# PlexiiDesign overview

> PlexiiDesign is the page-layout and design editor in Office. Make posts, flyers, brochures and newsletters on brand, and export them for screen or print.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-overview
Section: Office > PlexiiDesign
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-15

PlexiiDesign is the design editor in PlexiiOffice. Use it for anything where the look matters as much as the words: a social post, a flyer or a business card, or a multi-page brochure, report or newsletter with margins, columns and master pages. Place text, shapes, lines and pictures anywhere on the page, keep everything in your brand's colours and fonts, and export a picture, a PDF or a print-ready PDF with bleed and crop marks.

Every design is kept in Office. You can also put a design on a desk with the Design widget, which shows the same design with the same editor. See [Design widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-design).

## Before you start

- PlexiiDesign is on every plan.
- Some tools need more:

| Tool | What it needs |
| --- | --- |
| **AI design**, the **Assistant** panel and **Ask AI to choose** | AI set up: PlexiDesk credits while you are signed in, or your own Anthropic key. See [AI credits and where your AI runs](https://plexiidesk.com/help/ai-credits). |
| Generating a picture | Your own OpenAI API key. |
| **Stock** photo search | A free Pexels API key. |
| **Remove background** | A remove.bg API key. |

Add keys in Settings > **AI**, under **AI · API keys**. See [Add your own API keys](https://plexiidesk.com/help/api-keys).

## Start a design

- **From the PlexiDesign page.** Press `⌘` `K` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `K` on Windows and choose **New design**. The **PlexiDesign** page lists every size, grouped into **Publications**, **Social media**, **Marketing**, **Presentations** and **Logos & brand**, with on-brand templates under each group and **Your documents** at the bottom. Click a size or a template.
- **From Office Home.** Click the **Apps** heading in the side menu, then the **PlexiDesign** tile. A new square design called "Untitled design" opens, 1080 × 1080.

See [Start a design at the right size](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-start-a-design).

## What you see

From top to bottom:

- **The header**: the arrow back, the design's name, **Share**, and whether your changes are saved. See [The editor header, saving and the File menu](https://plexiidesk.com/help/office-editor-basics).
- **The menu bar**: **File**, **Edit**, **Insert**, **Layout**, **Tools** and **Help**.
- **The toolbar**:

| Buttons | What they do |
| --- | --- |
| Undo and Redo | Step back and forward through your changes. |
| **Templates** and the size button | Start from a template, or change the page size. The size button shows the current size's name. |
| **Redesign**, **Layout** and **Guides** | Pour text into a laid-out document, set margins, columns, master pages and layers, and show or hide the layout guides. |
| **Text**, **Rect**, **Ellipse**, **Triangle**, **Round** and **Line** | Add a text box, a shape or a line. |
| **Image** | Add a picture from your computer. |
| **AI design** and **Stock** | Draft a design or generate a picture with AI, or search stock photos. |
| **Logo**, **Brandify** and **Brand kit** | Use your brand. |
| **Assistant** | Show or hide the **AI Assistant** panel. |
| **Export** | Save a PNG or a PDF, or a print PDF, and check accessibility. |

- **The page**, with rulers along the top and left edges.
- **The page strip** under the page: a button for each page, and **+ Page**.
- **The inspector** on the right: settings for the element you have selected, or the page's **Background** when nothing is selected.
- **The AI Assistant** panel, on the far right while it is open.

## Work on a design

### Add and edit elements

- Click **Text** to add a text box that says "Your text". Double-click it to type.
- Click **Rect**, **Ellipse**, **Triangle** or **Round** for a shape, or **Line** for a line, in your brand's main colour.
- Click **Image** to add a picture from your computer: .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .webp or .svg.
- **Insert** > **Widget from a desk** places a live widget from one of your desks.

Drag an element to move it and drag its handles to resize it. Pink guides show when it lines up with another element, the page's edges and centre, the margins, columns or your own guides.

### The inspector

Click an element and the inspector shows its settings:

- **Shapes**: **Fill**.
- **Text**: **Font**, **Text color**, **Alignment**, **Style** (bold, italic and underline) and **Font size**.
- **Pictures**: **Alt text** and **Remove background**.
- **Every element**: **Opacity**, **Rotation (deg)** and **Text wrap**, and buttons to bring it forward, send it back, duplicate it and delete it.

Select several elements, by holding `Shift`, `⌘` or `Ctrl` as you click or by dragging across an empty part of the page, and the inspector also shows **Arrange**, with buttons to align them, **Distribute H** and **Distribute V** for three or more, and **Group** and **Ungroup**.

### Pages, masters and layers

A design can have many pages. Master pages hold what repeats, such as a header, a footer and the page number, and layers let you hide or lock groups of elements while you work. See [Pages, master pages, guides and layers](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-pages-masters-and-layers).

### Long text

Text can flow through several linked frames and across pages, like an article in a magazine. See [Thread text through frames](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-text-frames-and-stories). To lay a whole document out from your text in one step, see [Lay out a document with Redesign](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-redesign-wizard).

## Your brand

**Brand kit** holds your logo, brand colours and fonts. **Logo** places your logo on the page and **Brandify** recolours the page in your brand. See [Brand kit, Brandify and your logo](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-brand-kit).

## AI and pictures

- **AI design** drafts a whole on-brand design from a sentence, as one design or a set of variations to choose from. See [Generate designs and copy with AI](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-ai-design).
- The **AI Assistant** improves and shortens your copy and suggests headlines and captions.
- **Stock**, AI pictures and **Remove background** help with images. See [Stock photos, AI images and background removal](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-stock-photos-and-image-tools).

## Export and print

**Export** saves a **PNG image** or a **PDF**, or a **Print PDF (crop marks)** with bleed for a print shop. See [Export and print a design](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-export-and-print).

## Keyboard shortcuts

These work while you are not typing in a box.

| Action | Mac | Windows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Undo | `⌘` `Z` | `Ctrl` `Z` |
| Redo | `⇧` `⌘` `Z` | `Ctrl` `Shift` `Z` or `Ctrl` `Y` |
| Duplicate the selection | `⌘` `D` | `Ctrl` `D` |
| Delete the selection | `Delete` or `Backspace` | `Delete` or `Backspace` |

**Help** > **Keyboard shortcuts** lists these, with the guide and page-number shortcuts.

## The file itself

**File** has **New design**, **Make a copy**, **Rename**, **Version history** and **Move to trash**. See [Version history](https://plexiidesk.com/help/office-version-history) and [Delete and restore Office files](https://plexiidesk.com/help/office-trash-and-restore).

## Common questions

**Where are my designs?** In Office, under **Recent** on Office Home, and under **Your documents** on the PlexiDesign page.

**Can I put a design on a desk?** Yes, with the Design widget. It shows the same design. See [Design widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-design).

**I picked a template and lost my work.** A template replaces the design. Click Undo straight away to get it back.

**What is the difference from PlexiiDraw?** PlexiiDesign lays out pages of text and pictures. PlexiiDraw is for drawing: vector paths, brushes and painting. See [PlexiiDraw overview](https://plexiidesk.com/help/draw-overview).

## Related tasks

- [Start a design at the right size](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-start-a-design)
- [Pages, master pages, guides and layers](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-pages-masters-and-layers)
- [Generate designs and copy with AI](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-ai-design)
- [Export and print a design](https://plexiidesk.com/help/design-export-and-print)
- [Design widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-design)
- [PlexiiOffice: your office suite](https://plexiidesk.com/help/office-overview)