Variations

A variation is a saved set of choices for a template: one layout, one set of variable values, one regional selection. It is how a template stops being a design and becomes a finished image you can link to.

The DAM has its own idea of variations - saved transformations of an asset, such as a resize or a format change - shown in the same Variations tab. A template's variations live there too, but they are produced by filling in the template rather than by transforming a file.

Creating a variation

You can start from any of these:

From	How
The templates list	Hover a template and click Create variation
The manage variations page	Click Add variation
The DAM	Open the template asset, go to its Variations tab and click Add variation

Then:

1. Choose the Layout you want this variation to render. The selector appears only when the template has more than one layout.

2. Fill in the fields on the right. The preview updates as you type.

3. Adjust Layout color if this variation needs a different background.

4. Pick a regional variant if the template is localized. See Regional settings.

5. Click Save variation and give it a name.

The builder's header has two more controls beside the save button. Hover them for their names:

Control	What it does
Copy link	Copies the link to the image as currently filled in, before you save
Preview	Opens that image in a new browser tab

When you reopen a saved variation with Edit, the save button reads Update variation instead. It saves your changes over that variation, with its current name filled in for you to keep or change.

Filling in the fields

Each variable in the template becomes one field, matched to its type: a text box for a text placeholder, a color picker for a color, an image field with a picker for an image source.

Fields bound to Asset metadata are read-only and carry a small chip naming the metadata field behind them, so you can see where the value comes from rather than wondering why you cannot type in it.

Images that need a background-removed version

A template can require an image layer to use the background-removed version of its picture, so that no variation ever renders a product with its own background still attached. See Image layers.

Pick an asset with no background-removed version into one of those fields and a warning appears beneath it: This image has no background-removed version. The variation will not render until one is created. The preview stays empty and says the same thing, naming how many pictures are at fault.

Saving is still allowed, and a notice on save names the layers that will not render. That is on purpose. A variation you were stopped from saving is work lost, while a saved one starts rendering by itself the moment the missing version is created.

Until then the variation reads Did not render in place of its thumbnail on the Manage variations page, because that thumbnail is the render. It fills in on its own once the picture has a background-removed version. There is nothing to redo and nothing to re-save.

Manual override

Manual override turns those read-only fields into editable ones. Switch it on when a particular output needs a value that differs from the asset's metadata.

Manual override	What renders
Off	Values are read from the asset's metadata each time the image is rendered, so the image follows the asset
On	The values you typed are saved with the variation and used as they are

Off is the better default: it keeps a whole set of images correct when the product data changes.

Layout and layout color

Layout picks which output size this variation renders. To publish the same content at several sizes, save one variation per layout.

Layout color overrides the canvas background for this variation only, leaving the template alone.

Both choices travel in the variation's link: $layout carries the layout's slug, and $layout_color a hex color whose # is encoded as %23, as in ?$layout=square_post&$layout_color=%231b1b1b. Copy link builds this for you - see the render URL for the rest.

Managing variations

Manage variations opens a page for one template, showing the original alongside every variation saved from it.

Control	What it does
Search	Filters by variation name
Sort	Newest first, oldest first, name A to Z, name Z to A, largest first, smallest first
Add variation	Starts a new one
Select	Turns on multi-select for deleting several at once. While it is on, the button reads Done; click it to leave multi-select

Hover a variation for its actions:

Action	What it does
Copy link	Copies the image link to your clipboard
Open	Opens the rendered image in a new tab
Download	Saves the rendered image
Edit	Reopens the variation builder with its values loaded
Delete	Removes the variation after a confirmation

The page is deep-linkable: the search text and sort order live in the URL, so a filtered view can be shared or bookmarked.

Where variations appear

• On the Manage variations page for that template.

• In the template's Variations tab in the DAM, next to the asset itself.

Deleting a variation removes the saved set of choices. The template and the assets it points at are untouched.

Where to go next

• Using a rendered template for what to do with the link.

• Variables if a value you need is not offered as a field.