Portable mode and per user fonts in Layout by Zaweba

Portable mode and per user fonts solve two small but real problems in Layout by Zaweba: keeping your settings with the program rather than on one computer, and using fonts that you installed for yourself without needing an administrator.

Portable mode

Put an empty file called portable.txt beside the exe or the launcher, and Layout keeps its settings in a Zaweba data folder there instead of in the usual place for your Windows account. The program and its settings then sit together.

That suits a few situations. If you carry the program on a removable drive between a home computer and a work one, your preferences, shortcuts and workspaces come with it. If you want to try a different set of settings without touching your main ones, a second portable copy keeps them apart. And if you keep everything for a project in one folder for archiving, the settings can live there too.

The file needs to be empty and named exactly portable.txt. Remove it and the app goes back to the normal settings location.

It's worth deciding early which way you want to work. Settings built up in one place over months, such as a carefully arranged workspace or a personal shortcut set, are a nuisance to recreate, so pick portable or normal before you invest much time in either.

Fonts installed for this user only

Windows can install fonts for all users or for just your own account. Fonts installed for this user only are found by Layout. That's useful on a work machine where you can't install fonts for everyone, or simply because that's how Windows installed the font when you double clicked it.

Fonts installed while Layout runs are picked up too. Choose Type > Look for new fonts and the new ones appear without restarting. If a client sends a font halfway through a job, install it and look for new fonts, and the text that needs it can be set straight away.

Fonts and missing font warnings

Live preflight in Layout by Zaweba points out missing fonts as you work. If you open a document on another computer and preflight complains about fonts, the fonts may simply not be installed there. Install them, look for new fonts, and the warnings should clear.

A portable copy doesn't carry fonts with it. Fonts belong to Windows, so on each computer the fonts a document uses need to be installed. When you hand a job to someone else, packaging the document gathers its fonts along with its pictures, which is the safer way to move a job.

Portable mode slips

Running a portable copy and a normal copy on the same machine means two separate sets of settings. If a shortcut or workspace seems to have disappeared, check which copy you opened.

Make sure the folder holding the portable copy can be written to. Settings can only be kept where the program is allowed to save files.

And back up the portable folder like any other important folder. If the drive is lost, so are the settings on it.

Neither feature is something you'll think about every day. When you need them, they make Layout by Zaweba fit the way you actually work and the computer you have.