Starting new jobs from presets in Layout by Zaweba

Presets take the guesswork out of starting a new document in Layout by Zaweba. A preset holds the settings a job starts with: size, margins, columns, bleed, facing pages, page count and units. Pick one and the new document arrives set up, rather than built field by field.

Presets by use

File > New offers presets grouped by use: print, web and mobile. That grouping matters, because the right starting point differs. A print job wants bleed and probably facing pages; a web or mobile piece doesn't need bleed at all and is better measured in pixels.

There's also a Last used list, which saves time when you make the same kind of document often. Yesterday's settings are right there.

Your own presets

My presets are presets you save yourself. They can be saved, deleted and exchanged as .zalp files. Exchanging is the useful part for a team: one person sets up the house formats for the newsletter, the A5 flyer and the annual report, saves them as .zalp files, and everyone else loads them. All new documents then start from the same settings.

Freelancers working for several clients can keep a preset per client, with that client's trim size, bleed and margins, so each new job starts right.

Saving a setup you already have

File > Save setup as a document preset turns the current document's setup into a preset. That's often the easiest way to make one. Set up a document, adjust it until the margins and columns feel right, then save its setup.

A preset holds the starting settings, not the content. For a starting point that includes styles, parent pages and placeholder frames, a template is the better choice. The two work well together: the preset for the bare setup, the template for a full house design.

Choosing what goes in a preset

Think about which settings never change for a type of job. Trim size, bleed, facing pages and units usually don't. Margins and columns often don't either. Page count varies more, so set a typical number and add or remove pages as you go.

Name presets by what they are for and their size, so the list stays readable as it grows.

Units deserve a moment's thought too. A preset carries its units into every document made from it, so a print preset measured in millimetres and a screen preset measured in pixels each start the job speaking the right language. Getting that right in the preset means nobody has to remember to change it on a busy morning when a job needs to start straight away.

Preset slips worth avoiding

Using a print preset for a screen job, or the other way round, leaves you with the wrong units and bleed. Pick from the right group.

Letting presets multiply without clearing old ones makes the list hard to use. Delete the ones you no longer need.

And check a preset someone else sent before relying on it. A .zalp from a colleague holds their idea of the job; check the bleed and margins against what the printer has asked for.

Five minutes setting up presets for the jobs you do regularly saves that time on every new document afterwards. Layout by Zaweba keeps them a click away in File > New.