Threading text between frames in Layout by Zaweba

Threading is how a story runs from one text frame to the next. When the first frame fills, the text carries on in the second, then the third, wherever they sit in the document. Layout by Zaweba threads frames through in and out ports, and gives the loaded text cursor several ways to flow text quickly.

In and out ports

Every text frame has an in port, where text arrives from a previous frame, and an out port, where it leaves for the next. Linking an out port to another frame's in port is what makes a thread.

Click an out port and the cursor becomes loaded with the remaining text. Then decide where it goes.

Ways to place loaded text

Click to fill a column. The text flows into a new frame filling the column you click in.

Drag to draw. Draw a frame of exactly the size you want and the text flows into it.

Alt-click for semi-automatic. The text flows into one frame and the cursor stays loaded, so you can click the next column or page straight away. It's the method for placing a story across several frames you choose one by one.

Shift-click for automatic. The text flows into frames on page after page, adding pages until it all fits. This is the quick way to place a long text such as a chapter.

Shift+Alt-click fills only the pages already there, without adding new ones. Use it when the page count is fixed, as in a magazine with a set number of pages for a feature, and you want to see how much text doesn't fit.

Threading in real jobs

A magazine feature might start on a spread with a two column frame, continue on the next page, and jump to the back of the magazine. Threading carries the text through, and edits early in the story push text along through every frame.

A book is better served by a primary text frame and smart text reflow. Threading by hand suits layouts where frames are placed individually.

A newsletter is a good middle case. The lead story might start on the front page in a single wide frame, then continue inside in a narrower column beside the pictures. Alt-click lets you place it frame by frame exactly where the design wants it, and if the editor trims a paragraph later, the text simply pulls back through the same frames. Next and previous page number fields can then give the reader a continued line that stays right however the pages move.

Threading mistakes in long stories

Leaving text overset at the end is the most common. Live preflight flags overset text as you work, so pay attention to that warning.

Deleting a frame in the middle of a story changes the thread, so check how the text runs afterwards rather than assuming it went where you expected.

Using automatic flow when the page count is fixed adds pages you didn't want. Shift+Alt-click fills only existing pages.

Threading frames in an order that doesn't match reading order confuses readers and anyone editing later. Plan the path before threading.

Once the cursor options become second nature, placing a story in Layout by Zaweba takes a few clicks, however many pages it covers.