# Using areas in product templates

After setting the dimensions of your template, you can add areas to your template.

## What are areas?**[​](https://help.printlane.com/guide/templates.html#what-are-areas)**

Areas are sections in the template that can be used to:

- determine where a layer is **visible**

- change the **position** of a layer

- **scale** loaded images to **fit or fill the area**

- **inform** the user when an image does not fill the area

To get started, navigate to the tab **3. Areas** when adding or editing a template.

## Create a rectangular area

To create a rectangular area, follow these steps:

1. **Click and hold** your mouse button and start drawing the area (or click on the button **Add area** and choose **Rectangle**)

2. **Change the position and dimensions** of the area with your mouse or by clicking the edit button

3. Optionally **give the area a name** for easy reference in your template

![Create a rectangular area](https://downloads.intercomcdn.com/i/o/gap6px7i/1739855259/a44788fb4199e7f8784ac877690e/output.gif?expires=1793392200&signature=80c86b007c8cf642f0283442f1d2552758b94aa4757e14841e0442409d2c259a&req=dSckH8F7mINaUPMW1HO4zdcZOhQVRa04FES%2FDWTK%2FhHdBjHDNwcTZArMTeMX%0AdVy4TBF%2FIkVoqGyQTEE%3D%0A)

## Use an area to restrict the visiblity of a layer

A common use case for areas is **limiting a layer’s visibility**. This is useful when you want the full product to be visible in the designer, but restrict customization to a specific area.

Navigate to tab **4. Preview** and click on the button with the pencil icon next to a layer. Open the **Position** tab and select an area in the **Limit visibility** dropdown:

![Use an area to restrict the visibility of a layer](https://downloads.intercomcdn.com/i/o/gap6px7i/1739855262/a465beb87de4d6bc4c29aeaeb8c5/output2.gif?expires=1793392200&signature=5f91973bdc94dbcf236dbd17a909892c3d6474ea45b28f8dbd945fb1b64728f7&req=dSckH8F7mINZW%2FMW1HO4zfNpOR8%2BdusvvVl1lZ4GqXjq5mzciCEIO5yNfUDB%0AKiSr7W%2FD41JR8c07Lqk%3D%0A)

## Create a mask area

In the example above, the area does not cover the entire case. If you want customers to design the entire case, you need to take into account the rounded corners and the cut-out of the camera in the smartphone case.

For such specific forms or cutouts you can work with mask areas. They allow you to exactly decide what will be visible and what won't, by uploading an image.

This works just like a Layer Mask in Photoshop: where the image is fully transparent, content won't be shown. Take a look at the example video to see how you can create such an area so the entire case can be designed:

[https://player.vimeo.com/video/1118056291](https://player.vimeo.com/video/1118056291)

## Use an area to automatically scale a picture to fit or fill

For picture and artwork layers, you can configure that the uploaded picture or the selected artwork is **automatically scaled** to match the dimensions of an area.

To do this, edit a layer and navigate to the tab **Size**. You can configure if the layer must **fit in or fill** an area. This allows you to directly scale the chosen graphic so it either fills (useful for backgrounds) or fits (useful for logos).

## Use an area to warn the user about a image's size

You can also use an area to ensure that an image fills the entire area, or at least show a warning.

By default, picture or artwork layers don't have any size requirement, but it can be useful to warn the user that the image better fills a specific area. If you want to prevent users from submitting a design in which the image does not fill a specific area, you can configure that an error must be shown.

To do this, edit a layer and navigate to the tab **Size**. Choose in the **Size requirement** dropdown to **Warn** or **Show an error** if the image does not fill.

## Use an area to change the position of a layer

If you quickly want to change the position of a layer to the center of an area, you can edit a layer, navigate to the **tab position** and click on the button **change position**.

You can then choose to update the position of the layer to the center of one of the template's areas.

Alternatively, you can change the dimension directly in the **Live Preview** by clicking on the button **Position** and choosing one of the values.