GraFx Studio: Improved Smart Crop and More
✨ New & Improved
Smart Crop improvements
Smart Crop is GraFx Studio's AI-powered fill mode that automatically zooms and positions an image inside a frame so the most important part stays in view, based on the image's Subject Area and POI (Point of Interest) — detected automatically by GraFx Genie. This release is a major upgrade:
- A more predictable algorithm. The new version needs far less trial-and-error. It always fills the frame with no empty edges, always keeps the POI inside the frame's Subject Position, and fits as much of the Subject Area as it can — only cropping in as a last resort.
- Subject alignment. A new setting nudges the subject toward any side of the frame's Subject Position instead of always centering it, so a subject can hug a layout edge and stay there across different aspect ratios.
- Automatic versioning. Each frame keeps the version it was built with, so existing templates render exactly as before — and a "New smart crop available — apply it" prompt upgrades a frame to the latest algorithm in one click.
- Five live previews. The asset details panel now shows five preview aspect ratios instead of three, in both GraFx Media and the Studio workspace, making it easier to set the right Subject Area and POI.
See the Smart Crop guide for full details.
Map component image variables to list variables
You can now map a component's image variable to a template's single-select list variable, giving template designers a more flexible way to drive component imagery from list-based choices.
Richer metadata mappings
Metadata mappings now support additional variable types, so more of your asset metadata can flow into templates automatically.
Auto-grow and copyfitting at the same time
Text frames can now use auto-grow and copyfitting together — a frame can both expand to fit its text and scale the text to stay within limits, a combination that previously meant choosing one or the other.
Layouts & Pages tabs are always visible
The Layouts and Pages tabs now stay visible for every layout intent, including animation and digital static layouts, so navigation is consistent no matter what you are designing.
Reorganized gradient color picker
The linear gradient color picker has been reorganized — the Colors/Custom toggle now sits below the gradient bar — making gradients easier to read and adjust.
Clearer warning for missing fonts in components
When you add a component that contains a missing font, GraFx Studio now shows an error dialog right away, so you can resolve the font reference instead of running into a silent failure.
Connector improvements
Working with connectors is now cleaner in two ways: unused connectors are automatically removed from a document when you save it, and connector mapping offers expanded options for how a data source maps into your templates.
🐛 Bug Fixes
Workspace and editing
Selecting a layout no longer makes the Layouts panel jump back to the top. The override dropdown list is sized correctly again, after becoming too narrow for its reset options. The interface now refreshes properly when you undo switching a variable, a template keeps its correct name after a "Save as", and the character-limit field once again accepts its maximum value.
Text rendering
We fixed three text issues: incorrect letter tracking when combined with a stroke, a glyph that was placed in the wrong position for a specific font, and a separate font that rendered incorrectly.
Images and frames
An image on the canvas now updates immediately after a Brand Kit sync, and copying and pasting an anchored frame onto a different page works correctly.
Reliability
All requests now go through the authentication refresh mechanism, reducing unexpected failures during long sessions, and the SDK's image-upload staging call now handles token expiration gracefully.