Getting started
New document & presets
Every document starts in one dialog: Create new document. Pick the kind of job you're doing (a flyer, a book, a slide deck) and Popcorn Editor seeds the right size, color mode, bleed and page count before you place a single object.
Open the dialog
- In the editor, open the File menu and choose New.
- The Create new document dialog appears. Browsing it is completely safe: nothing changes until you press Create, and Cancel (or
Escape) always leaves your current document untouched.
Note: if your current document has unsaved changes, you'll be asked to confirm at the moment you press Create or pick a template, not before.
Pick a job category
The left rail lists job categories. Clicking one shows its presets in the middle and loads that job's defaults into the settings panel on the right:
| Category | Sets up | Example presets |
|---|---|---|
| CMYK, 3 mm bleed, 1 page, 300 dpi | A4, Flyer A5, DL flyer, Business card, Poster A2, US Letter | |
| Publishing | CMYK, 3 mm bleed, 8 pages, facing pages, page-order view | Book A5, Magazine A4, Zine A5 |
| Presentation | RGB, no bleed, 3 pages, page-order view | Slides 16:9, Slides 4:3, Document A4 landscape |
| Social, Product, Screens, Aspect | RGB, no bleed, single canvas, pixel sizes | Common screen and social formats |
Each preset card shows its real-world size in its natural unit (A4 reads 210 × 297 mm; slides read in pixels). Inch-based presets like US Letter and Tabloid switch the document to inches and use a 0.125 in bleed instead of 3 mm.
Click a preset to select it. If you create the document without changing anything, it's automatically named after the preset (for example "Book A5"); once you edit the size, it becomes a custom untitled document.
Adjust Document settings
The Document settings panel on the right lets you fine-tune the selected preset before creating. Every field here can also be changed later, so don't worry about getting it perfect.
- Width and Height: the canvas size, shown in the current unit. Editing either turns the preset into a custom size.
- Units: choose Pixels, Millimeters, Centimeters, Inches or Points. This only changes how sizes are displayed and entered.
- Resolution (DPI): pixels per inch. For physical-unit documents (mm, cm, in, pt), changing the resolution keeps the physical size the same and recalculates the pixels, so "A4 at 150 dpi" is still exactly A4. Pixel documents keep their pixel size.
- Color mode: RGB (screen) for anything viewed on a display, CMYK (print) for anything going to a press. See RGB vs CMYK for how to choose.
- Bleed: extra margin around each canvas for artwork that runs to the trimmed edge. Print presets set this for you.
- Pages: how many canvases the document starts with, from 1 to 50. You can always add more later.
- Facing pages: pairs pages into left/right spreads, the natural setup for books and magazines. More in Facing pages & spreads.
- Open in page-order view: opens the document with canvases arranged in reading order, which suits multi-page work like publications and decks.
A small summary line under the settings confirms what you're about to create: size, resolution and color mode.
When everything looks right, press Create.
Tip: if you only need to change one thing, pick the closest preset first, then tweak. Switching to a preset resets the settings to that job's defaults, so choose the preset before making manual adjustments.
Start from a template instead
Prefer not to start blank? Click Templates at the bottom of the left rail to browse the gallery without leaving the dialog.
- Use Search templates to find a design by name, or narrow the gallery with the All categories filter.
- Click a template to open it as your new document. Size, color mode and bleed come from the template itself, so the settings panel doesn't apply here.
Some templates are premium. If you pick one that's locked, you'll be prompted to sign in or upgrade; the gallery stays open underneath so you don't lose your place. See Premium templates for how gating works, and Using a template for what happens after you open one.
Changed your mind later?
Nothing in this dialog is permanent:
- Resize canvases or change units and resolution at any time; see Canvas size, units & presets.
- Adjust bleed and other print settings through Document setup; see Document setup & bleed.
- Add, remove and rearrange canvases as the project grows; see Multiple canvases.
Next steps
With a fresh document open, build something on it in Your first design, then learn how saving works in Signing in & saving.