# How does Gradiently work? From first design to owned Mark

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/how-gradiently-works)

Five stages take you from browsing to a background only your brand can use: find, design, claim, export and keep. Here is what happens at each one, with a worked example.

## The short version

- Gradiently works in five stages: find a Mark, design with it for free, claim it, export your designs and keep the Mark.
- You can design with any Mark nobody has claimed without paying, and try it on your real words before deciding.
- Claiming a Mark makes you its only owner, puts your name on its public record and gives you a numbered certificate.
- Only a Mark's owner can export designs made with it; free exports are 720p PNG or JPG with a small watermark, and Pro exports go up to 4K in every format.
- The first year of keeping a Mark is included, after which keeping is free with Pro or a yearly fee per Mark without it.

**How does Gradiently work?** You find a Mark, a living gradient and material background, in the Market. You design with it in the Studio for free, as long as nobody has claimed it. When you are sure it is right, you claim it, which makes you its only owner and lets you export. Then you keep it: the first year is included, and after that keeping is free with Pro or a yearly fee per Mark without it. That is the whole loop.

1. **Find** Browse or search the Market by name, colour words or code.
2. **Design** Put your own words on the Mark in the Studio, free, for as long as you like.
3. **Claim** Make it yours: one owner, a public record, a numbered certificate.
4. **Export** Download designs made with your Mark, at 720p free or up to 4K with Pro.
5. **Keep** Hold the Mark year after year, give it away, or list it for another brand to claim.

To make this concrete, follow one example through every stage: a small florist who wants their weekly posts to look like nobody else's on the high street.

## Stage 1: find a Mark in the Market

The [Market](/market) holds every Mark. Search works three ways: by name, by colour words such as "dusty rose" or "deep teal", or by code, which you can type without the dots and in any case. Filters narrow it by look. Save anything promising to your favourites so you can compare later.

Our florist searches "dusty rose", filters to softer looks and saves four Marks. If you are unsure what to look for, [how to pick the right Mark](https://gradiently.design/guide/pick-the-right-mark) and [searching Marks by colour](https://gradiently.design/guide/search-marks-by-colour) help narrow it down.

## Stage 2: design with it for free

Open any unclaimed Mark in the Studio and design with it as if it were yours. Start from a template, type your own words, add a photo, or ask the Designer to lay something out. The Mark renders live behind everything, at every size, and makes room for the words: its calmest region moves behind your text and Auto ink picks light or dark type line by line.

A portrait post announcing peonies are back for one week, on a soft rose gradient

The florist's weekly post on the first Mark they saved.

The same peony post on a different Mark, cooler and deeper in tone, for comparison

The same words on a second candidate. Trying both on real copy is the point of designing first.

On the free plan you can keep up to 3 designs, so this is the moment to test each candidate on a post, a story and something wide such as a header. The Mark that holds up across all three is usually the one. [Your first design in five minutes](https://gradiently.design/guide/first-design-in-five-minutes) walks through a first session.

## Stage 3: claim the Mark

Claiming is a one-time payment that makes you the Mark's owner. Three things happen at once: your name goes on the Mark's public record, you receive a numbered certificate of authenticity, and from then on only you can export designs made with it. Nobody else can claim it while you hold it. The steps are in [how to claim a Mark](https://gradiently.design/guide/how-to-claim-a-mark).

| Before claiming | After claiming |
| --- | --- |
| Anyone can design with the Mark | Others can no longer claim it while you hold it |
| No exports | Only you can export with it |
| No public owner | Your name on its public record |
| No certificate | A numbered certificate, such as `GRC-7K2M-9QXA-4TPW` |

What changes the moment you claim. The Mark's creator, Gradiently, never changes; its owner can.

> **Why the wait pays off** Because every Mark is checked against every other and anything too close is refused, the one you claim will not have a near twin on a competitor's feed.

## Stage 4: export your designs

Once the Mark is yours, every design made with it can be downloaded. What you get depends on your plan.

| Export | Free | Pro |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Resolution | 720p | Up to 4K |
| Watermark | Small watermark | None |
| Image formats | PNG, JPG | PNG, transparent PNG, JPG, SVG |
| Print | No | PDF and print PDF with bleed and crop marks |
| Motion | No | GIF, MP4 or WebM where the browser supports recording |

Export options by plan. On either plan, the design's Mark must be one you own.

The florist goes Pro, exports the peony post as a PNG for Instagram, a 1080×1920 story version and a print PDF with bleed for the shop window. Format choices are covered in [exporting images and loops](https://gradiently.design/guide/export-images-and-loops).

- Post 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350
- Story 1080×1920: 1080 × 1920
- A4 poster 2480×3508: 2480 × 3508

One design, three outputs: feed, story and a window poster at 300 dpi.

## Stage 5: keep it, give it or list it

The first year of keeping is included with the claim. After that, keeping is free if you have Pro, or a yearly fee per Mark without it. If a year goes unpaid there is a grace period, and after that the Mark returns to the Market for someone else to claim. Every design you already exported stays yours either way. Details are in [keeping a Mark](https://gradiently.design/guide/keeping-a-mark).

- **Keep it:** the usual path for a brand that has found its look.
- **Give it:** pass it to anyone on Gradiently for free. We email a code to confirm, they have a few days to accept, and the certificate moves into their name.
- **List it:** set a price on the Market. When a brand claims it, Stripe pays you and Gradiently keeps a fee. Payouts work in the EEA, UK, Switzerland, US and Canada.

Anyone can check a certificate number or Mark code at any time to see who holds it and the full history of owners, which is useful when a Mark changes hands.

## Where AI fits in the flow

You can do every design step by hand, or let the Designer help. Describe the post, and it asks what it needs, writes the words, lays the design out in your Mark and makes the other sizes. If you live in ChatGPT or Claude, you can connect Gradiently there instead and have your assistant search Marks and create designs that open in the Studio. Either way, claiming and exporting stay with you.

## FAQ

### Do I have to claim a Mark before I can design with it?

No. You can design with any Mark nobody has claimed, for free. Claiming is only needed to own it and export.

### Can I export a design without owning the Mark?

No. Only a Mark's owner can export designs made with it, on Free or Pro.

### What happens if I stop paying to keep a Mark?

There is a grace period, then the Mark returns to the Market. Designs you already exported remain yours.

### Is keeping a Mark included in Pro?

Yes. With Pro, every Mark you own is kept free. Without Pro, keeping is a yearly fee per Mark after the first year.

### Can I sell a Mark I no longer use?

Yes. List it on the Market at a price you set; when a brand claims it, Stripe pays you and Gradiently keeps a fee.