What is Dynamic Template?

A dynamic template is the foundation of design automation. It's a design where specific elements are marked as "dynamic", meaning they can be replaced with different content for each generated variant.

What makes a template "dynamic":

• Named layers or fields that map to data inputs
• Text elements that accept variable strings
• Image placeholders that accept URLs
• Color values that can be overridden per render
• Visibility toggles for conditional elements

Template creation approaches:

1. Visual editor import (Canva): Design in Canva, import into Layerre. Layer names become the dynamic fields.
2. Built-in editor: Design directly in the automation platform's editor (BannerBear, Placid, Renderform).
3. Code-defined (JSON): Define the template as a JSON object specifying layout, typography, and dynamic fields (Creatomate, Shotstack).

Best practices for dynamic templates:

• Use descriptive layer names (e.g., "headline" not "Text 1")
• Keep dynamic elements on separate layers
• Test with variable-length content to ensure the design adapts
• Use consistent naming across related templates (e.g., same "headline" field name in all ad sizes)
• Consider edge cases: missing images, very long text, empty fields

Template vs. variant:

The template is the master design. A variant is one rendered output with specific data substituted into the dynamic fields. One template can produce unlimited variants.