An issue goes to print with a half-empty page, because nobody noticed that a text box had been left unfilled. The next issue has a column that no longer lines up with the one before it. Without a layout professional, a council newsletter can quickly start to look patchy from one issue to the next. This application enforces a page plan built from templates, directly in Omnifloo, so every page keeps the same structure from one issue to the next.
Who the application is for
For the communications team of a French local council that puts together its newsletter two to four times a year, without necessarily having a dedicated layout professional. Both the writer who fills in the blocks and the publication director who signs off the review and final approval have their own role in it.
What the application does
- Offers layout templates (mayor's word, opinion column, two columns, three short news items, full-page photo, events diary, civil registry) that fix their own grid of slots, each marked as required or optional.
- Shows the page plan, meaning every page of an issue in order, reordered by drag and drop, with page numbers that recalculate on their own.
- Manages typed content blocks (title, standfirst, body, image, text box, caption), each one confined to the slot that its page's template reserves for it.
- Moves an issue through a straight-line review process: draft, review, final sign-off, published.
- Refuses to move an issue to final sign-off if a page is left empty or a required block in the template is not filled in, naming the page and the block at fault.
- Exports the published issue as a PDF, page by page, in the order set by the page plan.
Day to day
- Create or reuse the templates the issue needs, with their slots and their fill-in requirements.
- Open a new issue, add its pages by choosing a template for each one, then reorder them in the page plan if needed.
- Fill in each page's blocks: text for the title, standfirst or body, an image dropped in as it is, or lines for the events diary or civil registry.
- Start the review once the pages are filled in, then move to sign-off: an empty page or a missing required block blocks the step, naming the page at fault.
- Publish the approved issue and export its PDF, page by page, to distribute it through your usual channels.
What the application does not do
- It is not professional layout software and it does not replace the work of a layout professional: a block's position always follows its slot in the template, never a free position on the page.
- It does not handle CMYK colour, bleed or colour profiles: for a printed run, the printer finalises the file from the PDF produced here.
- It does not retouch or crop images: they are placed in exactly as supplied.
- It does not offer an online submission space for council departments or residents, nor a tracking space for local associations.
- It does not automatically distribute the newsletter once published: the PDF is shared through the council's usual channels (website, printed copies, social media).
Getting started
List your newsletter's recurring sections (mayor's word, opinion column, events diary, civil registry) and build a template for each one, with its slots and which ones are required. Then prepare the text and images for the next issue before opening it in the page plan, since once final sign-off is given, the only way back sends the whole issue back to draft.
Going further
To find out whether this application suits your business and how to activate it, compare the plans or write to us.