Elements
Give a character, product, place, brand or style an @handle and reference files, so Benchy gets it right every time.
An Element is something Benchy should get right every time: a character, a product, a place, a brand or a style. Elements belong to the workspace's library. Each has a name, an @handle unique in the workspace, a description of up to 4,000 characters and up to 16 reference files; a workspace holds up to 500.
Kinds and files
| Kind | Typical reference files |
|---|---|
| Character | Turnarounds, expressions, a 3D model |
| Product | Photos from every side, the packaging, dimensions, the 3D model |
| Place | Photos and plans of a room, shop or scene |
| Brand | The logo, colours, fonts and a few finished pieces |
| Style | Example images, materials, finishes, fonts |
An Element can also have no kind. A reference can be an image, a 3D model, a video, audio, a document or a font (.woff2, .woff, .ttf or .otf). Check a font's license allows your use before you share work made with it.
Make an Element
Open Elements from the workspace menu, from a canvas's Files, or with Manage Elements at the end of any @ list, then choose New Element. Give it a name (the handle follows it until you change it), a description and a kind, and add reference files. To start from one file on a canvas, choose Create Element from its menu; upload it to the canvas first if it isn't there.
Screenshot: an Element — its @handle, its description and its reference files.
Private or Workspace
A new Element is Workspace: every member can find it with @ and use it, and members who can edit can change it. Private keeps it to you. Only the person who made an Element changes which it is.
DESIGN.md for a brand
A Brand Element can import and export a DESIGN.md, the design-system file in Google's open DESIGN.md format that tools such as Google Stitch write. Choose the Brand kind, then Import under DESIGN.md. You can also add colours by hand: Add colour, a name, and a value such as #1a2b3c.
| In the file | In the Element |
|---|---|
name and description | The Element's name and description |
colors, typography, spacing, rounded and components | The brand's colours, type styles, spacing steps, corner radii and components, as written |
| A Logo, Logos or Brand assets section | The brand's logos, from the images and links in it |
| Overview, Colors, Typography and the other sections | Kept as written, in order |
Anything the format doesn't define is kept, written back on export, and named by the import as unused. A value in the wrong shape is left out and listed, and a file that repeats a section is refused. A Brand Element with a DESIGN.md can be saved before it has any files.
Export writes the Element back out as DESIGN.md. When the file had no logo section, image files you labelled "logo" are listed in one.
Use an Element
Type @ and the handle in a chat, or choose + then Add an Element; in Generate, type @ in the prompt. Benchy follows the Element's description and files, so the result comes out the same across every image, model and video. You can also place an Element's reference file straight onto the canvas.
Revisions and archiving
Every change makes a new revision, and whatever already uses an Element keeps the revision it was made with. Archive hides an Element from the list without deleting its files or breaking what uses it; Restore brings it back.