Studio, previews and covers

Studio shows a post the way readers will see it, before anything is scheduled. Open Studio, then a post from the list of ready posts.

Previews#

Three tabs show the same post three ways.

• Web. The post page as it reads on the web.
• Email. The email subscribers would receive.
• Mobile. The web version in a 390 pixel wide frame, about the width of a phone.

Each preview is a sealed copy of the page. Nothing in it can run code, and nothing in it can reach the rest of Pressmark. Pictures that Pressmark builds into the preview, such as graphics and covers, show. Remote images in your post do not load in a preview and show as missing there.

Checks#

The panel on the right lists every check with one word and a sentence.

Items that stop scheduling come first. The line at the top of the panel says either "Ready to schedule" or how many items still need to be attached or waived.

What each check looks at:

• Title, SEO title, SEO description, subtitle. That they exist and fit their limits.
• Email preview line. The short line email apps show beside the subject. Aim for 40 to 120 characters.
• Links. Broken or insecure links. A link that is written wrongly blocks scheduling.
• Open notes. Markers such as TODO or VERIFY left in the text. They block scheduling.
• Facts due for recheck. A "recheck due" date in the post that falls before it goes out.
• Images and graphics. Files that are missing, formats Substack does not take, and alt text.
• Cover. Whether the post has its own cover or one is drawn from your brand kit.
• Names never to mention, your rules. Your rules pack, from the content folder.

Placeholders and waiving#

You may write a draft with a placeholder, a picture you have not made yet. Scheduling refuses until every placeholder is attached or waived. Waive is for the times you decide to go without it.

Waive appears on placeholders and on the recheck item. It works before you press Prepare. A waived item shows Undo waive. Every waive is written to the audit log.

Graphics#

A planned graphic counts as attached only when the post holds a graphic block, or an image whose file name contains "graphic" or that sits in a graphics folder.

A graphic is a short description in your post. Pressmark draws it with your brand colours and fonts, so the labels come out exactly as you wrote them, and the same description always gives the same picture. Write it as a fenced block named graphic, in YAML:

```graphic
kind: bar
title: Posts per month
labels: [Jan, Feb, Mar]
series:
  - name: Posts
    values: [4, 6, 5]
```

The kinds are:

• bar and line. Need labels and one or more series, each with a name and as many values as there are labels.
• table. Needs columns and rows. Substack has no tables, so a table is drawn as an image. A plain table in your text is turned into an image the same way.
• flow. Needs nodes, each with an id and a label, and edges with from, to and an optional label. Add direction: down for a top to bottom flow.
• quote. Needs text and may have an attribution.

Any kind may have a title, a caption and an alt text. If a description has a mistake, the preview says what is wrong in a plain sentence, in place of the graphic.

Covers#

Pressmark draws three cover styles from your title, your publication name and your brand colours: Type on paper, Type on colour and Band. They are shown side by side with a short description.

Pick the cover style for your posts. This is your decision, and Pressmark does not choose for you until you do. Your pick applies to every post and you can change it at any time. A post that names its own cover image uses it. If the named file is missing, preflight shows a placeholder that blocks scheduling until you add the file or waive it. A post that names no cover gets the brand-kit cover.

Prepare#

Prepare renders the post and writes the result: the web and email pages, the text version, the graphics, the three covers with the chosen one as the cover, the list of checks and a manifest. It then records a version number, the first 12 characters of a hash, so you can tell whether anything changed.

Preparing writes to Pressmark's workspace, never to your content folder. Your posts are only read.

Preparing the same post again with nothing changed gives the same files and the same version number.