Classic, Wide, and Hexagon formats

Summary

Format sets the artboard's physical size and shape before you design. Blotter Builder offers three true-to-size formats — Classic square, Wide, and Hexagon — matched to physical blotter sizes, and you can switch between them at any time while working.

Use it when

• You are starting a new design and need to match a specific physical blotter size before placing artwork.
• You want to see how an in-progress design looks in a different shape before committing.
• You are following another article's steps and it refers to "the current format" or asks you to confirm the artboard shape.

Before you begin

Nothing to prepare. Format is the first control most readers touch — it is listed as step 1 in the editor's own Getting started panel and sits at the top of the Options panel (desktop) or the Options sheet (mobile).

If you already have artwork placed, read Warnings and limits below before switching — changing format clears the canvas.

Steps

1. Open Options — visible directly in the right-hand inspector on desktop, or via the Options button in the bottom bar on mobile.
2. Under Format, select one of the three radio buttons:
   • Classic square — 7.5 × 7.5 in
   • Wide — 6.25 × 10 in
   • Hexagon — 6.58 × 7.6 in
3. If the artboard is empty, the artboard reshapes immediately — no confirmation is asked.
4. If the artboard has any content, a Switch format? dialog appears instead. Read it, select I understand my current design will be cleared., then select Proceed to continue or Cancel to keep the current format and design untouched.

What changes

• The artboard's shape and printable area update to match the selected format. Classic square renders as a square, Wide as a tall rectangle, and Hexagon as a six-sided shape inscribed in a square stage.
• Switching format while the canvas has any content — placed images, paint, shapes, paths, or text — clears every layer from the artboard once you proceed. Files already added under Uploads are not deleted; only what was placed on the artboard is removed.
• Rail and inspector settings not tied to canvas content — for example Snap to grid — are unaffected by a format switch.
• The device recovery record in Saved drafts updates to the new, cleared state once you proceed, per the dialog's own note that the current design "is saved on this device and can be recovered" before you confirm.

Print note

Each format's listed dimensions (7.5×7.5 in, 6.25×10 in, 6.58×7.6 in) are the true-to-size physical blotter dimensions the format is named for. The on-screen grid pitch shown in View is flagged with a Grid — Placeholder badge and the note 0.25in grid/perforation spacing is provisional — not yet confirmed against physical stock, so treat perforation alignment as provisional in all three formats until that placeholder is resolved.

Needs product confirmation: whether bleed, safe-zone margins, or DPI thresholds differ by format. The placeholder bleed/safe-zone note observed in The editor at a glance was not re-verified per format for this article.

Warnings and limits

• Switching format with content on the artboard is destructive to the canvas: every layer is removed. The Switch format? dialog requires you to actively check I understand my current design will be cleared. before Proceed becomes selectable — there is no way to proceed without acknowledging the warning.
• Cancel in the Switch format? dialog leaves the format and the canvas exactly as they were; nothing is lost by backing out.
• The clearing applies only to the artboard. Uploaded files, saved swatches, and templates in the left rail are not affected by a format switch.
• If you switch format by mistake and already confirmed, use the device recovery flow in Saved drafts — the dialog's own text points to it — rather than trying to rebuild the design from Uploads.

Desktop and mobile

The Format control is available in the same place relative to Options on both layouts, per The editor at a glance: directly in the inspector on desktop (768 px and wider), and inside the Options sheet reached from the bottom bar on narrower viewports. The three format buttons, their labels, and the Switch format? dialog behavior were confirmed at 390 × 844 to be reachable the same way; no layout-specific differences were found.

Troubleshooting

Related topics

• The editor at a glance
• Artboard, stage, and tool rail
• Device recovery
• Grid and realistic preview

Verification note

Verified against Blotter Builder on 2026-07-20.

Source notes

Primary observations — all from the live application at https://blotterbuilder.tdl.fyi, 2026-07-20:

• Observed — the three format radio buttons and their listed dimensions: Classic square 7.5×7.5 in, Wide 6.25×10 in, Hexagon 6.58×7.6 in.
• Observed — selecting Wide or Hexagon on an empty artboard reshaped the artboard immediately with no dialog (document.querySelector('[role=dialog]') and a heading-text check both returned no match).
• Observed — placed the demo artwork on a Hexagon artboard, then selected Wide. A Switch format? dialog appeared: "Switching formats will clear the canvas. Your current design is saved on this device and can be recovered.", with a required checkbox "I understand my current design will be cleared.", and Cancel / Proceed buttons.
• Observed — the Proceed button's disabled property was true before the checkbox was checked and false immediately after.
• Observed — selecting Cancel closed the dialog with the format control still reporting aria-checked="true" on Hexagon and the artwork still on the artboard.
• Observed — repeating the flow and selecting Proceed cleared the artboard (the Getting started panel reappeared) and set the format to Wide, while the demo artwork file remained listed under Uploads and Snap to grid remained in whatever state it held before the switch.
• Observed — at 390 × 844, opening the Options sheet from the bottom bar surfaced the same three format buttons with the same accessible labels.
• Needs product confirmation — per-format bleed, safe-zone, and DPI behavior; not isolated and re-tested for this article.

Verification log