Using an ePublisher Project as Stationery

Since 2026.1, a publishing job can name an ePublisher project as its origin instead of a Stationery file. ePublisher AutoMap then treats the project the way it treats Stationery: on every run it creates a fresh project from the formatting in the origin project, adds the source documents the job defines, applies the job's target overrides, and generates output. Nothing is written back to the origin project, and its own source documents are left out.

This removes a step from an automated publishing pipeline. Without it, every change a designer makes has to be saved as Stationery again before a scheduled job picks it up, and a design change that never reached the Stationery is a build that silently publishes the previous design. With it, the job reads the design project itself, so the next run always reflects the current design.

Choosing an Origin for a Job

A job takes its formatting from exactly one origin. Which origin you choose determines both what the job builds and where it builds it.

Stationery (.wxsp file)

ePublisher AutoMap creates a new project from the Stationery, adds the source documents the job defines, and generates output in the staging folder. This is the usual choice when a Stationery designer distributes Stationery for several jobs or several teams to share.

Project built in place (.wep or .wrp file)

ePublisher AutoMap builds the project itself, using the source documents and settings the project already contains, and writes output to the project's own Output folder. The job's own document list is not used. Choose this when the project is the deliverable and the job exists only to build it on a schedule. For more information, see Creating a Project-Based Job.

Project used as Stationery (.wep or .wrp file)

ePublisher AutoMap uses the project the same way it uses Stationery: it creates a new project from the project's formatting, adds the source documents the job defines, and generates output in the staging folder. The origin project is read, never built and never modified. Choose this when one maintained design project should drive several jobs, or when a scheduled or scripted build must always publish the current design.

The last two both name a project file. What separates them is which option you selected on the New Job window: Automate an existing project builds the project in place, and Create a new publishing job with a project selected uses it as Stationery. ePublisher AutoMap records the difference in the job file, so a job keeps behaving the way you created it however it is later run.

To base a publishing job on an ePublisher project

1. Start ePublisher AutoMap.

2. On the File menu, click New Job.

3. Select Create a new publishing job on the New Job window.

4. In the Choose ePublisher stationery or project field, type the path or click the Browse Folder icon to select the ePublisher project (a .wep or .wrp file) whose design you want the job to publish with, and then click OK.

5. Complete the rest of the job the same way you would for a Stationery-based job: name the job, define the groups and source documents to publish, and select and configure the targets to generate. For more information, see Creating a Stationery-Based Job.

What Comes from the Project and What Comes from the Job

The origin project supplies the design: its output formats, its targets and target settings, its styles, and any format and target overrides it carries. Everything specific to this publication comes from the job.

Note: The origin project's own source documents, document groups, and merge settings are not carried into the build. A job that names a project as its Stationery publishes only the documents the job itself defines, so a design project that holds sample documents for previewing does not leak those samples into the output.

Because the job stages a new project on every run, output lands in the staging folder rather than in the origin project's Output folder, exactly as it does for a Stationery-based job. For more information, see Staging Folder.

A design project that is used this way does not carry its own copy of the output format files, so the build resolves them from the ePublisher installation that runs the job. This means ePublisher Designer must be installed on the computer that runs a job whose origin is a project rather than a Stationery — Designer provides the format files the staged project resolves against. Keep the installation that runs your jobs at the same version and build as the one the design project is maintained in.