Swap template: re-skin a design onto a new look

Swap template lets you apply a completely different look to an existing design — new background, frames, and logos — without re-adding your photos or re-typing your text. Your photos carry over exactly as placed; your text and QR codes keep what you typed but take on the new template's styling.

What swap template does (and doesn't) change

Your photos carry over verbatim — pixels, crop, and every placement setting stay exactly as you left them:

• Position, size, and rotation
• Fit mode and image adjustments
• Face placement (face-target box and max content line)

Your dynamic text and QR codes keep only their value and adopt the new template's design. A matched text layer keeps the words you typed but takes the new slot's font, size, color, position, and geometry; a matched QR code keeps its encoded value but takes the new slot's styling. (If a text or QR layer was empty, the new template's placeholder value shows instead.) This is the point of a swap — your content reads the same, restyled to the template it now belongs to.

The static decoration is replaced entirely by the new template:

• Background graphics and shapes
• Frames, overlays, and border graphics
• Logos and static graphics
• Fixed (non-dynamic) text such as taglines or labels

If the new template has a photo slot that your original design never filled, that slot comes in empty — you don't inherit the new template's sample image, so there's nothing to clear out afterward.

The layer order (front-to-back) follows the new template, not the original. Only templates with the same canvas size as your design appear in the picker — this keeps your photos in the right positions.

Entry points

You can start a swap from two places:

• Studio grid — right-click a design card (or open its three-dot menu) and choose Swap template…
• Editor header — while editing a design in Studio, click the Swap template button in the header bar

How to swap a template

1. Open the Swap template dialog using one of the entry points above.
2. Use the Search templates field to find the look you want. The list shows only same-size templates from your account.
3. To narrow the list, use the All folders filter beside the search field. Pick a folder to show only templates in that folder and its subfolders; leave it on All folders to search everything.
4. Click a template to select it. A thumbnail preview helps you confirm the right one.
5. Choose what to do with the original design:
   • Save as a new copy — keeps the current design untouched and creates a new design with the chosen template. This is the default and is the safer choice.
   • Replace this design — rewrites the current design in place. This cannot be undone.
6. Click Save as copy (or Replace design if you chose in-place). The swap runs and Studio opens the resulting design.

The design's thumbnail regenerates automatically once the swap finishes, so the Studio grid updates to show the new look without a page refresh.

Refresh a design after its template changed

Swap works with the design's own template, too. If a design's original template has been updated since the design was created, you can pull those changes into the design by swapping it to that same template — the design is re-skinned onto the current version of the template, while your photos and text values carry over exactly as with any other swap.

Swap several designs at once (bulk swap)

You can re-skin many designs to the same template in one pass — handy at the end of a season when you want every player card on a new layout.

1. In the Studio grid, multi-select the design cards you want to swap.
2. Open the selection toolbar's actions menu and choose Swap template. The same dialog opens in bulk mode, showing how many designs you selected.
3. Filter and pick a same-size template exactly as you would for a single swap.
4. Choose Save as new copies (the default — leaves your originals untouched) or Replace these designs (rewrites them in place).
5. Click Save as copies, or Replace designs for an in-place swap. Because replacing many designs can't be undone, you're asked to confirm first — the prompt reads "Replace N designs in place? This can't be undone." and the button changes to Yes, replace N.

Designs that don't fit the chosen template are left alone. If any selected design is a different canvas size or is a 2-page layout, the dialog warns you up front — for example, "2 of 12 selected designs are a different size or 2-page and will be skipped." — and skips only those.

When the batch finishes, a message reports the result: "10 designs swapped to the new template · 2 skipped" (or "copied with the new template" when you saved copies). Large selections are processed in small batches, so you'll see live progress and can press Stop to halt after the current batch. As with single swaps, any orphaned layers are kept on top and summarized in a warning.

Orphan layers

A layer becomes an orphan when the new template has no matching slot for it — for example, a dynamic photo named HeadshotRight that doesn't exist in the new template. Templified never silently drops your content: orphaned layers are kept on top of the canvas so you can decide what to do with them. A warning message tells you how many layers had no place and were kept.

If a kept layer's name happens to match one already in the new template, Templified adds a numeric suffix — Logo becomes Logo (2) — so nothing is dropped or overwritten. Open the design and review the layer panel: you can reposition kept layers, delete them, or leave them — they won't appear in the render if they're empty photo slots.

Matching rules

Dynamic layers are matched to the new template by their field name and type. A dynamic photo named Photo pairs with a photo slot also named Photo; a dynamic text layer named PlayerName pairs with a text slot named PlayerName. When a photo layer's field name doesn't match, Templified still pairs photo slots by their numbered order (Photo 1, Photo 2) so your images land in the right places. Layers that don't find a match become orphans. Consistent naming across templates means fewer orphans and a cleaner swap.

Once paired, a photo keeps its pixels and crop, while a text or QR field keeps only its value and takes the matched slot's design — so the same words appear in the new template's font, color, and position.

Tips

• Use "Save as a new copy" first. It's non-destructive — you keep the original and can compare the two side by side before deleting anything.
• Standardize layer names across templates to get reliable, orphan-free swaps. If all your sports templates use a photo slot named Photo and a text layer named PlayerName, content transfers seamlessly between them.
• Only same-size templates appear. If a template you expect isn't listed, check that its canvas dimensions match the design exactly.

Related articles

• Templates vs designs: what's the difference?
• Creating and editing a template
• Studio overview: managing your designs
• Renaming layers
• Publish protection: how it works