Masters, formats and runs
A master is the one design you build by hand. A format is a size you need it in, such as a digital banner or an Instagram story. A run is Mestra building your master into the formats for one brand.
You design the master once in InDesign, Figma or Canva. Mestra reads its elements and gives each a role: headline, subhead, body, CTA, legal, logo, icon, background or decorative. It guesses roles from the layout. The largest text is the headline. Short capitals are the CTA. A vector graphic is the logo. You can change any role in the app before you start.
Each format is a size plus a few rules: bleed, safe margin, the smallest type allowed, and what must be included or left out. A new organisation starts with the pack “Common shopping-centre sizes”. You can add the “Social” pack, or make your own formats. Formats are measured in px, pt or mm. Type sizes are always in points.
Why it works this way
Section titled “Why it works this way”Resizing by hand is slow, and each resize is a chance for a mistake. So Mestra builds every format from your master’s own elements, not from a flattened picture. The result stays editable in your design app.
A run covers one brand because brands differ: logos, colours, fonts and rules. Tick three brands and you get three runs. The same format is then built once for each.
Mestra checks the result against the layout rules, looks at the exported image, and fixes only what is clearly safe. What it doesn’t fix is flagged for you, or listed as a review note in the plugins. See Review and flags.
What happens in a run
Section titled “What happens in a run”A run goes through the same stages every time.
- Check and read. The app checks the master and reads its elements. Mestra then confirms your plan has room for every format in the run.
- Plan and build. Mestra plans a layout for each format, and your design app builds it.
- Check, export and review. Your design app checks the layout rules and exports the files, then Mestra reviews the image.
While a run is going, each format shows a status such as “Planning”, “Building” or “Reviewing”. You can press Cancel while a run is going. Formats not yet planned don’t count. Formats already planned do count. Formats already built are kept, and the rest show Cancelled. In Canva, a page that finished building just after you cancelled stays in the design but isn’t used. Generate again reuses it. Mestra doesn’t promise how long a run takes.
If a format fails, or its review didn’t finish, press Try again under it in the design app. The first three re-plans of the same format in the same run are free. A retry that succeeds on a format that never built counts as one format.
Only editors and owners can start a run.
How formats are counted
Section titled “How formats are counted”Your plan includes a number of formats each month. One format is counted each time a layout is planned successfully. A format that fails isn’t counted. The count is per run, so formats multiplied by brands. If your plan doesn’t have room for every format in the run, the run doesn’t start. The sample brand has its own free allowance. Plan sizes are on the pricing page.
How it fits with other parts of Mestra
Section titled “How it fits with other parts of Mestra”- A campaign picks which formats to build, and the copy for them.
- A brand sets the logos, colours, fonts and rules each run follows.
- Finished files can be kept in the library.