Adobe has released CSS Regions on Adobe Labs. CSS Regions are a prototype that allows designers to build sophisticated, magazine-style layouts on the Web.

Previously, intricate print-style layouts seen in magazines, newspapers and textbooks could not be duplicated in website form, according to Paul Gubbay, vice president of Engineering, Design & Web at Adobe. CSS Regions are a proposed addition from Adobe to the CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) Web standard, which is at the core of website formatting. Adobe first proposed CSS Regions in March to the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and the CSS Working Group.

"Initially we are working to bring CSS Regions to Webkit, because we would like to see the open Web platform offer even more sophisticated document layout features than today," says Gubbay. "Adobe engineers have developed a prototype implementation of CSS Regions in a customized version of WebKit, now available on Adobe Labs for developers to experiment with. Also live are several samples showing CSS Regions in action. Developers can access the prototype and get more information at http://www.adobe.com/go/cssregions."

The broader umbrella of the Open Web Platform (HTML5, CSS3 and SVG, among other components) is an evolving set of specifications that Adobe has been been actively involved in.

"With CSS Regions, we are continuing the commitment to actively improve and contribute to Web standards and work with the community to develop the best solutions," says Gubbay. "On the heels of the enhanced support for HTML5, JQuery, Webkit and PhoneGap in CS5.5, we are continuing to adapt to a rapidly changing technological landscape and invest engineering resources in both Flash and the Open Web Platform. 

You can see the CSS Regions prototype live at Adobe Labs: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/cssregions/ .