# Create a scene: blank or from a template

A scene is a designed layout for your displays, built from widgets such as text, images, a clock, or the weather. Start on a blank stage or from a ready-made template, then design it in the editor.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** anyone who designs content for displays
> **Prerequisite:** the Owner or Manager role, and a tablet or computer. Templates need the Pro package or higher.
> **Where in the portal:** **Scenes** › **Create scene** or **Templates**

## How scenes work

A scene has an aspect ratio but no resolution. Each display shows it as sharp as its device and package allow. **Zones** divide the stage into areas such as a main area, a sidebar, and a ticker. Each zone plays a single item, its own sequence, or a playlist.

The main zone decides how long the scene runs. Free widgets sit next to the zones, for example a logo above the main area. While you work, the scene is a **Draft** that no display shows. Only when you publish does it become a version that goes out to the displays, and you keep working on the draft without changing what is on screen.

![When you publish, the draft in the portal becomes an immutable version that is distributed to the display, while reverting replaces only the draft](/content/bilder/8fe13fdc-scene-draft-and-version.svg)

## Steps

### Start from a template

1. Open **Scenes** and then **Templates**. The gallery opens with the industry from your [master data](/organization/master-data), shown first in the bar of industries. Without an industry, it opens with **All industries**.
2. Choose another industry or **All industries** if you want to see more templates. Templates that suit every industry appear under each one.
3. Search with **What do you want to show?**, or narrow down with **All purposes** and the **Format**. Without a search or purpose, each purpose has a row, and **Show all** shows all templates of that purpose.
4. On the tile of a template, click **Use**.
5. In **Scene from template**, adjust the **Scene name** and click **Create scene**.

![The template gallery under Scenes › Templates with the bar of industries, your own first and selected (1), the search field “What do you want to show?” (2), the filters for purpose and format (3), the In my brand switch (4), the row of a purpose with Show all (5), and the Use button on a tile (6)](/content/bilder/02c15661-template-gallery.png)

A template becomes your own scene. Its images are copied into your library, and later changes to the template don't affect your scene. Below the description, you see whether a template needs an app: **No app needed, ready to use**, the name of the installed app, or **Needs an app from the store**. You can use a template without its app, but it only plays once the app is installed.

**In my brand** shows the previews in the colors and fonts and with the logo of your [brand](/organization/brand). That is also how the template arrives in your scene: texts, shapes, and images refer to your brand, and if you change the brand later, the displays show the scene in the new one.

### Start on a blank stage

1. Open **Scenes** and click **Create scene**.
2. Under **Basics**, enter a **Scene name**, such as "Shop window summer offer".
3. Under **Format**, choose the **Aspect ratio** of your display, such as 16:9 landscape or 9:16 portrait. **Custom ratio …** takes any other ratio, for example 21 to 9.
4. Under **Layout**, **Full screen** is selected at first. Click **Change** and choose the zones the scene is divided into, such as **Main, side, ticker**, or **No zones** for an empty scene. A click selects the layout and collapses the choice again.
5. Click **Create scene**.

![The New scene dialog with its three sections: Basics with the Scene name field (1), Format with the aspect ratio choice (2), Layout as a collapsed row with a preview, the name Full screen, and the Change button (3), and the Create scene button (4)](/content/bilder/dc896289-new-scene-dialog.png)

## Check the result

The scene opens in the editor with the status **Draft**. Under **Scenes**, it appears in the list. You can change the format and the zones later in the editor, see [Configure a scene: format, zones, transitions](/content/configure-scene).

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| **Create scene** is grayed out | Your role doesn't allow creating scenes. | Ask someone with the Owner or Manager role. |
| **Use** is grayed out, with **Using templates is part of the Pro package.** above it | Your package doesn't include templates. You can still view all of them. | Start on a blank stage, or change to the Pro package. |
| **No template matches this selection.** | The search or filters rule out every template. | Clear the filters, especially the format, or choose **All industries**. |
| The editor doesn't open on a phone | The editor needs at least a tablet. | Open the scene on a tablet or computer. |

## Related

- [Place and arrange widgets on the stage](/content/place-widgets)
- [How do you design content that people can read?](/content/design-content)
- [Save, publish, versions, and conflicts](/content/save-and-publish)