# Using the Designer

Section: Ticket Design · Page: https://artsvp.com/docs/ticket-design/using-the-designer

(Plans: Expert)

The designer is a full-screen editor with a live preview: controls on the left,
the surface you are designing on the right, and every change painted the moment
you make it. It opens from **Settings** → **Design** → **Ticket Designs** →
**Open the designer**.

## Switching surfaces

Above the preview, three tabs switch between **Web ticket**, **Apple Wallet**
and **Google Wallet**. Switching a tab changes both the preview and the
controls beneath it, because each surface owns its own settings. Only colours
cross over: setting a background colour on one surface offers to copy it to the
others, so a house colour need only be picked once.

The wallet previews carry two small controls of their own. A flip button turns
the Apple pass over to show the fields on its back, and a bell shows the
lock-screen notification a guest would see, which is where the icon image
appears. On a phone, the designer stacks the controls and preview into
**Design** and **Preview** tabs instead of showing them side by side.

## Images

Every image slot opens a cropper when you pick a file, locked to the shape
that surface shows. Confirm with **Use image**, or **Cancel**. Once an image
is in the slot, **Crop** opens the same frame again so you can change the
crop without picking a new file. Apple's **Logo** can be any shape: Wallet
fits it inside the header, so trim empty edges.

On the **Web ticket** tab, **Images** holds one slot: **Strip**. It sits
across the top of the ticket, at 1600 by 400 pixels. PNG or JPEG, under
5 MB. Leave it empty and each event's **Banner Image** fills the band.

Wallet image sizes and formats live on the
[Apple Wallet passes](https://artsvp.com/docs/ticket-design/apple-wallet-passes) and
[Google Wallet passes](https://artsvp.com/docs/ticket-design/google-wallet-passes) pages.

## What the preview shows

The preview fills the design with sample details: a sample event, venue,
date, and guest. Real tickets and passes fill in each guest's own booking
automatically. The sample event name in the preview is not something you
have set, and nothing about it is saved with the design.

## Drafts, undo, and reset

Every edit is kept in a local draft in your browser as you work, so a refresh
or a closed tab does not lose it. A status pill beside the surface tabs
narrates where you stand:

| Pill | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Not saved yet** | A new design with no edits yet |
| **Unsaved · saved locally** | A new design with edits held in your browser |
| **Published** | A saved design with no changes since |
| **Unpublished · saved locally** | A saved design with edits not yet published |

The menu on the pill offers three ways back:

- **Undo last change** steps back through this session's edits one at a time.
- **Discard unsaved changes** returns to the last saved version.
- **Apply ARTSVP default design** paints the standard white-and-black design
  on every surface, as a clean starting point.

Leaving the designer with unsaved edits raises your browser's own "leave
site?" prompt. Your draft is still there when you come back.

## Saving and publishing

Click **Save design** and give the design a name, such as *"House Style"*
or *"Fair Week 2026"*. The name is what you pick from an event or ticket's
**Ticket design** menu, so make it recognisable.

Once a design is saved it is live, and the same button reads **Publish
changes**. One thing to be aware of: publishing takes effect immediately for
passes issued from then on. Designs can be deleted from the **Ticket Designs**
list. Events using a deleted design return to the standard ARTSVP ticket.
Tickets using it return to that event's **Ticket design**, or to the standard
ticket if the event has none.

## Testing on your phone

The **Add to Apple Wallet** and **Add to Google Wallet** badges under each
wallet preview mint a real sample pass from exactly what is in the designer at
that moment, with no need to save or publish first. Clicking one opens a QR
code: scan it with your phone's camera to add the pass to your wallet, or use
**Add on this device** if you are already on the phone. **Regenerate** mints a
fresh pass after further edits.

The sample pass carries the preview's sample event and guest, so it is safe to
add and delete as often as you like. Nothing you test is issued to a guest.

> **Tip:** Test on a real device before publishing. Wallet passes render at
> phone size, and a logo that reads well on a monitor can be far smaller on
> the pass itself.

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Keep reading: [Apple Wallet passes](https://artsvp.com/docs/ticket-design/apple-wallet-passes) ·
[Google Wallet passes](https://artsvp.com/docs/ticket-design/google-wallet-passes) ·
[Variables](https://artsvp.com/docs/ticket-design/variables)

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