Help & Documentation

Getting Started

Bulk Designer is an Adobe Express add-on. It runs in the panel beside your document, so everything below happens inside Express — there is nothing separate to install and no second account to create.

Opening the add-on

1. Open the Adobe Express document you want to build into. A multi-page document is usually the right starting point, because generated designs are added as pages.
2. Click Add-ons in the left rail of Express, search for Bulk Designer, and open it.
3. The panel opens on the home screen, headed Create at Scale with the question How do you want to start today?

What is on the home screen

Five ways in, plus your workspace controls:

• Create from Data — badged Data Merge. The main route: a spreadsheet in, finished pages out. Covered under Create from Data.
• Image to pages — a folder of images, one per page. No spreadsheet needed.
• Page numbers — page numbers, headers and footers across the document.
• Multi-Size Campaign — badged Teams, under the Teams Studio divider. Every ad size from one run.
• AI Carousels — a URL, video or document turned into a carousel.

Along the top you will also find Load Preset, Continue with last session if you were interrupted, Workspace & BYOK, and Enterprise & Trial Access.

A tile marked Locked with "This format requires a subscription." needs the Teams plan or an active trial. See Workspace, seats and keys.

Create from Data

The core flow. One design, one dataset, a finished page per row. Standard data merge is free.

1. Import your data

1. On the home screen click Create from Data. The screen changes to Import Your Data.
2. Drag a file onto Drag Your File Here, or use Select file format to pick Excel or a TSV file, or Connect Google Sheets to pull a sheet directly.
3. The first row must be your column headers. Everything after it is treated as a record.

2. Capture the elements you want filled

1. You land on Map Data Fields.
2. Click Capture Elements — "Select and capture elements from your design". Select a text box or image frame on the Express canvas and it is added to the list.
3. Bind each captured element to a column. An element you no longer want is dropped with Remove element.
4. If a column holds filenames rather than links, use Relink image folder to point at the folder holding them. See Image folders and cloud storage.

3. Choose rows and preview

1. Continue to Apply Data — "Use all your data or choose specific rows to create the designs you need."
2. Use Select all, or tick only the rows you want.
3. Preview shows a row rendered into the design before you commit to the whole run.
4. To retouch the photos first, use Batch enhance images with AI — see Visual AI.

4. Generate

Start the run and the panel shows Generating your designs..., then Your Designs Are Ready when it finishes. Each selected row is added to your Express document as its own page, which you can keep editing by hand afterwards.

Rows with something missing

A blank cell leaves that element empty rather than stopping the run, and a row whose image cannot be found falls back to a placeholder. The batch finishes either way, so one bad row does not cost you the other two hundred.

Saving the setup

From Map Data Fields or Apply Data, Save Preset keeps the mapping for yourself and Save as Shared Preset puts it in your workspace for the team. See Shared presets.

Visual AI

Batch retouching for the photos your dataset points at, powered by Claid.ai. It corrects every image in the run before it lands on a page.

It needs an Enterprise Workspace or an active trial — "Background removal, HDR auto-tone, and studio shadows require an Enterprise Workspace or active trial." Set your provider key up first under Workspace, seats and keys.

The four tools

• Auto Tone & HDR — "Auto-tune lighting, HDR & contrast". Balances exposure and colour across the set, so photos shot on different days stop looking like it. Adjust with HDR Intensity. Run this first when your images come from several suppliers.
• Background Removal — cuts the subject out. Choose what replaces the background: Transparent, White, Deep Black, Charcoal Gray, or your own colour from the picker. Tight Clip to Edge trims closer to the subject.
• Shadow Studio — "Add realistic drop shadows & lighting" under a cutout, so it sits on the page rather than floating. Set Object Type (Product / E-commerce, Faces (Portraits & People), Photo (Nature & Architecture), Digital Art (Illustrations & Anime), Vehicles / Cars or General) and Perspective (Front View (Eye Level) or Top View (Flat Lay / Aerial)) so the shadow falls the right way.
• Upscale & AI Restoration — "Upscale resolution (2x, 4x, smart enhance, photo)" for older or low-resolution catalogue photography. Pick a Quality Mode: Auto (Recommended), Smart Enhance (E-commerce / Products), Smart Resize (Readable Text & Graphics), AI Polish & Decompress or AI Polish & Sharpness.

Practical notes

• Order matters. Remove the background before adding a shadow, or the shadow is generated against the original backdrop.
• Check a dark product and a light one before running the whole set — cutouts struggle most on low-contrast edges, and a larger source image usually fixes it.
• Enhanced images can be pulled out with Download Enhanced Images (.zip).
• Your originals are untouched. The enhanced copies are what land on the page.

Multi-Size Campaign

Express bulk create runs one design at a time, so every aspect ratio normally needs its own template and its own pass. A Multi-Size Campaign links each size back to a template page, so one run fills them all. Badged Teams on the home screen.

Setting the campaign up

1. From the home screen choose Multi-Size Campaign, then import your data the same way as Create from Data — Import Your Data accepts CSV, Excel, TSV or Google Sheets here too.
2. Use Add Canvas Size for each format you need. Each one appears as its own size card; Remove Canvas Size takes one out again.
3. Add the page that will carry each size with Add Page. You can Add Blank Page, or Copy Content & Create Page to start from a design you have already built — the prompt asks Copy content from:.
4. Point each size at its template with Link Page and Select a template page.... Once linked the card tells you "It is currently linked to" that page.
5. Click Map Pages to bind columns to elements, exactly as on Map Data Fields.
6. Continue to Apply Data, choose your rows, and generate.

Watch the page count

Adobe Express caps a document at 250 pages, and sizes multiply rows quickly. Eleven products across six sizes is 66 pages and fine; sixty products across six sizes is 360 and will not fit. Split the dataset across runs, or cut the number of sizes in a pass.

AI Carousels

The one input that is not a spreadsheet. Bulk Designer reads a source, writes the slide copy, and lays the pages out. The screen is called Create from Source.

Building a carousel

1. Choose AI Carousels on the home screen.
2. Give it a source — a web article, a YouTube link, a document or a topic prompt. YouTube links are checked first, so you may briefly see "Analyzing YouTube pre-flight status..."
3. The add-on shows "Extracting and structuring your source..." while it reads the material, then Generate Slides writes the copy.
4. On Review Slides, read what it wrote. Edit Slide changes any slide's copy before a single page is created — nothing reaches your document unreviewed.
5. Use Choose Template to pick the look.
6. Map the three page roles: Title Slide Page, Body Slides Page and Conclusion Slide Page. Each has its own field mapping — Map title page fields, Map body page fields and Map conclusion page fields — including a Title Slide Image, Body Slide Image and Conclusion Slide Image.
7. Click Map Pages, then generate.

The three-page structure is why a carousel looks designed rather than templated: the opening slide, the repeating middle and the closing call to action each get their own layout.

Carousels run on your own provider keys, or on trial credits. See Workspace, seats and keys.

Image to Pages

Import a batch of images and get one page each, sized to the image, instead of everything landing in a pile on one canvas. Free, and it needs no spreadsheet.

1. On the home screen click Image to pages.
2. Choose the images. They can come from your device or from a connected cloud folder — see Image folders and cloud storage.
3. Each image is placed on its own page at its own size.

When filenames need resolving

If your data references images by filename, the add-on matches them against the folder you choose and shows Resolve Filenames while it works — "Matching filenames…", and "Filename image column detected. Select folder to resolve images." if it still needs the folder. Names must match exactly, extension included.

Page Numbers, Headers & Footers

Adds page numbers, headers and footers across a whole Adobe Express document. Free, and it works on any document — you do not need a dataset.

1. On the home screen click Page numbers.
2. Set Position — Top (Header) or Bottom (Footer).
3. Set Alignment — Align Left, Align Center or Align Right.
4. Pick a Format: Number Only (1), Page X (Page 1), Page X of Y (Page 1 of 5) or X / Y (1 / 5).
5. Add Prefix Text or Suffix Text for something like Book Title - or - Chapter 1.
6. Set Font Size (pt) and Text Color.
7. Use Start from page to skip a cover, and Starting number when this document continues from another.

To leave a cover page unnumbered, set Start from page to 2. To have that second page read "Page 1", set Starting number to 1 as well — the two settings are independent on purpose.

Workspace, Seats and Keys

A workspace is what makes Bulk Designer a team tool: shared presets, seats for colleagues, and one set of AI provider keys everybody can use. Reached from Workspace & BYOK on the home screen.

Getting a workspace

You do not create one yourself — it is activated with a passcode we issue.

1. On the home screen open Enterprise & Trial Access, then Request Trial / Enter Passcode — "Activate your passcode or submit a request to try all premium features."
2. Already have a code? Enter it under Access Passcode and click Activate.
3. Otherwise choose Request Trial and fill in Work Email, Company Name, Company Size, Design Team Size and Primary Use Case. WhatsApp / Phone Number is optional and only speeds activation up.
4. We review requests by hand and issue a passcode. Trial credits are funded by us, so a limited number go out each month.

Seats

Open Workspace and go to Team Seats. Three seats are included; more are Add extra seats ($15/mo).

1. Add a colleague's address under Assigned Email.
2. They open Bulk Designer in their own Adobe Express account and use Claim Seats to take it up. Until they do, the seat shows Pending Verification; afterwards it reads Active, with Invited On and Activated On beside it.
3. Revoke Seat frees a seat when somebody leaves. Max Reached means every seat is taken — add more or revoke one.

API keys and the Secure Team Vault

The AI features run on your own provider keys — we do not resell or meter credits. Go to the Keys tab and Connect AI Providers.

• Save key to Team Vault stores a key for the whole workspace, in the Secure Team Vault. Every seat can then run the AI tools without pasting anything. Remove key from Team Vault takes it out again.
• Personal Key Overrides let one person use their own key instead of the team's — "Saved locally in your browser and used whenever you generate designs." Clear personal override reverts to the team key.
• Claid.ai is the one required for image work — "Claid.ai is required for editing and enhancing images". Get API Key ↗ links straight to the provider.
• On a trial you will see Trial AI Credits Balance and Included in Trial instead, so you can try the tools before setting a key up.

Shared presets

A preset is the setup work, saved so nobody repeats it: the column mappings, the element bindings and the dataset shape. It does not contain your data.

1. Get a mapping working, then use Save as Shared Preset from Map Data Fields, or Save as Shared Workspace Preset from Apply Data.
2. Add context for the team in Preset Notes & Guidelines — "Add notes, column requirements, or campaign guidance for your team..."
3. Teammates find it under Shared Presets, or via Load Preset on the home screen when it shows Team Preset Available. Apply to Session loads it.
4. Sync team presets pulls the latest; Delete Shared Preset removes one.

This is a saved-setup handover, not simultaneous editing. One person builds the mapping, saves it, and everyone else loads it. Sign Out of Workspace leaves the workspace on that machine.

Image Folders and Cloud Storage

Your product photography already lives somewhere. Point Bulk Designer at that folder and it resolves images by filename as it builds — no zip to download, no re-uploading, no local copy to keep in sync. The files stay in your storage.

Connecting a folder

1. Where a column holds filenames, use Select Image Folder on Apply Data, or Relink image folder on Map Data Fields.
2. Pick the provider and browse to the folder once. The add-on then matches on every run — you will see "Matching filenames…", and progress such as "Downloading images from Google Drive…"
3. If a column is detected but no folder is set yet, the add-on says "Filename image column detected. Select folder to resolve images."

Which sources are free

Filenames must match exactly, extension included. A row whose image cannot be found still generates — the image box falls back to a placeholder rather than the run stopping.

Troubleshooting & Support

Common questions

Some images did not appear

The filename in your data must match the file in the folder exactly, extension included. Re-open the folder with Relink image folder and watch for "Matching filenames…" to confirm it is reading the right place.

A tile says "Locked"

"This format requires a subscription." Multi-Size Campaign, the AI features and the Dropbox, OneDrive and Box connectors need the Teams plan or an active trial. See Workspace, seats and keys.

The AI tools are greyed out

"Background removal, HDR auto-tone, and studio shadows require an Enterprise Workspace or active trial." Add a Claid.ai key under Connect AI Providers, or activate a trial.

How many pages can one run produce?

Adobe Express caps a document at 250 pages. Multi-size multiplies quickly — count rows times sizes before you start, and split the dataset if it goes over.

I closed the panel halfway through

Continue with last session on the home screen picks the session back up. Clear all session data and image cache starts clean if something is stuck.

Can a teammate open my setup?

Yes, with a workspace. Save it with Save as Shared Preset and they load it from Shared Presets. Each person still works in their own Adobe Express account.

Need help?

Write to bulkdesigner@edgidesign.com. That address reaches us directly, and it is the right one for all of:

• Support. Something is not working, or a run produced the wrong result. Tell us what you expected, what happened, and roughly how many rows were involved.
• Feature requests. If the add-on nearly does what you need, we would rather hear it than have you work around it.
• Teams and enterprise. Seats, invoicing, security questions, or a private build running on your own infrastructure.

We read every message ourselves — there is no ticket queue behind that address.