Regions
- 2 minutes to read
Sometimes you may want users to edit a product only in a certain region. For example, if the product is an inner side of a greeting card, you may need to limit the editable area to the correct part, where a user should add their greeting and/or message. However, the print-ready output needs to include the entire spread, including the left side, which may have some decoration or logo.
Another example is plastic cards, such as loyalty or credit cards. These cards have a black magnetic strip, and design elements should not intersect it.
To implement this scenario, you can limit editable areas with a region.
Toggling a region on and off
Select a layer, and a Region toggle button will appear in the right panel. By switching it on and off, you can enable and disable the region on the layer.
Changing region size
When a region is turned on, its size equals the page size. However, you can change the default height and width or set a new position.
Manipulating items in regions
In the Template Editor, you can freely move items from the region when creating your designs. The items will snap to the region bounds while moving over them. In this case, you only add design elements to a product and specify a region where users can add their elements.
When the end-user manipulates these items in the Design Editor, these manipulations will be possible only inside this area.
Note
To open the Design Editor from the Template Editor to see how the region will work for the end-users, save your changes and click the Test button.
Adjusting region settings in Template Editor
When you edit a design in the Template Editor, you may want to configure how you interact with the region. Note that all settings described below are applied inside the Template Editor only and don't affect the end user's experience.
To hide the region bounds in the Template editor, you can clear the Regions checkbox in the Zoom menu command (or press the Ctrl+Shift+; hotkey).
You can also enable and disable snapping to region bounds using the Snap to > Regions in the Zoom menu.
It is also possible to fine tune the visual style of region borders and define how design elements will snap to regions in the Template Editor in the Settings.
Click the gear icon to open the Settings window. In the Grid and Snaps section, scroll to Region in the list.
To enable snap to region, scroll down this list.
The parameters set through this window are saved within the design and are restored when it is opened again.
Now, let's go further and learn how you can manipulate design elements in the Template Editor.