How to Use Design Studio to Create QR Documents

Design Studio is where your agency builds public information documents that carry a QR code, either from a court ready template or as a quick standalone QR image.

### Overview

Design Studio gives your agency two ways to work. You can start from the **Template Library** and customize a full document (a poster, half sheet, counter card, or mailed letter) that carries your wording, colors, languages, and a QR code, then render it as a print ready PDF. Or you can open the **Quick QR Image** panel, paste a link, and generate a QR image on its own as PDF, SVG, or PNG.

- Browse court ready templates for closures, jury service, payments, weddings, facilities, and everyday agency notices
- Edit document wording in place on the document or as a list of fields
- Point the QR code at a portal, check-in, enrollment, payment, file, phone number, contact card, public wi-fi network, or a custom link
- Add extra languages and translate the wording with **Auto Translate**
- Render print ready PDFs and reopen, duplicate, or delete saved designs later

Design Studio is reached from the **Portals** tab strip, so it sits alongside **Portals**, **Files**, **Posts**, **Forms**, **Submissions**, and **Redirects**.

### Prerequisites

Before you build a design, make sure you have:

- Access to the **Portals** section of your eCourtDate agency
- The destination the QR code should open (a portal, file, phone number, wi-fi network, or link)
- At least one configured portal, if you plan to use the **Portal link**, **Event check-in**, **Enroll for reminders**, **Pay online**, **View a file**, or **E-sign a file** destinations
- A destination link of 500 characters or less, which is the limit for rendering a PDF
- (Optional) A hosted logo image URL, if you plan to use the **Quick QR Image** panel

### How-To Steps

#### Start a design from a template

1. Go to **Portals** > **Design Studio**.
2. Click **Browse templates** to open the **Template Library**.
3. Select a group button such as **Holidays**, **Payments**, **Jury**, or **Notices** to narrow the catalog by purpose. **All** returns every template.
4. Click **More filters** to filter by **Format**, **Occasion**, **Audience**, **Placement**, **Style**, or **Color theme**.
5. Click a template card to open its detail page.
6. Click **Customize this template** to open the editor.

#### Write the document content

1. Find the **Content** panel at the top of the left column in the editor.
2. Click any text on the document to edit it in place.
3. Click **Edit as list** to edit every field in one column instead, then click **Edit on document** to return.
4. Click **Write with AI** if you want a starting draft.
5. Enter a short instruction under **What should this say?**.
6. Click **Generate Draft**, then review every field before you print.

#### Set the document name, theme, and type

1. Open the **Document** panel.
2. Enter a **Name** for the design. **Save** stays unavailable until the design has a name.
3. Select a **Format** if the template offers more than one.
4. Select a **Theme**.
5. Select a **Brand Colors** option: **Theme with agency accent**, **Full agency colors**, or **Theme colors only**.
6. Adjust **Font Family**, **Text Size**, **Line Spacing**, **Letter Spacing**, and **Text Alignment** under **Typography**.
7. Check **Large print** if the document needs oversized type.

#### Point the QR code at a destination

1. Open the **Destination Link** panel.
2. Select a **Destination**: **Portal link**, **Event check-in**, **Enroll for reminders**, **Pay online**, **View a file**, **E-sign a file**, **Call us**, **Save contact**, **Public wi-fi**, or **Custom link**.
3. Complete the fields the destination requires. **Portal link**, **Event check-in**, **Enroll for reminders**, and **Pay online** ask for a **Portal**. **View a file** and **E-sign a file** ask for a **Portal** and a **File**. **Call us** asks for a **Phone Number**. **Save contact** asks for **Contact Name**, **Contact Phone**, and **Contact Email**. **Public wi-fi** asks for **Network Name**, **Password**, and **Security**. **Custom link** asks for a **Link**.
4. Review the address shown under **QR will open:**.
5. Click **Open Link** to confirm the destination loads correctly. This button appears only for web destinations, so a phone number, contact card, or wi-fi network does not offer it.

#### Add languages

1. Open the **Languages** panel.
2. Check each additional language the document should include. The primary language cannot be unchecked.
3. Select a **Bilingual Strip** language to print the headline and call to action in a second language on every page. This setting appears only on templates that support a bilingual layout, which the template detail page marks with a **Bilingual layout** tag.
4. Click **Auto Translate** beside a language to fill its wording automatically.
5. Review the translated wording, because it is machine translated.
6. Click a language tab above the document to edit that language in place. Fields left blank print in the primary language.

#### Schedule a temporary posting

1. Open the **Effective Dates** panel. This panel appears only on templates built for temporary posting.
2. Enter a **Start Date**.
3. Enter an **End Date**.
4. Check **Print the dates on the document** if the dates should appear on the printed page.

#### Save and render the PDF

1. Review the on-screen preview. The preview refreshes as you edit, and the PDF is what you print.
2. Check the **Not filled in:** list above the document and complete any listed field.
3. Click **Save** to store the design.
4. Click **Render PDF**.
5. Click **Download** beside each file in the **Rendered PDFs** card. Download links expire in 60 minutes.

#### Generate a quick QR image

1. Go to **Portals** > **Design Studio**.
2. Click **Quick QR** to open the **Quick QR Image** panel.
3. Enter the **QR Code Link**. This field is required.
4. Enter a **Logo URL** if you want a logo on the code.
5. Select a **Format**: **PDF**, **SVG**, or **PNG**.
6. Enter a **Title**, **Description**, **Payment Amount**, and **Language** if you selected **PDF**. These fields appear only for the PDF format.
7. Click **Create**.
8. Click the **Download** button below the code to save an SVG or PNG file. The PDF format shows a preview in the panel instead.

You can also open this panel prefilled. On a portal, click **Generate QR Code** and the **Quick QR Image** panel opens with the portal link, title, description, logo, and language already filled in.

#### Manage saved designs

1. Go to **Portals** > **Design Studio** and review the **Saved designs** section.
2. Search by name, template, language, or link in the search field.
3. Filter the list with **All**, **Designs**, or **Quick QRs**.
4. Sort the list by **Recent** or **A-Z**.
5. Click **Edit design** to reopen a saved design.
6. Click **Download PDF** to render a saved design without opening it, then click the file link that appears on the card.
7. Click **Duplicate** to copy a design, which opens the copy in the editor.
8. Click **Delete** to remove a design.
9. Click **Load more designs** if your agency has more designs than the page currently shows.

### What to Expect

Rendering a PDF takes a moment, and the button reads **Rendering...** while it works. When it finishes, the **Rendered PDFs** card lists each file with a **Download** link, and those links expire in 60 minutes. Render again whenever you need fresh links.

Saved designs stay in the **Saved designs** list until you delete them. If you change a design after rendering, the card warns that the files were rendered before your latest changes, so render again to update them. Quick QR records appear in the same list labeled **Quick QR**, and you regenerate their image with **Generate image**.

### Best Practices

- Render the PDF and scan the code on the printed proof before you order a print run.
- Click **Open Link** in the **Destination Link** panel to confirm a web destination loads before you save.
- Keep the destination short. Anything over 500 characters blocks the PDF render.
- Review every **Auto Translate** result with a fluent reviewer, since the wording is machine translated.
- Give each design a clear **Name**, because the **Saved designs** search matches on name, template, language, and link.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I download a saved design as a PNG or SVG?**

A: No. Saved designs render as PDF only, through **Render PDF** in the editor or **Download PDF** on the card. The **Quick QR Image** panel is the only place that offers **SVG** and **PNG**.

**Q: How long do the download links stay active?**

A: 60 minutes. After that, open the design and click **Render PDF** again for fresh links.

**Q: Can I upload our agency's licensed font?**

A: No. **Font Family** offers a curated list only, and custom or licensed font uploads are not supported.

**Q: Does Design Studio show how many times a QR code was scanned?**

A: No. Design Studio has no scan counts or scan analytics. It stores the design, renders the document, and lists what you have saved.

**Q: Why can I not select PNG in the Quick QR Image panel?**

A: The **PNG** option is disabled when the **Logo URL** points at an .svg file. Clear the logo or use a raster logo URL instead.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** **Render PDF** is unavailable.

**Symptoms:** The **Render PDF** button stays disabled, or a message reads "Shorten the destination link to 500 characters or less to render the PDF."

**Solution:**

1. Open the **Destination Link** panel and confirm the panel does not read **Not set**.
2. Select a **Destination** and complete its fields.
3. Shorten the destination to 500 characters or less.

**Issue:** The downloaded PDF does not match the current design.

**Symptoms:** The **Rendered PDFs** card reads "Rendered before your latest changes. Render again to update the files."

**Solution:**

1. Click **Render PDF** again.
2. Download the new files from the **Rendered PDFs** card.

**Issue:** Saved designs do not load.

**Symptoms:** The page reads "Saved designs are temporarily unavailable" and no cards appear.

**Solution:**

1. Click **Try again**.
2. Confirm nothing has been removed, since the message reports a loading problem rather than a deletion.

**Issue:** The template a saved design used is gone.

**Symptoms:** Opening the design reads "This template is no longer available."

**Solution:**

1. Click **Browse Template Library**.
2. Select a current template and rebuild the document from it.

### Related Articles

- [How to Create Web Portals](/how-to-create-web-portals)
- [How to Manage Files](/how-to-manage-files)
- [How to Manage Portal Check-ins](/how-to-manage-portal-check-ins)
- [How to Setup a Self-Enroll Form](/how-to-setup-a-self-enroll-form)