Meet the Assistant

The Assistant is the panel on the left edge of the studio, and it's how most people build in Popcorn Editor. Describe what you want in plain language and it edits your Canvas directly — no menus, no hunting for tools.

What it is#

The Assistant is a design collaborator, not a chatbot. Ask it to add, restyle, move or lay out elements on your design and it does exactly that, live on the Canvas. Every request is an instruction that can change your artwork, so think of it as briefing a designer rather than asking a question — the more concrete your ask, the closer the result.

It can add text, shapes and images, restyle and recolor, move and align, group elements, add new Canvases, switch color mode for print, and more. Changes appear on the Canvas as it works, one action at a time.

Opening it and starting a chat#

The Assistant sits open on the left. Its header shows the current chat title and a session switcher, so you can keep separate threads and jump between them. The + button starts a New chat when you want a clean slate.

On an empty thread you'll see suggestion chips like "Add a bold title at the top", "Lay out a simple event poster" and "Make the background navy". Click one to seed a first prompt, then edit it to taste.

Sending a request#

Type into the composer at the bottom and press Enter or click the send (paper-plane) button. The placeholder reads "Describe a change…".

If your design hasn't been saved yet, the composer reads "Save the design, then ask for a change…" — save first so the Assistant has a document to work on.

How it edits the Canvas#

The Assistant makes real edits, not suggestions. It writes your text, draws your shapes, places images, recolors, aligns and groups — and it respects your document. It works in your Canvas units and honors your color mode, so a request on a CMYK print document stays print-shaped. When you have elements selected, it focuses on those automatically (see below).

Reading its activity#

While a turn runs, a live status strip keeps you posted with bouncing dots and a phase label:

A collapsible Thinking block shows the model's reasoning as it streams, if you want to follow along. After each edit, an action timeline lists what it did — Adding text, Placing an image, Aligning elements — and a green Done marker latches on when the turn finishes.

Focusing on a selection#

Select one or more elements on the Canvas and the Assistant focuses on them automatically, shown as a dashed Focusing on chip in the composer. Now "make it bigger" or "change this to navy" targets exactly what you picked.

To keep elements in play across several messages, right-click one and choose Add to AI chat — it pins as a solid context chip that persists until you remove it. Click any chip to reveal that element on the Canvas.

Stopping and rewinding#

You're always in control of a running turn:

• Stop — while a turn is in progress the send button becomes a Stop button. Stopping keeps any edits already applied (the message is marked Stopped), so you never lose work that already landed.
• Rewind to here — every message you send carries a Rewind to here action that rolls the design back to before that turn and trims the chat to that point. A confirm dialog warns you it can't be undone from the chat, so use it to branch cleanly from an earlier state rather than fighting an unwanted change.
• Copy — hover any message to copy its text.

Premium and credits#

AI editing runs on credits, shown in the usage badge in the panel header. Credits come only with a subscription. If you're signed out, the Assistant prompts you to sign in; on a free or exhausted account you'll see "AI editing is a premium feature." with a See plans button. See Plans & AI credits for what each plan includes.

Where to go next#

Now that you know the panel, learn to brief it well in Writing prompts that work, then match the right engine to the job in Choosing a model & thinking effort. Or jump straight in with your first design.