Page layout comps, or saving/switching document layouts

Request new features or suggest modifications to existing features of Atlantis.
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the-silverware
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2017 9:51 am

Page layout comps, or saving/switching document layouts

Post by the-silverware »

More of an idea rather than a feature request, but it might make an interesting discussion topic.

Yesterday I ran into a problem: I had to send the same document to a self-publishing service and to a typography, but each had different specifications regarding page size and margins. This forced me to make a duplicate of the document and re-format it according to the different specs.

I thought: "That's so annoying. What if I decide to change something within the document in a later revision? If I find any errors in the text, I'll have to make the corrections to both copies for the reprints. Or change one and repeat the process of duplicating and reformatting the whole damn thing".

That led me to think it would be nice to have a chance to save different page layouts in a document and change them on the go. I could stick with a single master document to edit, then change the page formatting ONLY with a single click and export the proper version for a customer to review, then one for the typography, one for Amazon and so on. I could even try different page layouts for myself without making definitive changes to the document.

Photoshop has a similar function, it's called Layer Comps. It's a tool that saves the order and visibility of layers within a graphic file. All these parameters are saved in a layer comp with a name, then all layer comps appear in a list and the user can switch between them easily. It's used to present customers with multiple versions of a graphic document to choose from, or to export different versions of a file destined to different platforms, or to make variants of an illustration.

I would really enjoy having a similar tool in Atlantis. I could save page size, margins, orientation, styles, maybe even print specs in a separate file, then load it to instantly reformat my document, so that I can present print drafts with a different layout or export it to PDF format. WITHOUT ever making a redundant copy!

Photoshop has a built-in panel for Layer Comps. It would be nice to have your page layouts listed in the Control Board, but that would require adding a new panel. Also, the DOCX format does not support such a feature, however I guess Atlantis might do the same simply by saving the specs to an external file, like it does for the program settings. Atlantis already offers the chance to copy and paste page specs after all, so why could it not allow the user to save them?

Ok I'm done, tell me your thoughts, thank you ;)
Robert
Posts: 1890
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 8:27 pm

Post by Robert »

How about using templates? Then simple copy/paste?

First, create specific templates for Customer, Typographer, Amazon, etc., each with appropriate page settings (File | Save Special | Save As Template... command).

You can then use the “Create new document from template” button on the toolbars to create documents for Customer, Typography, Amazon, etc., each with appropriate page settings.

Now suppose that you have made changes to the “Customer” document, and you want to replicate these changes in your other similar documents, i.e. the “Typography” and “Amazon” documents.

Press Ctrl+A to copy the whole of your “Customer” source document (the one with changes to contents).

Open your “Typography” document, press Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+V. The contents of your “Customer” source document will be pasted into the “Typography” document with the page settings specific to that “Typography” document. In other words, the document targeted by the paste operation keeps its original page settings.

HTH.
Cheers,
Robert
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