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Stratos Stratos Help Center

Layout Designer

Layout Designer

The Layout Designer is Stratos’s visual canvas for building screen layouts. You define regions on the canvas, assign content to each region, and configure how they behave during playback.

Opening the Designer

Section titled “Opening the Designer”

From the Layouts page, click any layout name, then click Edit Layout. Or create a new layout from scratch — the designer opens automatically.

The Canvas

Section titled “The Canvas”

The designer shows a preview of your screen at the target resolution. The canvas is interactive — you can draw, resize, and move regions directly on it.

Canvas Controls

Section titled “Canvas Controls”
ControlDescription
ZoomZoom in/out to work on fine details or see the full layout.
Resolution selectorSwitch between resolution presets to preview how the layout looks at different sizes.
Grid toggleShow/hide a snap-to grid for precise alignment.
PreviewPlay a preview of the layout with its assigned content and transitions.

Regions

Section titled “Regions”

A region is a rectangular area on the canvas that holds content. Every layout has at least one region (the full canvas). You can add, split, resize, and overlap regions.

Creating Regions

Section titled “Creating Regions”
  • Draw — click and drag on the canvas to draw a new region.
  • Split — right-click an existing region and choose Split Horizontally or Split Vertically.
  • Duplicate — right-click a region and choose Duplicate to copy it with its content settings.

Region Properties

Section titled “Region Properties”

Each region has configurable properties:

  • Content source — playlist, media item, text widget, web widget, or dataset.
  • Transition — how content enters and exits the region.
  • Z-order — which region appears on top when regions overlap.
  • Background — solid color, gradient, or image.

Widgets

Section titled “Widgets”

Widgets are specialized content types you can place in a region:

  • Text Widget — styled text with configurable font, size, color, and animation.
  • Web Widget — embed a live web page or HTML snippet.
  • Clock Widget — display the current time and date.
  • Ticker Widget — scrolling text (news ticker style).
  • Weather Widget — current weather from a configured source.
  • Dataset Widget — display data from a Stratos dataset table.

Layers Panel

Section titled “Layers Panel”

The Layers panel on the right side of the designer shows all regions in z-order. Drag layers up or down to change which region renders on top. Click the eye icon to show/hide a region while designing.

Save and Publish

Section titled “Save and Publish”
  • Save Draft — saves your work without making it live. Draft layouts are not used by schedules.
  • Publish — saves and publishes the layout. Published layouts are immediately available for use in schedules. Publishing creates a version snapshot so you can roll back later.
Section titled “Related”