Signal & ScienceAcademy

Course 7 · Lesson 6 of 7

Refine in the design editor

Use the design editor to fix text, color, and layer placement on a direction that is right in concept, then save the finished asset.

Lesson 6 of 7 in Create Work That Fits the Strategy
  1. 1Move from a plan task to Create
  2. 2Start a New Asset Run and understand the cost boundary
  3. 3Review concepts before rendering visuals
  4. 4Use brand voice, typography, logos, and reusable assets
  5. 5Review, vote, reject, and explain a creative direction
  6. 6Refine in the design editor
  7. 7Save, keep the content-task connection, and ship

Why this matters

Generation gets most of an asset right; the last stretch is craft. A headline three words too long, a logo sitting low, a color that is almost the brand swatch: each is small, and each tells a customer the work was not checked. The design editor closes that gap on real layers with real fonts, without starting over. It is also where human judgment gets the final word on exactly what the asset says before it goes out under the business's name.

When to use it

When a direction is right in concept but wrong in detail. If the concept is wrong, pass on it with a reason instead (Review, vote, reject, and explain a creative direction). Do not polish what you should reject.

Before you start

  • A rendered image you intend to use, ideally already marked "Liked".
  • A saved Brand Kit, so your brand colors, fonts, logos, and brand assets are available in the editor.
  • Final copy you have checked, including any claim you verified at the concept stage.

Do this

  1. 1Open the run, click the image to open its detail view, and choose "Edit image" (the pencil). Images from the current image workflow open in the layer editor; older images open a simpler editor where you click a highlighted area and choose an action such as "Edit the Text Yourself" or "Move or Resize Logo".
  2. 2Fix the words first. Select a text layer to change its copy, "Font" (your fonts, Google Fonts, or built-in), size, style, and "Align".
  3. 3Set color from the swatches, which include your brand colors, rather than by eye. "Save colour" keeps an extra color for later edits.
  4. 4Place logo and image layers: drag to move, use the corner handle to resize, and add pieces from "Brand assets". In "Layers", the top of the list sits on top of the picture; use the up and down arrows to change the order.
  5. 5Click "Save" to bake the layers into the finished image; the layers stay editable for later. "Save layers only" keeps your work without changing the finished image.
  6. 6Use "Download" for the file, "Duplicate" to open a copy as a variant, and "Reset" to return the layers to the generated layout (it takes effect when you save). "Back to the run" returns to the asset run.

What you should see

After "Save", the notice "Saved. The finished image has been updated." and the new version in the run. After "Reset", a notice that the layers were reset and need saving. A duplicate opens as its own image in the editor, leaving the original untouched.

How to judge it

The saved asset matches the brand and the plan task's objective at a glance and at full size, and the headline says only what you can support. If you have to explain what is off, keep editing.

What it does not mean

  • The editor refines a direction; it does not invent a new one. A weak concept should be passed, not rebuilt layer by layer.
  • "Saved" is not "published". Saving updates the finished file; getting it onto the channel is covered in Save, keep the content-task connection, and ship.

Try it in Signal & Science

Open your chosen direction in the design editor, refine it, and save the finished asset.

Open in Signal & Science

Put it to work

Know what to do next.Know whether it worked.

Signal & Science keeps the evidence, the plan, and the results in one place, so each lesson here becomes a working habit in your own workspace.

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