Purpose and Layout

Studio is used to prepare an artwork canvas, arrange References, adjust their dimensions and transformations, and work with composition guides, grids, and color samples. Studio is not a pixel editor: resizing, moving, cropping, or rotating a Reference does not rewrite the original image file.

Top toolbar – create, open, save, and close projects; Undo/Redo; add and remove References; center, flip, and crop; export and print.
Left panel – Reference list and selected-Reference parameters, followed by canvas, composition-guide, and grid settings.
Canvas viewport – position and transform References with the mouse; examine guides, grids, and sample strips.
Color Analysis panel – sample colors, compare colors and values, manage the Sample Palette and Sample Strips.
Bottom status bar – concise status, canvas dimensions, counts of References, samples and strips, plus mouse X/Y coordinates.

The Studio File menu applies to the Studio document only. Viewer and Journal have separate project controls, although all three workspaces may store their documents inside the same ARS project folder.

Undo and Redo

The Studio toolbar has two arrow buttons:

Undo (Ctrl+Z) – reverses the most recent supported Studio editing action.Redo (Ctrl+Y) – reapplies that action if it has been undone and no new edit has replaced it.

This version keeps one undoable action, not an unlimited history. For example, after changing a Reference’s width, Undo restores the previous width; Redo reapplies the change. A new edit after Undo invalidates the old Redo opportunity.

Most everyday edits to References, canvas, composition guides, grids, refinement areas, color samples, and Sample Strips are supported. A completed mouse drag is treated as one action, rather than hundreds of intermediate movements. Support may differ by individual operation; when an action is not undoable, the Undo button is disabled.

Important: while editing a number or text inside an input control, `Ctrl+Z` may act on the editor itself. Confirm the edit and move focus out of the field before testing Studio document Undo. While Reference cropping is active, Enter applies the crop and Escape cancels; the general Studio Undo/Redo commands are unavailable during cropping.

Zoom and Measurement Units

The upper-right Fit To View, 1:1, and zoom slider control how the canvas is displayed. With a calibrated monitor profile, 1:1 = 100% of the canvas’s assigned physical size on screen. For instance, 10 cm of canvas is 10 cm on the monitor. Fit To View instead fits the available viewport and is not necessarily physical 1:1. Zoom changes only the display; it does not change Reference geometry or stored canvas dimensions.

Canvas, Reference, and grid dimensions can be displayed in cm or in. Changing the displayed unit converts the numbers without changing the physical size.

Bottom Status Bar

Ready – ordinary status text when no other brief message is being displayed.
Canvas – physical width and height, in the selected measurement unit.
References – number of loaded References.
Samples and Strips – counts of saved color samples and Sample Strips.
X / Y – mouse position relative to the canvas, in centimeters or inches. A dash is shown when the pointer is outside the canvas.

The displayed X/Y coordinates account for the current viewport zoom. The status bar is informational: its values do not modify the document or replace the selected Reference’s own X/Y fields.

Shared Settings and Help

The window title bar has a Settings gear and a Help question-mark control. They are available from Studio, Viewer, and Journal. The Settings dialog is shared by the three workspaces. Set the physical display calibration first; it also contains language, measurement units, and independent defaults for Studio, Viewer, and Journal.