# Getting started in the Gradiently Studio [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/studio-guide) The Studio is where designs are made. Here is what each panel does, how your Mark fits in, and a first design from blank page to export. ## The short version - The Gradiently Studio is the editor where designs are made, with every design wearing a Mark as its living background. - Its left rail holds the Designer, Templates, Resize, Styles, Text, Elements, Photos, Uploads, Layers, Brand and Tools. - A design can have several pages, each with its own size, and pages can play in turn in Present or as one video. - Versions are saved automatically as you edit and before the Designer changes anything, so earlier states can be restored. - Anyone can design with any Mark; exporting a design needs the Mark it wears to be yours. The **Gradiently Studio** is the editor where you make designs: posts, stories, slides, posters, headers and anything else with a size. It works like other canvas editors, with text, photos, shapes and layers, but with one difference at its heart. Every design wears a **Mark**, a living gradient and material background that is drawn for the page's exact size, moves, and makes room for your words. This guide tours the Studio in the order you are likely to need it. New to Marks? [What is a Gradiently Mark](https://gradiently.design/guide/what-is-a-mark) explains them in five minutes. Want the AI to do the first draft? See [working with the Designer](https://gradiently.design/guide/designer-ai-guide). ## Your first design in five steps 1. **Start from a template or a size** Open **Templates** and search for what you are making, such as *menu*, *launch* or *wedding*, or open **Resize** and pick a size. Templates for posts, stories, posters, menus and wallpapers are free to use. 2. **Swap in your Mark** A template arrives on its own Mark. Choose **Swap in my Mark** to put it on one of yours, or keep designing on the template's Mark and decide later. 3. **Write your words** Double-click any text to type. Headlines, subheadings, body text and captions come from the **Text** panel, in your brand fonts if you have set up a kit. 4. **Add a photo or your logo** Search the **Photos** panel, or drop your own files into **Uploads**. Your logos wait in the **Brand** panel. 5. **Export or share** Choose **Export** for PNG, JPEG, PDF, SVG, video or GIF, or **Share** for a view-only link. Exporting asks you to claim the Mark if it isn't yours yet. ## What each panel in the Studio does The rail on the left holds eleven panels. You won't need all of them for every design, but it helps to know where things live. | Panel | What it holds | | --- | --- | | Designer | Gradiently's AI: describe a design or a change and it does it on the canvas | | Templates | Layouts to start from, by Gradiently and by members, searchable and filterable | | Resize | Every common platform size, custom sizes, and copying a design to other sizes | | Styles | New colours, materials and type pairs drawn from your own Mark | | Text | Heading, subheading, body and caption styles | | Elements | Shapes, lines, photo frames, icons, tables and charts | | Photos | Photo search, with credits added when you place one | | Uploads | Your own images, logos and SVGs | | Layers | Everything on the page, top to bottom; drag to reorder, double-click to rename | | Brand | Your kit's logos, colours and fonts, ready to apply | | Tools | Extras such as charts, QR codes and drawing | The Studio's rail. A command search also finds any action, element, page, font or photo by name. If you can't find something, open the command search and type what you want. It finds actions, pages, fonts, Marks and photos, and can pass your words straight to the Designer. ## Working with your Mark in the Studio The Mark is the field behind everything. You can swap it for another at any time and the whole design changes with it. To adjust it, open **Mark mode**, which shows the same sections as the Forge. Before changing anything, it asks what you are changing. ### This design - Changes only how this design wears its Mark - Good for moving the light or arrangement for one post - Other designs on the Mark are untouched ### The Mark - Changes the Mark itself - Every design that wears it follows - Only possible on your own draft Marks; published Marks are fixed Around your words, the Mark reacts: its calmest part settles behind text and busy detail relaxes, with presets from Off to Bold. Set text to **Auto ink** and each line picks light or dark from the Mark's palette, whichever reads better on what is behind it. [Text on a gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-on-gradient) explains the principles behind both. An announcement template for a new menu on a template's own gradient Mark A template on the Mark it arrived with… The same announcement template with a different living gradient Mark behind it …and the same template with a different Mark swapped in. ## Text, photos and elements Text can be dressed with **Lettering** treatments: Contour, Inline, Cut, Extrude, Double, Trail, Riso and Halo. Use them for one or two display words, not paragraphs. [Text effects](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-effects) covers when they help. Photos can be cropped, flipped and tinted in the Mark's own colours. **Mono** turns a photo to one colour, **Duotone** maps its shadows and highlights to two of the Mark's colours, and **Wash** lays the Mark's colour over it. Duotone and Wash make a stock photo feel like it belongs to the design, which is why they are worth knowing; see [the duotone effect](https://gradiently.design/guide/duotone-effect). Elements include shapes from circles to blobs, lines and arrows, photo frames, icons, and tables you can paste a spreadsheet range into. ## Pages, sizes and presenting A design can hold several pages, which is how you make carousels, decks and multi-page documents. Add, duplicate, reorder and title pages from the page bar. Each page can have its own size and a length and transition, which play in **Present** and when all pages are exported as one video. - Instagram post: 1080 × 1350 - Story & Reel: 1080 × 1920 - LinkedIn post: 1200 × 1200 - Slide 16:9: 1920 × 1080 - A4 poster: 2480 × 3508 A few of the Studio's built-in sizes. Custom sizes can be typed in pixels, millimetres, centimetres or inches. **Resize** changes a page, all pages or the whole design in place, or makes copies at other sizes beside the original, each laid out again for its shape. That last option is covered in [one look, every size](https://gradiently.design/guide/one-look-every-size). ## Versions, comments and sharing - **Version history** keeps autosaved versions as you edit, one before every change the Designer makes, and any version you save by hand. Preview any of them and restore it; undo brings the design back. - **Comments** pin to the exact spot on a page they are about, as threads your team can resolve. - **Share** turns on a view-only link. People with it see the finished design and can download it; only you can edit. Turn it off and the link stops working. You can also send it by email to up to five people. - **Find and replace** searches the words on every page, which helps when a date or price changes across a whole carousel. When you are ready to publish, **Export** handles every format; [exporting images and loops](https://gradiently.design/guide/export-images-and-loops) goes through each option in detail. ## FAQ ### What is the Gradiently Studio? The Studio is Gradiently's design editor, where you make posts, stories, slides and posters on a Mark, a living gradient background drawn for each design's size. ### Can I use the Studio without claiming a Mark? Yes. Anyone can design with any Mark for free. Exporting a finished design needs the Mark it wears to be yours. ### Does the Studio keep earlier versions of my design? Yes. Versions are saved automatically as you edit and before the Designer changes anything, and you can save your own. Any of them can be restored. ### Can I make a carousel or a deck in the Studio? Yes. A design can have several pages, each with its own size, and pages can be presented or exported together as a PDF, a ZIP of images or one video. ### How do I share a design without letting people edit it? Turn on Share to get a view-only link. People with the link can see and download the design, but only you can edit it.