Documentation
Everything you need to know about Gloria — from basic canvas tools to advanced AI workflows. Start with the basics or jump to a specific section.
Getting Started
Creating a project
Click "New Project" from the home screen. Your project auto-saves as you work — you'll see a save indicator in the tab bar. Use Cmd+S (Mac) or Ctrl+S (Windows) to manually save at any time.
Navigating the canvas
Use the scroll wheel to pan the canvas. Hold Cmd/Ctrl + scroll to zoom in and out. Press H or hold Space to temporarily switch to the pan tool for click-and-drag navigation.
Free credits
Every new account receives 20 free AI credits. Credits are used for AI image generation, background removal, HD upscale, and workflow execution. Credit costs are shown next to each AI action before you use it.
Project customization
Right-click a project on the home screen and select "Customize" to set a brand identity, color palette, reference image, and default AI models. Your brand identity is used to optimize AI prompts automatically.
Canvas Tools
Shapes
Gloria offers a full set of shape tools: Rectangle (R), Ellipse (O), Line (L), Arrow, Polygon, Diamond, and Star. Hold Shift while drawing to constrain to a square or 1:1 ratio. Every shape supports corner radius, multiple fills, multiple strokes, and effects.
Frames
Press F to activate the Frame tool. Frames act as containers — elements inside a frame move with it and can be clipped to its bounds. Use frame presets for common sizes: iPhone, iPad, Android, Desktop, social media formats (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook), and paper sizes (A4, A5, A6).
Text
Press T to add text. Gloria supports full typography controls: font family (40+ fonts), weight (100-900), size, line height, letter spacing, alignment, text decoration, and text transform. Use Cmd+B for bold, Cmd+I for italic, Cmd+U for underline.
Pen tool
Press P to activate the Pen tool. Click to place points and create precise Bezier curves. Press Escape or Enter to finalize your path. Each point can have independent curve control handles.
Pencil tool
Press Shift+P to activate the Pencil tool for freehand drawing. Draw freely on the canvas — your strokes are automatically simplified for clean paths. If you draw near your starting point, the path auto-closes.
Images
Import images via the toolbar upload button or drag-and-drop files onto the canvas. Supports JPEG, PNG, WebP, and SVG. Use the crop tool to adjust image framing by dragging the corner handles.
SVG color editing
When you select an SVG element, Gloria extracts all colors from the SVG and lets you edit them individually in the properties panel. Changes are non-destructive — the original SVG is preserved.
AI Generation
Text-to-Image
Open the AI panel from the toolbar (the sparkle icon) and type a prompt describing what you want to generate. Select a model, adjust parameters if needed, and click Generate. The result appears directly on your canvas as a new element.
Image editing with AI
Select an existing element on the canvas, then use the AI panel in "Edit" mode. You can attach the selected element as input and describe what changes you want. The AI will modify the image based on your prompt while preserving the overall composition.
Quick AI
Select any element and click the Quick AI button in the properties panel (right sidebar). This sends the element to AI for instant transformation using your current prompt and default model. The default model is Nano Banana 2 (changeable in project customization).
Available models
Gloria includes 10+ AI models: Seedream (v4, v4.5), Nano Banana (1 & 2), Z-Image, FLUX Klein, FLUX Kontext (Pro & Max), GPT Image, Grok Imagine, and Qwen Image. Each model has different strengths — experiment to find what works best for your style.
Prompt optimization
Enable "Optimize Prompt" to have an LLM refine your prompt before sending it to the image model. If you've set a brand identity in project customization, the optimizer incorporates your brand voice and style guidelines automatically.
Model parameters
Many models support advanced parameters: guidance scale (how closely to follow the prompt), number of steps (quality vs speed tradeoff), image quality, strength (for edits — how much to change), and aspect ratio / resolution options. Access these via the model settings in the AI panel.
Workflows
What are workflows?
Workflows let you chain AI models together visually. Instead of running one model at a time, you can build a pipeline: for example, an LLM writes a prompt, which feeds into an image generator, which feeds into an upscaler — all connected with drag-and-drop.
Adding nodes
Click the workflow icon in the bottom toolbar to open the node selector. Choose from 20+ model nodes including image generators, LLMs (text generation), and VLMs (vision + text). Each node is placed on the canvas as a visual block with input/output ports.
Connecting nodes
Drag from an output port (right side of a node) to an input port (left side of another node) to create a connection. Port colors indicate type: blue for images, green/purple for text. Connected nodes pass their output to the next node's input automatically.
Running workflows
Click "Run Workflow" or trigger individual node connections. When a workflow runs, each node executes in order: the first node generates output, which flows through connections to the next node, and so on. You'll see real-time status indicators on each node.
Node types
Image model nodes take optional image input + text prompt and output a generated image. LLM nodes take text input and output text (great for writing prompts). VLM nodes take an image + text and output a description (useful for analyzing images before processing).
Workflow results
After a node completes, you'll see the result in the node preview. Use the Confirm button to convert the output into a canvas element, or the Paste button to place it directly on the canvas. The Close button dismisses the preview.
Styling & Effects
Multiple fills & strokes
Every element supports multiple fill and stroke layers. Add layers in the properties panel and toggle their visibility. Strokes can be positioned inside, center, or outside the element bounds.
Effects
Gloria supports 7 effect types: Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, Layer Blur, Background Blur, Noise (grain), Texture, and Glass (glassmorphism). Each effect has adjustable parameters — shadow offset, blur radius, noise amount, glass tint, and more.
Blend modes
Apply blend modes to elements: Normal, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Darken, and Lighten. These control how the element visually composites with elements below it.
Opacity
Adjust element opacity from 0-100% in the properties panel. Individual fill and stroke layers also have independent opacity controls.
Image Tools
HD Upscale
Select an image element and click the HD Upscale button in the properties panel. This uses SeedVR to double the image resolution (2x). Costs 4 credits per upscale. The upscaled image replaces the original.
Remove Background
Select an image and click "Remove Background" in the properties panel. Uses AI to cleanly separate the subject from the background, creating a transparent PNG. Costs 2 credits.
Image Cropping
Select an image and enter crop mode. Drag the corner handles to adjust the visible area. The crop is non-destructive — the original image data is preserved.
Organization
Layers panel
The layers panel (left sidebar) shows your element hierarchy as a tree. Drag layers to reorder them. Click to select, double-click to focus or edit text. Right-click for quick actions: duplicate, lock/unlock, bring to front, send to back, or delete.
Grouping
Select multiple elements and press Cmd+G (Mac) or Ctrl+G (Windows) to group them. Groups move, resize, and transform as a single unit. Press Cmd+Shift+G to ungroup.
Lock & hide
Press L with an element selected to lock it — locked elements can't be moved or resized. Toggle visibility in the layers panel to temporarily hide elements while you work on others.
Snap guides
Elements snap to a 50px grid and to the edges/centers of other elements as you move or resize them. Alignment guides appear automatically to help you position elements precisely.
Export
Export formats
Export elements as PNG (lossless raster), JPG (compressed raster at 92% quality), or SVG (scalable vector). Select one or more elements, then use the export panel in the properties sidebar.
Scale options
Export at 1x, 2x, or 3x resolution. Higher scales produce larger pixel dimensions — useful for retina displays or print. SVG exports are resolution-independent.
Frame export
Exporting a frame includes all its child elements. If the frame has "Clip Content" enabled, exported content is clipped to the frame bounds — perfect for creating artboard-style exports.
Teams
Creating a team
Click "Create Team" on the home screen. Give your team a name and invite members. Team projects appear in a separate section on the home screen.
Roles
Team members can have different roles: Owner (full control), Editor (can edit projects), and Observer (view-only access). The team owner can manage members and roles.
Real-time collaboration
Team members can work on the same project simultaneously. You'll see colored cursors showing where each collaborator is working on the canvas. Changes sync in real-time.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Tools
V = Select, H = Pan, R = Rectangle, O = Ellipse, L = Line, F = Frame, T = Text, P = Pen, Shift+P = Pencil. Press Space (hold) to temporarily pan.
Editing
Cmd+Z = Undo, Cmd+Shift+Z = Redo, Cmd+C = Copy, Cmd+V = Paste, Cmd+D = Duplicate, Cmd+A = Select All, Delete/Backspace = Delete selected.
Formatting
Cmd+B = Bold, Cmd+I = Italic, Cmd+U = Underline, Cmd+Shift+X = Strikethrough. (All with Ctrl on Windows.)
Organization
Cmd+G = Group, Cmd+Shift+G = Ungroup, L = Lock/Unlock, ] = Bring to Front, [ = Send to Back, Cmd+S = Save.
Ready to start designing?
Open Gloria