by David Nagel
Executive Producer
dnagel@digitalmedianet.com

WoodWing Software has released updates to three of its plugins for Adobe InDesign, including its beta XML export plugin. The updates fix bugs and also add to documentation.

Version 1.02 of Smart Styles solves a number of problems and has an improved manual and additional examples. The problem that prevented InDesign's drag and drop colors from working has been fixed, as has applying Smart Styles from a read-only library and some other minor problems, according to WoodWing. Smart Styles brings a styles palette to Adobe InDesign that can automatically format the content of any text box—headlines, bylines, body copy, captions, etc. Styles can also be saved to the palette by dragging a block of text onto it. (The block of text can contain multiple styles as well.)

Smart Layout has been updated to 1.01. The new version fixes problems related with the clipboard; inconsistencies with the behavior of master page items; problems with element tags that have accented characters; and the failure to set the first baseline of a Smart Layout. Smart Layout keeps all the elements of a story together, including graphics and separate text boxes, automatically. For example, when you draw the first text box, the plugin assumes it will be your body copy. The box will automatically wrap around any other elements on the page, and columns automatically adjust based on your layout.

Finally, Smart XML Export gets updated to version 1.0 beta 2. Smart XML Export generates XML to repurpose the content of InDesign documents (both text and images) for other media, such as the Web.

Smart Styles and Smart Layout sell for $94.95 and $359, respectively. For more information, visit http://www.woodwing.com.