# Create a scene: blank or from a template

At the end, a new scene with a name, format, and layout is open in the editor. It starts either on a blank stage or as a copy of a built-in template.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** Anyone who designs new display content.
> **Prerequisite:** the permission to create scenes. If it is missing, **Create scene** stays grayed out. To design, you also need a tablet or a desk: on a phone, **Editing from tablet width** appears instead of the editor.
> **Where in the portal:** **Scenes** › **Create scene** button · **Scenes** › **Templates**

## Steps

### Start on a blank stage

1. Open **Scenes**. You can narrow the list with the **Status** filter (**Draft**, **Published**, **Archived**, or **All**). The quick action **New scene** on the dashboard takes the same path.
2. Click **Create scene**. The **New scene** dialog opens with three sections.
3. Under **Basics**, enter the **Scene name**, for example “Shop window summer promo”.
4. Under **Format**, choose the **Aspect ratio**: **Landscape** or **Portrait** with the presets offered. **Custom format …** opens the fields **Width (pixels)** and **Height (pixels)**. The note below states the allowed range for each edge.
5. Under **Layout**, choose a grid as a starting point or **Free scene** without a grid. If there is no grid for the chosen format, it says: “No grid matches this format yet — the scene starts free.”
6. Confirm with **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 with the grid cards and the Free scene card (3), and the Create scene button (4)](/docs/content/bilder/7290dc8e-new-scene-dialog.png)

### Start from a template

1. Open **Scenes** › **Templates**. The templates are built in. You do not need to install or create anything. From the editor, the **Browse templates** button leads there as well.
2. Narrow the gallery. You can combine three ways: the search field **What do you want to show?** across name and description, the **Format** (**Landscape**, **Portrait**, **Video wall**), and the **Category** (**Welcome**, **Information**, **Promotion**, **Notice**, **Health**, **Food & drink**, **Events**, **Live data**, **Seasonal**).
3. Hover over a tile and click **Use**.
4. In the **Scene from template** dialog, adjust the **Scene name** and confirm with **Create scene**.

![The template gallery under Scenes › Templates with the search field “What do you want to show?” (1), the filters for format and category (2), a tile with a frozen preview and the badge for a required app (3), and the Use button on the tile under the pointer (4)](/docs/content/bilder/ee412f0d-template-gallery.png)

## Options

- Video wall templates are deliberately not listed under **Landscape**. Their layout is designed for very wide areas from about 21:9 and makes no sense on an ordinary 16:9 display.
- The required apps appear as a small badge under a template's description. You can also use the template without that app and look at it in the editor. It can be played on the device only after the app is installed.
- Built-in images become your own copies in the **System media** folder of your media library when you use the template. From then on, they belong to you. If you use two templates with the same background, you still get only one media item.
- Each tile in the gallery shows the template itself, not a drawing, as a frozen preview of its document.
- Creating scenes from templates requires the **Pro** package. There, **Templates, roles and permissions** appears in the list of features. In a smaller package, the portal rejects **Use**.

## Check the result

- The scene opens directly in the editor, and the header shows the name and the status badge **Draft**.
- Under **Scenes**, it appears in the list with the status **Draft** and the time of the last change.
- A scene created from a template is independent from then on: changes to the built-in templates do not affect it, and your changes do not affect the template.
- Format and layout are only the starting state. You switch both later in the editor, see [Configure a scene](/docs/content/configure-scene).

## If something goes wrong

| Symptom | Meaning | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| **Create scene** is grayed out | You lack the permission to create scenes | An **Owner** or **Manager** creates them, see [Permissions by role and by area](/docs/organization/permissions-by-role). |
| **Scene could not be created.** | Creating failed along the way | Check the name and confirm again. |
| **No template matches this selection.** | Search, category, or format rule everything out | Reset the filters, especially the format. |
| **Use** is rejected | The booked package does not include the template library | Create a blank scene through **Create scene** or change the package. |
| **Editing from tablet width** appears instead of the editor | The window is too narrow for palette, stage, and properties | Open it on a tablet or at a desk. On a phone, the preview and the state of the scene remain. |
| A template carries the badge of an app you do not have | The app is not installed | You can still use the template. To play it, install the app, see [Install or book an app](/docs/apps/install-app). |

## Related

- [The scene editor at a glance](/docs/content/scene-editor)
- [Which format does a scene need for which display?](/docs/content/about-scene-formats)
- [Install or book an app](/docs/apps/install-app)