Quickesign Digital Signage

Multizone Layouts

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Split your screen into zones so weather, a clock, text and a slideshow can play side by side. This guide builds a complete multizone layout from a blank start.

What you’ll need

  • A Quickesign account on the Standard plan or higher. The Weather widget used in this guide needs the Pro plan.
  • A computer signed in to the dashboard at dashboard.quickesign.net.
  • A few images or videos for the slideshow (PNG, JPG, MP4, MOV, PDF or PowerPoint), or files already in your library.

Steps

  1. In the menu on the left, click Layouts, then click New layout.

    The Layouts page with the New layout button highlighted in the top right corner

  2. Enter a Layout name, set Layout type to Multizone and choose the Orientation that matches your screen. Leave Blank selected under Start from a template, then click Create layout.

    The New layout window with a layout name entered and Layout type set to Multizone

  3. The multizone layout editor opens with one slideshow zone, Slideshow 1. Click the zone on the canvas, then click Details above it.

    The multizone layout editor with the starting slideshow zone selected and its Details button highlighted

  4. In the slideshow window, open the Widgets tab and click Weather.

    The slideshow window with the Widgets tab open and the Weather widget highlighted

  5. Under Location, start typing your city, address or ZIP code and choose it from the suggestions. Change the Title, Style, Forecast, Temperature, Background, Text and Theme color if you like, then click Add to playlist.

    The Add Weather window with a location chosen and the style, forecast, temperature and color options below it

  6. Click Save slideshow, then Close. In the editor, the zone shows a weather placeholder; your screen shows the live forecast.

    The weather slide in the zone playlist, with the Save slideshow button highlighted

  7. Size and place the zone. Drag it on the canvas and drag a corner handle to resize it, or type exact values under Position & size in Zone properties. The values are pixels on a 1920 × 1080 screen.

    The weather zone on the canvas, with the Position and size fields highlighted in Zone properties

  8. Add a clock. Under Add a zone, click Date / Time and drag the new zone into place. In Zone properties, choose a Date / time format: Analog 1 to Analog 12 are clock faces, and the other formats show the time, the date or both as text.

    A Date / Time zone added to the canvas, with the Date / time format list set to an analog clock

  9. Add a background for your text. Under Add a zone, click Rectangle, place it where the text will go and choose a Fill color. Rectangles always play behind the other zones.

    A purple rectangle zone across the bottom of the canvas, with Rectangle highlighted under Add a zone

  10. Add your message. Under Add a zone, click Text and place the zone on the rectangle. Type your message in the Text box in Zone properties, then set the Text color, Font size and Font.

    A text zone placed on the purple rectangle, with the Text box highlighted in Zone properties

  11. Add a slideshow of your own images. Under Add a zone, click Slideshow, place the zone, then click Details. Drop files on Drop files here to add to your playlist, click Browse files, or click files on the Library tab. Each file is added to the Playlist. Click Save slideshow, then Close.

    The second slideshow window with three images in its playlist

  12. Click Save layout. Until you save, the editor shows Unsaved changes and your screens keep playing the last saved version.

    The finished layout in the editor with the Save layout button highlighted

  13. Click Preview to see the layout full size, the way your screen will show it. The preview opens in a new window; close it to return to the editor.

    The layout preview showing the weather, an analog clock, the welcome text and the image slideshow

  14. Add the layout to a screen’s playlist (see Adding Layouts to the Screen’s Playlist). Your screen picks up the layout at its next update.

    The finished multizone layout playing full screen on a Roku TV

Tip: The first slideshow is the Primary zone. When a screen plays more than one layout, the primary zone decides how long this layout stays on screen. See Primary Zone.

What’s next

Adding Layouts to the Screen’s Playlist: put your new layout on a screen.

More about each zone: Slideshow Zones, Text Zones, Date and Time Zones, Rectangle Zones and the Weather Widget.