking that a template from someone else is clean.
A designer taking over someone else's file can read the document information first and know what fonts to install, which pictures to find and which inks are in play before touching a page.
File info and the metadata in your exports
File info holds the author, subject, keywords and copyright. These go into the PDFs and EPUBs you export.
For PDFs, that means the document properties a reader sees in a PDF viewer show the right title and author, not a file name or nothing at all. Search engines and document management systems read this metadata as well, so a report published online is described properly.
For EPUBs, the metadata helps stores and libraries list the book correctly.
Copyright in the file info gives a clear statement of ownership travelling with every exported copy.
Accessible documents rely on this too. A tagged PDF meant for screen reader users should have a proper title, and File info is where it comes from.
Good habits with document information
Fill in File info at the start of a job, or put it in your templates, so it is never forgotten at export time.
Check the fonts list before packaging. If a font appears that shouldn't, use find and change to track it down and replace it.
Check the inks list before sending to press. One accidental spot colour can turn a four colour job into a five colour one.
Use print instructions for anything the printer needs that isn't obvious from the PDF.
Mistakes to avoid with document details
Leaving File info blank means PDFs go out with empty or meaningless properties.
Ignoring a surprise font or ink in the lists tends to come back as a question from the printer, or a problem on the press.
Relying on memory for printer notes means they get lost. Record them where the document can carry them.
Where it fits in a finishing routine
Document information is a natural pause before the last steps. Read it, fix anything unexpected, clear live preflight, and then package the job or run the exports. When the package report and the PDFs go out, they carry everything the person at the other end needs to know.
