Interface tour
A quick map of the two surfaces you work in: the editor for making, and the workspace for managing.
The editor
The editor fills the screen with a single canvas in the center and panels around it.
| Area | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Left panel | Tools and elements: selection and pen tools, the paint brush, shapes, text, icons, patterns, backgrounds, charts, and your media |
| Right panel | Properties and layers: the settings for whatever you select, with tabs for properties, layout, and the layers list |
| Bottom bar | Page tabs: each tab is a part of the project. Add, rename, reorder, and group parts here |
| Top bar | Project actions such as export, share, version history, and settings |
Only the part you are looking at is loaded onto the canvas, so large projects stay fast. See Canvas basics and Page tabs and groups.
Left panel sections
The left panel is a row of icon tabs, each opening a different flyout of content.
| Tab | Content |
|---|---|
| Templates | Ready-made starting points |
| Text | Text presets and styles |
| Background | Solid colors, gradients, and patterns (patterns are a drill-in inside this tab, not a tab of their own) |
| Icons | A searchable icon library |
| Items | Basic shapes and other insertable elements |
| Media | Uploads and stock photo search |
| Tools | Additional canvas tools |
| Charts | Insertable chart objects |
| Board | Whiteboard-specific tools, only relevant while a board part is open |
| AI | Opens the AI assistant |
| Settings | Editor-level settings, including the keyboard shortcuts editor |
Selection and pen tools, the paint brush, and the frame tool sit above these as standalone tool buttons rather than inside a flyout, since you reach for them constantly. See Keyboard shortcuts for the letter keys that jump straight to each one.
Alt plus a number
Alt and a number from 1 to 6 jumps straight to a left panel tab (Templates, Text, Background, Icons, Items, Media, in that order) without clicking. See Keyboard shortcuts.
The workspace
The workspace is a console with a sidebar.
| Group | Items |
|---|---|
| Home | Your dashboard |
| Workspace | Works, favorites, calendar, automations |
| Library | Media library, templates, brands, tags, learn and discover |
| AI | AI Studio, styles gallery, Marketing Studio, your avatar and product assets |
Settings, notifications, and billing are reached from your account menu rather than the sidebar itself, and a live storage-usage indicator sits at the bottom of the sidebar so you always know how close you are to your limit.
| Area | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Sidebar | The groups above, for navigating your whole workspace |
| Main area | Whatever you selected, with search, filters, and views |
| Command palette | Press Ctrl or Cmd and K to jump to any design, folder, or action |
Right panel tabs
| Tab | Content |
|---|---|
| Properties | Color, size, and other settings for the selected object |
| Layout | Alignment, spacing, and positioning controls |
| Layers | The stacking order of every object on the current part, with visibility and lock toggles |
Switching between them
Open a project or part from the workspace to edit it, and it opens in the editor. Save or export from the editor, and the result shows up in the workspace, an autosave lands there within moments, an export shows up as a download, and a shared design becomes reachable by its link.
Two surfaces, one project
The editor and the workspace are two views of the same work. You create in one and manage in the other, and neither one holds anything the other cannot see.
Step by step: finding your way around on your first day
- From the workspace sidebar, open Works to see everything you've made, or Home for a dashboard view with recent items and quick tools.
- Click any design to open it in the editor. Notice the bottom bar, each tab there is one part of the project, click a tab to switch parts instantly rather than reloading anything.
- Try the command palette: press Ctrl or Cmd and K from either surface, type a few letters of a design's name, and press enter to jump straight to it.
- Back in the editor, select an object on the canvas and watch the right panel change to show that object's properties. Switch to the right panel's Layers tab to see everything stacked on the current part, with visibility and lock toggles per object.
- Return to the workspace and open that same project's detail view from the works hub, you'll see it broken into its parts, how many pages, frames, slides, videos, and boards it holds, without opening the editor again.
Common tasks
Jump straight to a tool without the mouse. Use the letter-key shortcuts (V for select, H for hand/pan, T for text, R for shapes, and so on) while an infinite-canvas scene is focused, or Alt plus a number to open a specific left panel tab. See Keyboard shortcuts.
Toggle a panel out of the way. Triple-tap Alt to hide or show the left sidebar, or press Ctrl and Shift and L to toggle the layers panel, useful when you want the canvas as large as possible while checking a detail.
Search across your whole workspace, not just the current folder. Open the command palette (Ctrl or Cmd and K) from anywhere in the workspace, it searches actions, folders, and up to your fifty most relevant designs at once, rather than requiring you to browse into the right folder first.
Find one object inside a large project without opening every part. Use tags and search rather than visually scanning, since a tag can point at a specific frame, slide, or object and jump the editor straight to it. See Part-aware everything.
Troubleshooting
- A panel you expect to see is missing. Triple-tapping Alt toggles the left sidebar off, and Ctrl and Shift and L toggles the layers panel independently, either shortcut can be pressed accidentally while typing. Use the same shortcut again, or the panel's own icon, to bring it back.
- A letter-key shortcut does nothing. Letter-key tool shortcuts (V, H, F, T, P, L, R, and so on) are only active while an infinite-canvas scene is focused. On a regular page, use the left panel's icons instead. See Keyboard shortcuts.
- You can't find a top-level "Patterns" tab. Patterns are reached from inside the Background tab rather than as their own icon in the left panel rail.