Chapter 4 of 13

The layout editor

The editor is where you create and change layouts. Open it with Edit Layouts… in the menu or with ⌃⌥` (Control-Option-backtick). It is a fixed-size window named Lattika Layouts, with the list of layouts on the left, the selected layout in the middle and an inspector on the right.

Every change is saved the moment you make it. There is no Save button and no Undo.

The list

Each layout shows a small picture, its name and a line with its zone count, the word default if it is the default layout, and the names of the displays it is assigned to. Click a layout to edit it.

The toolbar buttons on the left act on the list:

New Layout (+) opens the New Layout sheet.
Duplicate copies the selected layout and names it "… copy".
Delete removes the selected layout. Displays that used it fall back to the default layout. The last remaining layout cannot be deleted. Deleting cannot be undone.

Creating a layout

The New Layout sheet shows the templates first, then the presets suggested for your displays, then every preset group (chapter 3). Pick one. For a template, set the number of zones with the Zones stepper, from 1 to 9. Type a name, or leave the field empty to use the template's or preset's name. The picture on the right previews the result. Click Create.

A layout created from a template or preset remembers where it came from, so you can always get back to it with Reset to Default.

Grid layouts

A grid layout divides the screen into rows and columns. Each zone is a rectangle of one or more cells. Columns, Rows, Grid and Priority Grid make grid layouts, as do most presets.

Selecting. Click a zone to select it. Click more zones to add them to the selection. Click a selected zone to deselect it, or click the background to clear the selection.

Merge. Select two or more zones and click Merge. They become one zone. The zones must together form a rectangle with nothing else inside it. Two diagonal cells cannot be merged, and neither can an L shape. This is how a zone comes to span several cells, for example one tall zone on the left next to four small ones on the right.

Split. Select exactly one zone and click Split Vertically to get a left and a right half, or Split Horizontally to get a top and a bottom half. The new zone gets the next number. Other zones keep their shape: if the split line does not fall on an existing grid line, a new row or column is inserted under the hood and the other zones simply stretch across it.

Resizing. The lines between zones can be dragged. Move the pointer over the gap between two zones; it becomes a resize cursor. Drag to move the line. A line can go no closer than 10 % to either neighbour. Moving a line changes every zone along it.

Size labels. Each zone shows its number, the size in points a window would get on the reference display, and on larger zones that size as a percentage of the display. The footer names the reference display: Sizes shown for Studio Display, 2560 × 1415 pt. With several displays attached, a menu in the footer picks which one.

Canvas layouts

A canvas layout is a set of free rectangles that may overlap. Focus and Blank make canvas layouts, as do a few presets, such as Picture in Picture.

Add Zone adds a zone near the centre, a bit offset from the previous one.
Drag a zone to move it. Drag the white dot in its bottom-right corner to resize it. A zone can be no smaller than a few percent of the screen and stays inside it.
Click a zone to select it. Delete Selected, or the Delete key, removes the selected zones.

Zones on a canvas are drawn against a 16:9 reference and stretched to fit the display's usable area. Proportions are kept, not point sizes, so a canvas drawn as a square becomes a slightly wider rectangle on a 16:10 screen. The editor always shows the canvas at its reference shape.

When zones overlap, dropping a window where they overlap picks the smallest zone, so a small zone drawn on top of a large one stays reachable.

A grid layout cannot be turned into a canvas layout or the other way round. Reset to the Blank or Focus template to get a canvas, or to any other template to get a grid.

The inspector

The inspector is on the right. Hide or show it with the Inspector toolbar button.

Name.
Gaps. Spacing is the gap between neighbouring zones, 0 to 48 points. It applies to grid layouts only; on a canvas you place the zones yourself. Padding is the gap between the zones and the edges of the usable area, 0 to 48 points, for both kinds. Both default to 8.
Use on. One switch per attached display. Turn one on to make this display use the layout. Make Default makes this layout the one displays use when they have no assignment.
Kind and Created from, for information.

Preview on Screen

Turn on Preview on Screen in the toolbar to see the layout's zones on a real display while you edit. The footer menu chooses the display when there are several. The preview goes away when you close the editor or turn the button off.

Reset

The button at the right end of the tool row depends on the layout:

Reset to Default appears when the layout knows the template or preset it came from. It puts the zones back as they were created, keeping the name, spacing and padding.
Reset to Template appears otherwise. It is a menu of the templates and every preset group. Choosing one replaces the zones and remembers the choice for next time. A template keeps the current zone count.

If it does not work

Merge is greyed out. Fewer than two zones are selected.
Merge shows an error in the footer. The selected zones do not form a solid rectangle. Select the zones in between as well, or merge in two steps.
A divider will not move further. Dividers stop at 10 % from either neighbour. To make a very narrow zone, split a zone instead.
Delete is greyed out. Only one layout is left, or no layout is selected.
The zone sizes do not match a display. The sizes are for the reference display in the footer. Pick another display there.
The window cannot be resized. The editor has a fixed size on purpose so that every label fits its zone.