Using the Template / Attract Screen editor
Templates and Attract Screens use the same online editor, which is described here. But first, some quick tidbits if you're stuck:
Is a layer underneath / on top of something it shouldn't be? In the left pane, find which layer you want to move over top / underneath, and then click the up/down arrows on the right-side of the layer.
Don't use a mobile phone to edit. The editor needs the screen size of an iPad or a computer. We recommend Chrome as your browser if you're on the computer (but other browsers work too).
On an iPad? Use the zoom buttons to zoom (below in photo: see #4). If you're using a touchscreen device then pinching will scale & rotate the layer on top of the canvas if there is one, or zoom the canvas in/out if there is not. Once you have layers on the canvas, use the zoom +/- buttons to zoom in and out. If you're using a computer with a trackpad or mouse you can use the zoom gesture you're used to while hovering over the canvas. There are also zoom in/out buttons just above the canvas if you find them easier.
Can't find the canvas? Zoomed in/out too far and can't see anything? Once you see "All changes are saved" at the top, you can simply reload the page: this resets the zoom back to the default.
Having trouble dragging a layer that's behind another? Try dragging a part of the layer that's not obscured by any other layer. If the layer is entirely obscured, either manually adjust its x/y/width/height using the text boxes, or temporarily move it up to the top while you are changing its position.
We'll start with the canvas area on the right side first:
(1) The save indicator. Saving happens automatically when you stop making changes for a moment. If the save indicator says you have unsaved changes, do not leave the page.
(2) For templates this shows the design/scenes switcher. For attract screens this shows the background/foreground switcher.
For templates:
- Layers is where you add photo areas (where the iPad will insert a photo) and images (that you upload from your device).
- Scenes is where you add scenes that the iPad will use when this template is in use. Scenes are backgrounds for guest photos, which we call SceneSelect: if your iPad supports Face ID, then guests will see a choice of all of the scenes you have uploaded & can choose the background of their photo. The photo they create still gets inserted into the template in the usual way.
For attract screens (iPad screen savers):
- Background Layers is where you turn live-view on/off, add a video, and set the background color. Videos must be in MP4 or MOV format and play on the iPad, with a size of at most 50MB. If your video is larger we recommend resizing it down to the screen size of the iPad (you can see iPad pixel sizes for your model when you create a new attract screen), which will cause its size to become much smaller.
- Foreground Layers is where you add images (that you upload from your device).
(3) The undo / redo buttons. If you make a mistake or something looks odd, you can undo to go back, or change your mind and redo.
(4) The zoom buttons
(5) The canvas. Layers you select in the left pane will appear selected in the canvas. When a layer is selected, you can move it by dragging it with your finger (touchscreens) or your mouse/trackpad (computer).
(6) The left pane, currently showing layers. More on this below.
In the left pane, we show layers. If a layer is higher up in the list, that means it is more on top; if a layer is lower down on the list, that means it is more on the bottom, so other layers will be overlapping/on top of it.
(1) Duplicate and Delete buttons. If you need another photo area exactly the same size as an existing one, you can duplicate the existing one to save time.
(2) An unselected image layer. The long filename is showing as truncated - if you're on a computer you can hover over the filename to see the full filename in the tooltip, as shown in (4)
(3) An unselected photo area layer
(4) A selected image layer. If you prefer not to move layers by dragging, you can set their attributes directly by selecting the layer and changing the values in the boxes:
- x controls left/right, y controls up/down
- degrees (top-right box) controls rotation
- w controls width, h controls height
- alpha means how transparent the image is: 0 means invisible (fully transparent), 100 means opaque (no transparency)
(5) Buttons to create photo area and image layers
Photo area layers have an order, which the iPad uses to determine which photo goes in which photo area. Lower-numbered orders are filled first. You can use the same order number on multiple photo area layers, which allows you to set up mirroring in your template (having the same photo side-by-side). This is useful for designing templates for strip-cut printers (printers that cut the paper in half), because you can design symmetrical templates that put the same photos in on each side of the cut.
In the diagram above you can see the photo area selected, exposing the order box. If you change the order to an existing number (for example: change it to 1 here), then the same photo will be used multiple times.