Design reference

Shortcuts, canvas dimensions and practical craft notes — the things worth keeping within reach while you design.

Shortcuts Social sizes Print sizes Design tips

Keyboard shortcut reference

Everything the editor listens for. ⌘ on macOS, Ctrl elsewhere.

Essentials

Ctrl / ⌘ + Z: Undo
Ctrl / ⌘ + Shift + Z: Redo
Ctrl / ⌘ + D: Duplicate selection
Ctrl / ⌘ + C / V: Copy / paste
Delete / Backspace: Delete selection
Esc: Deselect

Arrange

Arrow keys: Nudge by 1 px
Shift + Arrow keys: Nudge by 10 px
Ctrl / ⌘ + ]: Bring forward
Ctrl / ⌘ + Shift + ]: Bring to front
Ctrl / ⌘ + [: Send backward
Ctrl / ⌘ + Shift + [: Send to back

Canvas

Ctrl / ⌘ + S: Force a save (autosave already runs)
Ctrl / ⌘ + Scroll: Zoom the canvas
Space + drag: Pan the canvas
Ctrl / ⌘ + E: Open export options

Print size reference

Physical dimensions with the pixel canvas you need for a crisp print.

Format	Physical size	Canvas
A3	297 × 420 mm	3508 × 4961 px @ 300 DPI
A4	210 × 297 mm	2480 × 3508 px @ 300 DPI
A5	148 × 210 mm	1748 × 2480 px @ 300 DPI
US Letter	8.5 × 11 in	2550 × 3300 px @ 300 DPI
Business card	85 × 55 mm	1004 × 650 px @ 300 DPI
Postcard	148 × 105 mm	1748 × 1240 px @ 300 DPI
Flyer (DL)	99 × 210 mm	1169 × 2480 px @ 300 DPI
Poster (A2)	420 × 594 mm	4961 × 7016 px @ 300 DPI
Roll-up banner	850 × 2000 mm	2551 × 6000 px @ 150 DPI

Add 3 mm of bleed on every edge for anything trimmed by a commercial printer.

Design tips library

Short, opinionated rules that lift almost any layout.

Pick two typefaces, not five

One display face for headlines, one neutral face for everything else. Contrast comes from weight and size, not from adding more fonts.

Respect the safe margin

Keep essential text at least 5% of the canvas width away from every edge. Stories and printed pieces crop far more than you expect.

Limit yourself to three colours

A dominant colour, a supporting neutral and one accent. Use the harmony generator in the colour panel to build the set from a single hue.

Check contrast before you ship

Body copy should clear a 4.5:1 contrast ratio against its background. The colour panel shows the live ratio and verdict as you pick.

Align to something

Every element should line up with another element or a grid line. Ambiguous alignment is the fastest way for a layout to read as amateur.

Give text room to breathe

Line height around 1.3–1.5 for paragraphs, tighter for large headlines. Add letter spacing to uppercase text, never to lowercase body copy.

One focal point per design

Decide what the viewer should see first, then make everything else visibly quieter in size, weight or colour.

Export at the size you need

Screen work exports fine at 1×–2×. For anything printed, aim for 300 DPI at the final physical size.

Ready to design?

Open the studio and start from a blank canvas or a template.

Open the editor