Layout Designer
The Layout Designer rearranges a page. You move the boxes on the page itself, and the controls are in a panel beside it.
How It Opens
Section titled “How It Opens”Menu → File → Layout Designer panel opens the designer as a resizable right-hand panel, 360 pt at first and 300 pt minimum.
The designer starts from the page on screen.
Close discards the draft. Its hover text is Close the designer without saving.
✓ Approve saves the draft and puts the edited page on screen. Its hover text is Save the layout and leave edit mode.
The Panel
Section titled “The Panel”The header shows Editing: {name}.
A shipped page adds an amber line under it, Built-in layout · use Save As to clone it.
Three collapsing sections follow, all open at first.
- Layout — the file buttons and the panel’s drag instruction.
- Widgets — the canvas controls, the grid switch, the add buttons and the delete button.
- Properties — the selected box’s settings, or No viewer selected and Click a widget in the viewer to edit its properties.
In Layout the buttons are Save, Save As…, 🗄 Manage… and, on a custom page, 🗑 Delete.
Canvas aspect offers 16:9, 9:16 portrait, 4:3, 3:2, 21:9 ultrawide, 1:1 square, the display’s own shape as Screen ({w}:{h}) or a typed Ratio:.
Underneath it shows what it derived, as {w} × {h} output · layout scales to the window.
Adding a Tile and Choosing Its Scope
Section titled “Adding a Tile and Choosing Its Scope”The buttons are Add Clock, Add Clock Date, Add Studio Clock, Add Logo, Add External Audio Bars, Add Text and LTC Timecode. The hover of LTC Timecode shows Timecode read live from the LTC audio input set in Preferences › Timecode.
A new tile goes into the first row with room, and otherwise into a new row below.
Clocks are lettered from A upwards as you add them.
New text starts as TEXT.
To place a scope of another kind, copy a page that already has one and change the kind on the Scope row.
The Source: row has a measure a viewer checkbox and a value for the slot the scope measures.
It shows Not tied to a source — it draws its graticule only or Measures the picture on that Viewer #.
Every row a kind has is there. Working with Scopes explains them.
Moving, Sizing and Snapping
Section titled “Moving, Sizing and Snapping”Drag a box to move it, a corner or edge handle to resize it, and a title bar to select it.
Shift or Cmd with a click toggles a box into or out of the selection.
A drag moves exactly one box, however many are selected.
Snapping is always on, on both axes.
A box edge within a 2 % threshold of another box’s edge snaps to it. An edge in range outranks the grid.
The grid is 1%, 100 cells across, or 5%, 20 cells. Show Grid shows it, on by default.
Each box shows its own title strip: Clock, Clock Date, Studio Clock, Logo, Ext Audio, Text, LTC Timecode or Scope: {kind label}. A selected box is outlined in teal, and a dragged one in a thicker light blue.
Position: takes X: and Y: as percentages, and Size: takes Width: and Height:. Aspect lock’s hover shows Toggle aspect ratio lock, a (locked) marker shows it, and with the lock on the top and bottom handles disappear.
Saving
Section titled “Saving”Vector autosaves layouts.
Save asks for the save immediately, and the panel shows Saved layout ‘{name}’ or Error saving: {e}.
On a shipped page Save becomes Save As, pre-filled with {name} copy.
Save As… opens the same dialog with the current name, and 🗄 Manage… opens the layout manager.
Working with Layouts describes both.