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Flight Control Help Center

Importing Photoshop Files to Creative Templates

  • Updated

General

You can use Adobe Photoshop PSD files to create and update HTML and image creative template ad formats within the Creative Template Editor (Ad Builder; Build mode).

See sections below for more information on using Photoshop files in Flight Control.

Import a PSD File to a Creative Template

image.png Prerequisites 

  • Font files to map Photoshop text layers with Flight Control fonts.

To upload a PSD file to a creative template:

  1. Create or edit an HTML or image creative template with an Ad Builder template source.
  2. Click Build to enter Ad Builder.
  3. Click Create New Format or the plus sign (+) to add a new creative template ad format.
  4. Select Upload File.
  5. Drag and drop a PSD file, or click the plus sign (+) to upload a PSD file from your local device.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Select artboards to import from your PSD file.
  8. Optional. If you designed your Photoshop creatives using dimensions twice as large as the final ad format (2x), select Half-size rescaling to reduce your artboard content’s dimensions by 50%.
  9. Map the PSD file's fonts with available creative template fonts.
    1. If the font files you need are missing for the creative template, upload them by clicking the upload icon (image3.png).
  10. Click Import.

Supported Photoshop Features

Features Options
Artboards Supported. Each artboard represents an ad size, and a single PSD file can include multiple artboards (ad sizes) to upload to Flight Control.
Layer Types

Supported layer types:

  • Image
  • Shape
  • Text
  • Null
Text Layers

Per-character text styling is supported (complex text). The following styling options are supported only for whole text currently, not per character:

  • Small caps
  • All caps
  • Stroke

Unsupported styling:

  • Faux bold
  • Faux italic
  • Superscript (supportable if needed)
  • Subscript (supportable if needed)
  • Underline (supportable if needed)

Supported font file types: TTF, OTF, TTC, and WOFF (utilizable once the creative design is imported into Ad Builder).
Layer Transform

Supported:

  • All layer linear transformations (position, scale, and rotation).

Note: Non-linear (non-affine) transformations will cause the layer to be imported as an image layer, with the content flattened to a rectangle (without vector data).
Layer Effects

Supported:

  • Drop shadow
  • Color overlay

Note: Adding effects to layer groups and folders isn't supported.
Layer Masks

Supported:

  • Raster Mask (including density parameter)
    • These masks are imported to Ad Builder as a separate alpha (trackmatte) layer.
  • Vector Mask (multiple shape masks with feathering)

Note: Adding masks to layer groups and folders isn't supported.
Clipping Masks Not yet supported.
Smart Object Layers

These aren't fully supported, as they become rasterized image layers upon import.

Smart objects: Layers containing image data from raster or vector images, originating from other files such as Photoshop, Illustrator, PDF, and so on.
Layer Groups (Folders)

They aren't importable into Ad Builder, as all layers would be imported at the same level without nesting.


Note: Adding masks or effects to layer groups/folders isn't supported.

Best Practices When Preparing Photoshop Files for Creative Templates

The following are best practices to adhere to when preparing PSD files for creative templates:

General

  • Use artboards when working with multiple ad sizes.
  • Crop images intended for the same space in a way that accommodates all potential ad dimension changes.
  • Use paragraph text to define bounding boxes. This will give dynamic text the necessary space to expand if needed when importing.
  • Supporting retina (high-resolution screens): It’s not recommended to import 2x compositions. Flight Control automatically adjusts the rendering in real time according to the device's pixel ratio (the ratio between physical and CSS resolution), so providing 1x compositions is correct.

Design Layers

  • Adhere to consistent and detailed layer naming conventions across ad sizes.
  • Flatten layers/images with unsupported effects.
  • Understand that hidden layers won’t import to Flight Control. Activate all key layers or remove hidden layers before importing.
  • Address all locked PSD file layers before importing, as they won’t be imported as locked layers in Ad Builder.
  • Be aware that linked layers will be unlinked once imported.