Best Practices for Using Zones vs Masked Images

  • When to use Zones
  • When to use Masked Images

When to use Zones

Zones are a great tool to use when you need to create a rectangular placeholder for your user to add in a design element, such as a headshot or logo, that will either be altered to fit fully or be masked (cropped) to fill the zone completely.  

Zones provide you and your users with more design options and locking controls to ensure the design elements added within the Zone can be adjusted properly by your end user. Within a Zone you can upload any of the below files. Text is not currently supported within Zones

  • SVG
  • JPG
  • PNG
  • PDF
  • TIF
  • HEIC
  • Any video file (e.g. MP4)

A few common examples of when to use Zones are:

  • The aspect ratio is unknown
  • The design element is a rectangular shape
  • The element should have a specific orientation or rotation within the zone

Note: Zones do not support SVGs with embedded text to be edited. If you have text within the SVG make sure to convert it to paths prior to upload for the text to remain, though it will not be editable.

When to use Masking

Masking is best used when you want the user’s design element, e.g. photo or video,  to fill a non-rectangle/square shape or custom SVG. Masked images and videos will always cover the entire element, so if the added design element is too large for the space it will be cropped. You can however scale the element and adjust its position within the shape. Users are able to add a the below files to any shape or custom SVG.

  • JPG
  • PNG
  • TIF
  • HEIC
  • Any video file (e.g. MP4) 

A few common examples of when to use Masking are:

  • The design element is being added within a non-rectangular shape or SVG
  • The added design element should fill the shape completely
  • The design element does not need to be rotated nor have default orientation within the shape