Reusable design
Blocks (reusable components)
A block is a reusable component: design something once and reuse it everywhere, so a single edit updates every copy. If you've used symbols or components in other tools, this will feel familiar — and it's the fastest way to keep a set of designs consistent.
What a block is
Every block has one main definition and any number of instances placed across your Canvases. Edit the main block and each instance updates automatically. That makes blocks perfect for anything that repeats: a logo lockup, a badge or seal, a price tag, a footer, or a social-post frame you reuse across a whole campaign.
Think of it as one source of truth. Instead of hunting down twelve copies of a footer to fix a phone number, you change the main block once and all twelve follow.
Convert a selection to a block
Select one or more objects on the Canvas, right-click, and choose Convert to block (it's also on the multi-select menu). Your selection instantly becomes an instance, and the main block is stored in the Library in the left sidebar.
Tip: group the exact objects you want before converting. Whatever is selected at that moment defines the block, so a clean selection means a clean, reusable component.
There is one rule to know up front. If you try to convert something unsupported, you'll see:
A block can't contain another block or threaded text frames.
So keep blocks self-contained — don't nest a block inside another block, and leave threaded (linked) text frames out of the selection.
The Blocks list in the Library
Open the Library in the left sidebar and expand the Blocks section (it's collapsed by default). Each row shows the block's name and an instance-count badge like 3×, so you can see at a glance how many copies are live across your document.
When you have no blocks yet, the section reads:
No blocks yet. Select elements and choose "Convert to block".
Hover a row and two buttons appear on the right: a pencil to Edit main block, and a + to add another instance.
Placing more instances
Once a block is in the Library, there are three ways to drop another instance onto the Canvas:
- Drag the block's row from the Library onto the Canvas.
- Double-click the row.
- Click the + button on the row.
Place as many as you need. Every instance stays linked to the same main block, so they'll all stay in sync.
Editing the main block
To change every instance at once, edit the main block. You can get there two ways:
- Click the pencil (Edit main block) on the block's Library row, or
- Select any instance, then in the Properties panel click Edit main block.
You'll edit the main block's contents directly. When you're done, every instance across all your Canvases picks up the change. This is the payoff of blocks — one edit, everywhere.
Overriding a single instance
Sometimes one copy needs to be different — a different headline on one card, a different color on one badge. Just edit that instance directly. The app marks it Overriding main to show it no longer perfectly matches the main block.
Overrides are smart. When you later edit the main block, your overrides are kept wherever they still make sense. If a change to the main block removes the thing an override was pointing at, you may see:
Some overrides no longer apply and were dropped.
That's expected housekeeping — the instance simply falls back to the main block for anything that no longer has a place to live.
Reset overrides
Changed your mind about a one-off edit? Select the overridden instance and look in the Properties panel. When an instance has overrides, an amber Reset overrides button appears. Click it to snap the instance back to match the main block exactly. (The button only shows when there's something to reset.)
Detach a block
If an instance needs heavy, one-off customization that no longer belongs to the block, break the link. Select the instance and, in Properties, click Detach block. It becomes plain, editable objects that no longer update from the main block.
Detaching is one-way. Once an instance is detached it's independent — future edits to the main block won't reach it. Reach for this only when a copy has truly diverged.
Blocks vs page templates
Blocks and page templates solve related problems at different scales:
| Use a block when… | Use a page template when… |
|---|---|
| You want to reuse a group of objects anywhere on a Canvas | You want to reuse a whole-Canvas layout |
| Logos, badges, price tags, footers, post frames | Shared headers, footers, backgrounds and page furniture |
| The same component appears many times per page | Every page in a document shares one layout |
For the whole-Canvas approach — ideal for menus, booklets and catalogs — see Page templates.
Next
Reuse a whole layout, not just a group, with Page templates, and keep every instance findable in The Layers panel.