Quick start
Make your first design and export it in a few minutes. Each step links to a deeper page when you want more.
1. Sign in
Open the app and sign in with email and password, or with Google or GitHub, or create an account the same way. See Sign up and sign in. A personal workspace is set up for you automatically, and everything you make lives there.
2. Start a design
From the dashboard, pick a format tile near the top, business card, social post, presentation, video, or a custom size, or a quick tool just below for a common task. Clicking any of them opens the editor with a new design already at the right canvas size. See Product types and sizes for the full list of named types and their default sizes, the dashboard's tiles are a short list of the most common ones, everything else is one click away through Custom size or a template.
| Quick tool | Jumps to |
|---|---|
| AI design | The AI assistant, to generate a starting point from a description |
| Background removal | Cutting a subject out of a photo |
| Resize | Adapting a design to a different size |
| QR code | Generating a scannable QR code |
| Barcode | Generating a scannable barcode |
| Color palette | Building a color scheme |
Each quick tool opens straight into the editor with the relevant tool already active, they are shortcuts into the normal editor, not separate standalone utilities.
Picking Custom size
If you already know the exact pixels, millimeters, or inches you need, choose Custom size rather than the closest-looking tile. Type the width and height (from 50 up to 4096 pixels per side, or the equivalent in your chosen unit) and switch units with the selector next to the fields. See Product types and sizes for common social and print presets you can start from instead of measuring by hand.
3. Add your content
Use the left panel to add content, and the right panel to edit whatever is selected.
| To add | Use |
|---|---|
| Text | The text tab, or the text tool |
| Shapes | The shapes tab |
| Images | Upload your own, or search stock |
| Icons | The icons tab |
| An AI-generated image | The AI assistant, describe what you want in chat |
Drag to move, and use the handles to resize. See Canvas basics.
4. Bring in media
Upload your own images, or search built-in stock, from the media panel. Anything you add lands on the canvas. Your uploads are saved to your media library for reuse across every project, not just this one.
5. Let it save itself
You do not need to save manually. The editor autosaves as you work and keeps a rolling history of recent versions, so a mistake or a closed tab does not cost you progress. See Where your work lives and Version history.
6. Export the part you are on
Open the export dialog and choose a format such as PNG, JPG, or PDF. Export always applies to the current part, this page, frame, or slide, not the whole project. See Export a page and Supported formats.
One project, many parts
The design you just made is one part of a project. A project can hold many parts of different kinds, pages, scenes, slide decks, videos, and boards, side by side. Read Projects and parts to understand the model that everything else builds on.
Not sure where to start?
Open a template from the dashboard's template carousel, or the templates gallery, instead of a blank canvas. Using one as a starting point does not touch anything you already have.
7. Share it, or keep going
A finished part doesn't have to be exported to be useful. Share a link straight from the editor to hand it to someone else, with view-only guest access and no account required on their end. See Share and guest view. Since this design is one part of a larger project, you can keep adding more parts, another page, a video, a slide deck, without starting a new project.
Common tasks
Start from a template instead of a blank canvas. Open the dashboard's template carousel, or the full templates gallery, and click a template. It opens already populated with placeholder content and the right size for its type, replace the text and images rather than building from nothing.
Duplicate a design you already have. From the works hub or the dashboard's recent works, open the design's menu and duplicate it. This is the fastest way to make a variant of something you already finished, a second business card for a different team member, or a resized copy of a social post for another platform.
Resize an existing page. Reach for the Resize quick tool, or open the size controls from inside the editor once a page is open, to change a design's canvas dimensions without starting over. See Artboard sizes.
Add a second part to the same project. Once you have one page, frame, slide deck, or video, add another of any type from the page tabs bar along the bottom of the editor rather than starting a new project, a project is meant to hold a mix. See Projects and parts.
Troubleshooting
- Export is unavailable or grayed out. Make sure you are signed in and have not hit your plan's design or storage limit, exporting is blocked the same way creating a new design is once you're at the limit. See Plans and limits.
- Nothing happens when you try the AI design quick tool. The AI assistant needs a connected provider key before it can generate anything, there is no default key to fall back on. Connect one first in AI settings, then try again. See Bring your own AI key.
- You lost track of which project a design belongs to. Every page, scene, slide deck, video, and board you create from the dashboard or a quick tool becomes a part inside a project, check the works hub or use the command palette (Ctrl or Cmd and K) to search by name rather than scrolling.
- A change seems to have vanished. Autosave runs continuously, but if a save is refused because it looks like a collapse from your last good version, check version history rather than assuming the work is gone. See Where your work lives.
Where to go next
- Learn the canvas and tools in the Editor guide.
- Organize and find your work in the Workspace.
- Generate with AI in AI Studio.
- See what to expect on the free tier in Plans and limits.