# Designs

import { TileDesignEditor } from "../../../src/mocks/TileDesignEditor";

**You'll need:** the `Designer` role for building designs, or `Design Contributor` to
fill templates someone else built.

**Studio → Designs.**

## Create a design

**Create a design** offers four starting points:

| | |
|---|---|
| **Blank design** | Start from an empty artboard at a size you choose. |
| **From template** | Fill a layout somebody has already approved. See [design templates](/guide/studio/design-templates). |
| **Generate with AI** | Start from a photo and a one-line brief ("post announcing our event") and the AI lays it out. |
| **Import from Figma** | Bring frames in from a Figma file. |

For a blank design you pick the size first: social formats, print sizes with their
dimensions and dpi, or your own.

## The canvas

The editor is a layer-based canvas. The panels on the left (**Elements**,
**Text**, **Media**, **Shapes**, **Icons**) add things, and selecting a layer opens its
properties on the right.

<figure className="gai-mock">
	<TileDesignEditor />
	<figcaption>
		A text layer is selected, so the right-hand panel shows its properties and the
		canvas shows its handles. Note <b>Shrink text to fit the box</b>: the size above it
		is a ceiling rather than a fixed setting, which is what stops a long headline from
		breaking a layout.
	</figcaption>
</figure>

A few things to know early:

- **Double-click a picture slot** on the canvas to choose an image, from your library or
  by generating one.
- **Paste a screenshot** straight onto the canvas; it uploads itself.
- **Ctrl+K** opens the command palette: search every command and shortcut, or ask the AI
  for something in plain language.
- **Drag off a ruler** to add a guide; drag a guide off the artboard to delete it.
- **Ctrl+S** saves; the editor also saves on its own and shows **Saved** when it has.

The right-click menu carries the arrangement commands: bring to front, send backward,
group, ungroup, duplicate, lock.

## Text

Text layers work as they do in any design tool, with two behaviors worth calling out:

**Fit to box.** The font size you set is a *maximum*. Text shrinks to fit its box rather
than overflowing, so a template stays intact when someone types a longer headline than
you designed for.

**Lock to ALL CAPS** (Ctrl+Shift+K) renders a layer in capitals without changing what is
typed, so the text stays readable and editable underneath.

## Photos in frames

A photo dropped into a shaped frame fills it. **Position photo in frame** lets you drag
the picture inside its frame and zoom, so you choose the crop rather than accepting the
default.

**Contain** shows the whole picture and turns cropping off. **Cover** fills the frame
and crops. If the reposition control reports that the photo already fits exactly, switch
to Cover and zoom in to choose what shows.

## AI in the editor

| | |
|---|---|
| **Generate an image** | Describe a picture; it is generated at the page's proportions and lands ready to place. |
| **Magic eraser & fill** | Paint over something and either remove it or describe what should replace it. |
| **Suggest text layers** | The AI proposes headline and body copy for the design. |
| **Extract layers from a picture** | Point at a finished graphic made elsewhere and get its texts, overlays and picture slots back as editable layers. |
| **Translate design** | Rewrites every text layer in another language, keeping tone and fitting the same boxes. One undo reverts it. |
| **Generate variations** | Four alternates to compare, each on its own page. |

Each of these spends credits.

## Multiple pages

A design can have several pages: a carousel, a set of sizes, a small campaign. The
**Pages** panel adds, renames, reorders and duplicates them. Click a thumbnail to open a
page, and double-click to rename it.

**Resize** changes the design's dimensions, or creates a resized copy so the original is
preserved.

## Apply your brand

**Apply brand kit** recolors and re-fonts a design to your [Brand
Identity](/guide/studio/brand-identity). Two methods are available:

- **Palette rules**: instant and free. Darkest color to text, lightest to background.
- **AI restyle**: weighs contrast and hierarchy against the actual artwork. Costs
  credits, one pass per page.

You choose the scope (this page, all pages, or the current selection) and what to
change: text, shapes, background.

## Version history

Every save adds a version. **Version history** lists them, and restoring one saves the
current state as a version first, so nothing is lost either way.

## Export a design

**Export** offers PNG (best for sharing), JPG (small), SVG (vector, scalable) and PDF
(print and documents), with a size and resolution choice and an optional transparent
background. A multi-page design can export all pages or just the current one.

You can also **publish to social** directly from the editor: write a caption, pick the
account, post or schedule. See [social posts](/guide/automation/social-posts).