AI-powered template generation provides an all-new way of creating templates for your digital signage applications. This approach can help jumpstart the creation process or help provide that spark needed to get past creative roadblocks.

Using the Template Generator

Step 1. 

To get started, navigate to the Templates section in your account https://as1.reveldigital.com/templates. Much like the usual template creation process, choose the New Template button, but now you will see a new 'Generate with AI' option. 

Choosing this option will launch the AI-powered Template Generator.

Step 2.

Like many popular AI tools, all that's required to generate a template is a simple text prompt describing the kind of template layout you're looking for.

Additional optional template properties may be configured in this step, including Primary Color, Style, Color Scheme, and Resolution. Scroll through the Style menu all the way to browse both lists of popular Image Styles and common Color Schemes, and choose from common orientation and screen resolution configurations using the Resolution drop-down.

A prompt doesn't need to be perfect right away (and likely won't be). Prompts can be revised and iterated on as much as needed. However, if you foresee the need to set the Style, Color Scheme, or Resolution, now is the time to set them, as they retain their setting once the first template is generated. To change these settings, just choose Cancel and return to Step 1.

Clicking Generate will submit your prompt and start the template generation process.

Templates may take between a matter of seconds and a few minutes to finish generating, depending on the complexity and content defined in the prompt.

More is more

Feel free to make the prompt as simple or as complex as you wish. For example, the prompt can be as simple as:

"design a menu board layout for my coffee shop"

Keep in mind, the generator will usually take more creative liberties when provided with a simpler prompt. Providing a bit more information will generally yield better results, as the generator has more information to go off of, and can more precisely custom-tailor the layout to suit your exact needs. In the example below, the simple coffee shop prompt from above has been expanded to be both more specific and detailed.

"design a menu board layout for my coffee shop in a modern but cozy theme.
Include the time in the top right corner in HH:MM AM/PM format.
Include a QR code in the bottom right corner linking to the menu.
Color pallet should include #a68873, #d7b397, #9b7e5e, #76644b, #b09069.
Footer along bottom should include company website, address, and social media handles"

The AI engine has 'knowledge' of many of the common zones and gadgets available in the template editor. So zone types can be referenced by name and customized all the way down to field population and settings configurations.

Use the Weather Gadget to display forecast information in my city

Or conversely, provide a high-level overview, allowing the Template Generator to determine the most appropriate gadget.

In white text, show the 5 day forecast in Celsius

Iterations on a theme

The resulting template preview will consist of a number of zones that attempt to meet the requirements specified in the prompt. At this point, there are a few different ways to proceed depending on how satisfactory the results are. Below, we'll step through a few options:

Satisfactory - In the simplest scenario, the preview results are satisfactory. Your concept, along with the prompt and the template generator execution, are all closely aligned such that the preview closely resembles the target design. To accept the newly generated template as it appears, go ahead and choose Accept. The template will be saved to your account, at which point any further necessary changes can be made manually.

Needs Improvement - In this case, the template preview results may be promising, or even nearly perfect, but it still needs some improvement. For this type of situation, it's important to know that the template generator is able to retain context for a given design. This means that it's possible to modify the existing design exactly as is, using a new prompt focusing only on the new changes that still need improvement. Take this example, for instance. Below, we've prompted the generator to come up with a menu board design.

Create a digital menu board for a restaurant that makes burgers

The result matches the prompt well, but three changes need to be made:

• The font could be improved; choose another one instead
• The name should be Burger Bistro instead of Burger Palace
• It looks like a Gallery zone was added to the right side, but let's try showing specials there instead

To achieve this, the original prompt should be removed and replaced with a new prompt altogether detailing the next round of modifications

Replace the Gallery zone with information on Today's specials and change the name in 
the header to Burger Bistro. The font is too bold; try another popular font instead

Perfect! All three points were addressed, and the rest of the template stayed the same. Now, at this point, if that's all that was needed, the template could be saved as is. Alternatively, if more changes were needed, we could continue iterating on the design indefinitely.

This one worked out in our favor, but let's imagine instead that the results weren't very compelling. Just provide another prompt explaining that you'd like to revert to an earlier revision, or even back to the original, which should function much like an 'Undo' button.

Revert back to the original design

This iterative approach can be a huge benefit for this type of situation, since it keeps the satisfactory elements and only attempts to address the problematic areas. Iterating on the design in this way is where you might find yourself spending the majority of your time in this AI workflow.

Unsatisfactory - In this type of instance, the preview has missed the mark completely, and the result simply doesn't match your design goals. It may be necessary to go back and revise the prompt. It may just need some minor rewording and additional key details, or it may even need to be rewritten altogether. Provide the new prompt and click generate again. Keep in mind, if the prompt looks ok, but the resulting template still isn't what you're looking for, you can always try clicking Generate again, which should yield a new, unique result. If it becomes necessary to clear the context to start fresh, just choose cancel and return to step 1.

Still not getting the result you want? Try the following:

• Wrong color - provide reference color(s) or colors to exclude
• Wrong zones - include specific zones to be included or excluded
• Wrong functionality- include information to populate the fields or settings for zones/gadgets
• Wrong layout - Explicitly include location description or pixel coordinates and/or height/width info

Advanced Functionality

To satisfy prompt requirements, the Template Generator, in the background, may sometimes generate an AI image or generate a playlist to populate a given zone. These playlists and media will be saved to your account after choosing the Accept button. If, for instance, you'd rather not use AI-generated media and have your own specific media files you'd like used instead, they can be referenced from within the prompt by using the language 'my image' followed by the media name in single quotes.

Create a layout that includes my image 'Coffee beans' as the background image.

Note: As you iterate on a prompt or re-generate and evolve the template design, it's important to keep in mind that sometimes not all generated zones may be visible in the template preview.

Gadgets that aren't populated with the necessary fields, when rendered in the template preview, may include little to no data. To generate richer and fully formed template previews, please include key gadget data in the prompt.

Further Learning

AI tools represent a new horizon for all of us. We encourage everyone to challenge themselves to come up with their own new prompts, workflows, and creative use cases to further explore these tools. There are surely approaches that we haven't thought of yet. That said, there are two primary approaches that we see as promising avenues for yielding productive output.

Visionary/Goal Oriented: If you have a specific vision or end goal in mind, just create your prompt, iterate, and head for the finish line as fast as the workflow can take you there.

Exploratory/Discovery: Rather than using the Generator to directly aim towards your template result, it can also be used in a much more exploratory way. Instead, try crafting prompts in a way to learn and discover new approaches to layout designs, gadget types, or implementation schemes that might inspire further creative insights and ideas.

Generate a layout showcasing a variety of different Revel Digital Weather gadgets

Always make sure to check your work. As clever as the tool can be, it will also, at times, in an attempt to satisfy a requirement, take liberties that may not be ideal. Watch out for spelling errors, non-existent URLs, logical fallacies, or simply incorrect information.

Please see a few examples of prompts and the template generator results below:

"Create a layout that includes a 3x3 grid of static image zones for a total of 9 zones.
Generate custom imagery for each zone depicting natural landscapes at different times 
of the year showcasing all the seasons"

"Design a layout that could be used in a hotel lobby"

"Create an information kiosk layout that could be used on a college campus"

"Create a flight information display system using the FIDS Gadget. Configure the gadget 
to display all flights departing Chicago O'Hare International Airport in the next 8 hours.
Display Terminal, Gate, Time, and Logo information"